Mj Rodriguez made history earlier this year by winning Best Television Actress in a Drama Series and, as such, becoming the first ever transgender person to win a Golden Globe in the award ceremony’s 78-year history. This was a phenomenal accolade for her personally, and also a significant ‘win’ for the trans community.
Hailing from Newark, New Jersey, to parents of African American and Puerto Rican descent, Rodriguez’s passion for acting started young. By the age of 11, she knew that her future lay in the arts, and she became serious in her pursuit of it, attending the New Jersey Performing Arts Centre. Her career flourished with her role as Angel in an off-Broadway production of Rent. A hiatus followed this success, in which she focused on transitioning. Her re-emergence into the acting world was a difficult time in her life and in an article by Deadline she credited her mother’s influence to her maintaining hope. Only weeks later, this persistence paid off when she was cast as Blanca Evangelista in the ground-breaking show, Pose. It was for this exceptional performance that she earned a Golden Globe, one of the most esteemed awards internationally.
A strong, astute, and loving house mother, in the ballroom scene of late ’80s and early ‘90s New York, Blanca quickly becomes the glue that holds together a community of queer individuals. The show depicts the ballroom culture that originated in the city, an underground African-American and Latin American LGBTQ+ subculture. It follows an eclectic mix of characters as they compete against other houses in balls, and battle to get by in the outside world amidst the devastating AIDs epidemic. Rodriguez is captivating throughout, leading rich, dramatic scenes and effortlessly revealing Blanca’s multitude of layers as the episodes and seasons progress. The versatility of scenes would put pressure on even the most accomplished of actresses, but alas every scene is navigated oh-so beautifully, and you do not doubt for a second that this is Blanca you see in front of you, not Mj Rodriguez. It quickly becomes impossible to imagine anyone else in this role.
Alongside Rodriguez’s formidable acting, the show is noteworthy of its own accord. With the largest transgender cast ever to appear in a scripted TV series, and fronted by actors and actresses of colour including Indya Moore, Billy Porter, and Dominique Jackson, Pose is frank in its portrayal of authentic trans and queer communities of the time. While trans characters are not an entirely new concept to the film and TV industry, these roles have been dominated by cisgender actors, often sensationalising and misrepresenting them. The trans characters we are used to seeing on screen were created by cis people, for the entertainment of cis people. I point this out, because there is something so deeply perverse about seeing society, the same society that holds such contempt for you, looking to profit from your own inescapable lived experiences. As such, after a stream of cisgender actors receiving and winning award nominations for their depictions of trans people and stories, it was a distinctly bittersweet moment to see a trans person so greatly rewarded for a role that represents the community, after all these years.
The importance of representation is undeniable but, as a topic of conversation, it seems to be increasingly spurned, but this discourse still needs to be had. Representation is not a taboo word. In fact, it is far to the contrary. Discourse around representation offers opportunities to broaden human understanding, improve equality, celebrate people, and progress. It is by looking to both the past and the future, that we can truly locate where we find ourselves at the present. There are so many nameless and faceless trans predecessors who were never given the opportunity to act, let alone to shine. In recognising the significance of Mj Rodriguez’s Golden Globe award win, we are remembering the history that could have been but never was, as well as igniting optimism for the brighter future that is still to come.
It is not just loyal viewers of the show who have felt the magnitude of Rodriguez’s success though. Liam Gillin, a trans man working in the film industry said: “I don’t watch Pose, but I’m glad we are getting the recognition”.
That said, Rodriguez herself has stressed that her win should be celebrated first and foremost, as a personal achievement. She said in a Guardian interview: “I just want people to see me as a performer. An actress. … I would love it if my trans-ness was not always the leading cause of why I am celebrated. … That’s what I wish, but I also know the world.” For someone with such outstanding abilities and work ethic, she deserves nothing less.
Her enthralling performances throughout Pose will always be a key part of her career but I, for one, cannot wait to see what the future has in store for her. With the release of her first single ‘Something to Say’ last year, and a starring role in an upcoming comedy series, one thing is for sure – this is not the last we will hear of Mj Rodriguez.
