Michaela Jaé Rodriguez facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Michaela Jaé Rodriguez
Rodriguez in 2020
Born	(1991-01-07) January 7, 1991 (age 34) Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Education	Berklee College of Music
Occupation	Actress singer
Years active	2011–present

Michaela Jaé Rodriguez (born January 7, 1991), also known as Mj Rodriguez, is an American actress and singer. She was born in Newark, New Jersey. When she was young, Rodriguez went to different performing arts schools. Later, she got a role in the play Rent as Angel Dumott Schunard. She even won an award for her acting in Rent in 2011.

After her time in Rent, Rodriguez took a break from acting. From 2012 to 2016, she started acting on stage again and had small roles on TV shows. These included Nurse Jackie, The Carrie Diaries, and Luke Cage.

In 2017, Rodriguez was chosen for a main role in the TV show Pose on FX. This show made history because it had the largest group of transgender actresses as regular cast members. Her acting as Blanca Evangelista was highly praised. In 2021, she became the first transgender woman to be nominated for a major acting award at the Emmy Awards. She was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role in Pose. In 2022, she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama, making history again.

Early Life and Education

Michaela Jaé Rodriguez was born on January 7, 1991, in Newark, New Jersey. Her mother is African-American, and her father has both Puerto Rican and African-American heritage. Rodriguez went to Queen of Angels Catholic School.

She knew she wanted to be an actress from the age of seven. When she was 11, her mother enrolled her in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Rodriguez spent eight years in this program and also took part in the New Jersey Youth Theater.

When she was 14, Rodriguez became involved in the ballroom scene. Here, she found support and learned how to vogue, a special dance style. She graduated from Newark Arts High School. Later, she went to Berklee College of Music. She received scholarships in 2009 for her talent. She chose the stage name "Mj" Rodriguez because she is a big comic book fan. "Mj" comes from the Marvel Comics character Mary Jane "MJ" Watson and parts of her birth name.

Career Journey

Starting in Theater

While she was in college, Rodriguez got a part in a play called Rent. She played the character Angel Dumott Schunard. Rodriguez had always wanted to play this role since she saw the movie version in 2005.

She met actress Fredi Walker-Browne, who was the first to play Joanne Jefferson in Rent on Broadway. Walker-Browne saw Rodriguez perform and helped her get an audition for an upcoming off-Broadway production of Rent. Rodriguez got the role and acted alongside other rising stars. Her performance earned her the 2011 Clive Barnes Award. This award honors the famous English writer and critic Clive Barnes.

Returning to Acting

After the off-Broadway show of Rent ended in 2012, Rodriguez decided to take a break. She wanted to focus on her personal journey. In early 2016, she began hormone replacement therapy. After some time, Rodriguez returned to acting. She told her agent that she would only audition for female roles from then on. Her agent was very supportive of her decision.

From 2012 to 2016, Rodriguez had small roles on TV. She appeared in shows like Nurse Jackie, The Carrie Diaries, and Luke Cage. Her role in Luke Cage in 2016 was special. It was the first time a transgender actress and character appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

After her return, Rodriguez posted a video on Facebook of herself singing a song from the Broadway musical Hamilton. The video was very popular. It led to an invitation for her to audition for a role in Hamilton. News of her audition as a transgender actress for a role usually played by a cisgender person was shared widely in Broadway and LGBT news. She then acted in several other stage productions:

• Runaways in 2016
• Street Children in 2016 at the New Ohio Theatre
• Trans Scripts: Part 1, The Women in 2017 at the Loeb Drama Center
• Burn All Night in 2017 at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge

Rodriguez also got a supporting role in the independent film Saturday Church. She played a character named Ebony. The film came out in 2018. It was about a teenager exploring their gender identity and getting involved in the underground ballroom scene. Her acting in Saturday Church earned her a nomination for Best Actress at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival.

Big Success with Pose and Music Debut

In 2017, Rodriguez was chosen for the main role of Blanca Evangelista in the FX series Pose. This happened after a six-month search for the right actress. The show was created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Steven Canals. It made history by casting five transgender actresses in main roles. As of 2018, Pose had the largest cast of transgender actors as regular characters in a TV show. The first episode of Pose was filmed in November 2017 and aired in June 2018. It received great reviews.

The show is set in New York City in the 1980s. It shows the lives of queer people of color, especially Black trans women, who are part of the underground ballroom scene. Rodriguez's character, Blanca, starts her own "house" called the House of Evangelista. She does this after finding out she has HIV. As the head of her house, she becomes like a mother to several young queer people of color who have been left alone. Her role was called a "breakout, starring role," and critics praised her acting. Other actors in the show included Indya Moore, Tony Award-winner Billy Porter, model Dominique Jackson, trans rights advocate Angelica Ross, Evan Peters, Kate Mara, and James Van Der Beek.

Rodriguez performed with her Pose co-stars Dyllón Burnside, Billy Porter, and Ryan Jamaal Swain in a concert on July 23, 2018. This concert celebrated the end of season 1 and raised money for GLSEN. They sang "Waving Through a Window" from Dear Evan Hansen.

In 2019, Rodriguez became the first openly transgender woman to win Best Actress - Television at the Imagen Awards.

In the fall of 2019, Rodriguez played Audrey, the main female role in the Pasadena Playhouse's production of Little Shop of Horrors. She was the first transgender woman of color to play this role in a major production. Her co-stars included George Salazar as Seymour and Amber Riley as Audrey II. She told Broadway.com, "I'm simply an actress. I think any woman should be considered for this role. [My casting] shouldn't be something that's trending—it should be normal."

On October 1, 2019, she and George Salazar performed "Suddenly Seymour" on The Late Late Show with James Corden on CBS.

In November 2019, Rodriguez signed a contract with Olay Body. This made her the first Latina transgender woman to partner with the company. In May 2021, Variety reported that Rodriguez would star with Maya Rudolph in a new comedy series for Apple TV.

In 2021, she became the first transgender woman to be nominated for a major acting award at the Emmy Awards. She was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her acting in the third and final season of Pose.

On June 4, 2021, Rodriguez released her first song, "Something to Say," with Access Records. This song was the first single from her upcoming first EP.

In September 2021, Rodriguez announced that she now goes by Michaela Jaé Rodriguez. She said, "I wanted people to see that I was more than just this character that I played on a television screen. ... It was only right and even more personal to let people know who the woman inside of Mj is."

On January 9, 2022, Rodriguez won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama at the 79th Golden Globe Awards. She became the first transgender actor to win a Golden Globe in the history of the awards.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Music videos

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Mj Rodriguez para niños

• Transgender culture in New York City
• List of LGBTQ people from New York City
• List of Puerto Ricans
• African American LGBT Community
• Nuyorican
• Puerto Ricans in New York City
• Puerto Ricans in the United States
• Transgender culture of New York City