MICHAELA JAÉ RODRIGUEZ: OPENING DOORS

Astonishingly early on a recent morning, HITS caught up with award-winning actor-singer-model Michaela Jaé Rodriguez to chat with us for our Pride issue. She was in Cannes promoting her upcoming album and her starring roles in not one but two television series.

Rodriguez first exploded into the pop-cultural zeitgeist in 2018 with her role in Ryan Murphy’s groundbreaking FX series, Pose. Set in New York’s queer/trans-led ’80s underground ballroom scene, the show made television history by assembling the biggest cast of transgender actors to appear as series regulars on a scripted show, including Rodriguez’s star turn as the earnest, HIV-positive housemother Blanca. The portrayal earned her a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama Series—making Rodriguez the first transgender performer to score the coveted award.

Rodriguez’s subsequent success has included roles alongside Andrew Garfield in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tick, Tick… Boom! as well as in the Netflix/Marvel series Luke Cage and the Transformers film franchise. She’s also been honored with an NAACP Image Award, a People’s Choice Award and in 2023 was selected as the first transgender ambassador for the prestige beauty brand Charlotte Tilbury.

Cut to 2024 and the outspoken multihyphenate finds herself juggling starring roles in the Apple TV+ comedy series Loot opposite Maya Rudolph and, having reunited with Murphy, alongside Emma Roberts and Kim Kardashian in FX’s American Horror Story: Delicate. Not to mention anticipating the release of her as-yet-untitled debut album.

In an industry where success in even one area is elusive, Rodriguez is hitting it out of the park in multiple fields.

We got a chance to check out some of your upcoming music and would love to jump right in with that.

You got a chance to listen to it? That makes me happy!

It’s so vibrant and diverse. The songs are obviously inspired by pop and R&B, but at the same time the music is hard to categorize—in a good way.

I love that you said that. I wanted to show that I’m capable of doing all types of genres. The songs are kind of a collection of emotions I felt through this entity of Michaela Jaé, which includes who I am in the present day and who I see this woman as in the future.

People know you for your acting, but they may not know that you studied at Berklee College of Music.

Yep. I majored in songwriting and minored in performance at Berklee. It’s kind of crazy because music is my first passion. I didn’t expect acting to take over my life.

Did you do any writing on this album?

I’ve been doing a lot of songwriting and also working with producer Nick Smith. I’m really excited because a lot of people don’t know that I’m a songwriter. I’m glad they get to see where my mind is and how I interpret my experience through lyrics and music.

Who are your musical influences?

My biggest inspirations are Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Beyoncé and Rihanna. I want people to dance; I want them to be happy. I love rhythmic music that people can move their bodies to.

Do you have a release date for the album?

We’re looking at a summer release. We have a whole rollout plan. The first two singles, “Green Lights” and “I Am,” will be released this month for Pride.

Do you plan on doing any touring?

We’re doing the whole damn thing.

I couldn’t help but notice that Loot and Pose both feature episodes where you sing. Is singing going to be a future casting requirement?

I don’t think so. I’m just so glad they let me have fun like that. When I sang with Billy Porter on Pose, the storyline was a planned performance for a group of AIDS patients in a hospital ward, so it was full-on singing. When they asked me to sing Whitney Houston on an episode of Loot where my character sings karaoke, I decided to sing as my character, Sophia, who’s a somewhat restrained young woman of color working as an executive at a nonprofit. She can sing, but I added some pitchiness to make it more Sophia.

Today [4/12, when our interview with Rodriguez was conducted] is a National Day of Silence to protest bullying and harassment of the LGBTQ+ community. Since 2018, when Pose first catapulted you into the spotlight as a transgender woman, have you seen increased media visibility for the community translate into increased agency for trans people and acceptance in day-to-day life?

I do feel we’re making waves and that there’s a little more agency in the community, but there’s always room for more. I mean, never in a million years did I think I’d be the first trans woman to win a Golden Globe—or even be nominated as best actress in a television show—so that’s a big step forward.

There are so many more doors that can be opened. I want to open doors for younger individuals who are different—whether they are part of the LGBTQIA community or not. My existence just waking up in the morning and letting the world know who I am and being comfortable in that is activism in and of itself. On a day like today—a day of silence when you’re reconciling the fact that members of the LGBTQIA community are still being subjected to bullying—I feel like these are the moments when you need to create so you can encourage people to keep on living.

There aren’t a lot of girls like me in music, and I want to open doors for them. Because music is one of the most powerful tools for changing people’s hearts and minds.