Michaela Jaé Rodriguez

Rodriguez was born on January 7, 1991, in Newark, New Jersey to an African-American mother and a father of Puerto Rican and African-American descent. Rodriguez attended Queen of Angels Catholic School. She wanted to become an actress from the age of seven, and began pursuing the profession at the age of 11 after her mother enrolled her in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center—where she became an eight-year veteran of the program and participated in its New Jersey Youth Theater program. While she had "prayed to become female" beginning at age 7, Rodriguez states that she was in denial for many years and initially came out to her parents as "bisexual/gay" at the age of 14. At 14, Rodriguez became involved in the ballroom scene where she found support from her house father who taught her to vogue. She is a graduate of Newark Arts High School, and later attended Berklee College of Music, where she was a 2009 Star-Ledger scholarship recipient and a 2009 Young Arts first level scholarship recipient. ==Career==

Stage acting origins While attending college, Rodriguez was cast in a theater production of Rent as Angel Dumott Schunard. Rodriguez had wanted to play the role since first seeing the 2005 film adaptation. Her 2016 appearance in the non-speaking role of "Sister Boy" on Luke Cage also marked the first appearance of both a transgender actress and character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Following her reemergence, Rodriguez uploaded a video of herself on Facebook singing the number "Satisfied" from the Broadway musical Hamilton. The video received a positive response and landed her an invitation to audition for the role of Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds in Hamilton. She then appeared in several additional stage productions: • Encores! Off-Center's 2016 production of Runaways • The 2016 off-Broadway premiere of Street Children by Pia Scala-Zankel at the New Ohio Theatre • The American Repertory Theater's 2017 production of Trans Scripts: Part 1, The Women at the Loeb Drama Center • The 2017 world premier of the synth-pop musical Burn All Night in the Oberon at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge Rodriguez also landed a supporting role in the independent film Saturday Church as Ebony. The 2017 film, which premiered in January 2018, depicted a runaway teenager exploring their gender identity and becoming involved in the contemporary underground ball culture scene. Her portrayal of Ebony earned her a nomination for Best Actress at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. Breakthrough with Pose and debut as a singer In 2017, Rodriguez was cast in the leading role of Blanca Evangelista in the FX series Pose following a six-month casting search. The show was created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Steven Canals and made history by casting five transgender actresses in leading roles. As of 2018, the show features the largest cast of transgender actors as series regulars in a scripted series. The pilot for Pose went into production in November 2017 and premiered in June 2018 to positive reviews. The series is set in New York City during the 1980s and explores the lives of queer people of color (especially Black trans women) who are involved with the underground ballroom scene. Rodriguez's Blanca is a young woman who forms her own "house"—the House of Evangelista—after receiving a positive diagnosis for HIV. As the head of the House of Evangelista, she becomes a surrogate mother to several abandoned queer youth of color. Described as a "breakout, starring role", her performance has been praised by critics. Among the show's regular cast are Rodriguez's Saturday Church co-star 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 Pose co-stars Dyllón Burnside, Billy Porter and Ryan Jamaal Swain in a benefit concert on July 23, 2018, to celebrate the season 1 finale and raise money for GLSEN and sing "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. On October 1, 2019, she and Little Shop of Horrors co-star George Salazar were the musical guests on The Late Late Show with James Corden on CBS where they performed "Suddenly Seymour". In November 2019, Rodriguez landed a contract with Olay Body, becoming the first Latina trans woman to enter a partnership with the company. On May 7, 2021, it was reported by Variety that Rodriguez would star alongside Maya Rudolph in Apple TV's upcoming comedy series directed by Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard. In 2021, she became the first transgender woman to receive an Emmy Award nomination in a major acting category; she was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in the third and final season of Pose. In September 2021, Rodriguez announced that she now goes by Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, stating, "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". ==Filmography==

Studio albums Singles Music videos ==Awards and nominations==