Rodriguez is in good company, which makes it even more meaningful. Her fellow nominees include Uzo Aduba (In Treatment), Olivia Colman (The Crown), Emma Corrin (The Crown), Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale), and Jurnee Smollett (Lovecraft Country). The actress/singer isn’t the first transgender person to be nominated for an Emmy. Previously, Rain Valdez received an outstanding actress in a short-form comedy or drama series nomination for Razor Tongue in 2020, and Laverne Cox made Emmy’s history when in 2014 as the first-ever trans nomination when she got the nod in the guest drama actress category for her role as Sophia Burset in Netflix’s Orange Is The New Black. “Michaela Jaé (Mj) Rodriguez’s Emmy nomination for outstanding lead actress in a drama series is a breakthrough for transgender women in Hollywood, and a long-overdue recognition for her groundbreaking performance over the past three seasons of Pose,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. Earlier this year, Parade.com had the opportunity to speak with Mj about the final season of Pose and its legacy for trans women. For those who missed it, check it out below: Originally posted: April 30, 2021: Sunday is the beginning of the end for FX’s groundbreaking series Pose, the story of the fierce house mothers of New York’s underground ball culture. The first episode of the final season premieres with a time jump, and several surprises. Among them, the House of Evangelista hasn’t walked the ballroom in quite a while, and Blanca (Mj Rodriguez), the heart and soul of the series, has let her children grow up and out of the house and is working as a nurse’s aide at Roosevelt Hospital. She also has a doctor boyfriend, Christopher (Jeremy Pope). “Blanca has definitely made progress in her life,” Rodriguez tells Parade.com in this exclusive interview. “She’s now living in her truth. She’s living for herself and she’s now getting what she wants and what she deserves. I think it gives a lot of hope, too. She’s hopeful now for what’s possible for her, especially with what’s happening in the first and second episodes.” It’s 1994 in Season 3 of Pose. The AIDS epidemic has reached its fever pitch. The large number of deaths leads Pray Tell (Billy Porter), the other key player in the series, to drink excessively, which means that Blanca has to resume her mother persona and tend to her friend. Doing so also inspires her to get the House of Evangelista back in the ballroom. “I’m so glad that Blanca is the person that makes sure that it’s happening,” Rodriguez continues. “I’m so glad that it was written that way because Pray Tell only really trusts her and he only really confides in her. He’s lashing out because there were so many deaths pertaining to the HIV pandemic that he really couldn’t handle it, and it rings true to what people were dealing with in that time.” Pose, which made TV history with the largest cast of transgender actors in series regular roles, has been a career-changing, if not a life-changing, experience for Rodriguez. She sees the show as having opened doors for people to be willing to be educated and learn about women of color who are transsexual. “I think the goal of this final season was to leave hope for the LGBTQ+ community,” she says. “I feel like this season is literally based around hope and legacy work. I think that’s the main focal point, making sure that even when there are hard times, even when there’s turmoil, there’s still triumph and there’s still a path that you can walk.” For more of our conversation with Rodriguez about what to look forward to inPose Season 3 and what it has meant to the LGBTQ+ community, keeping reading.
Time has passed and the House of Evangelista hasn’t walked the ballroom for a while. What’s going on?
Giuliani is the mayor and he’s been making some changes and messing with a lot of the ballroom community. The AIDS pandemic has definitely had even a wider influx, and now people in that time are really trying to find some kind of remedy, some kind of treatment, and see if they can actually live. Namely, Blanca and Pray Tell are the two key figures from Pose who are living through this and trying to find a remedy.
And Blanca’s life has changed a lot. She’s working as an aide at Roosevelt Hospital and she’s found love. Tell us about that journey since we last saw her.
We’ve seen her grow clearly through the first and second seasons when she was obviously budding into her motherhood. The first season, she was just starting to really gain access to her own house. The second season, she’d grown, she’d completely become rooted and had a foundation in her family. But the third season, now Blanca is getting what she wants. She’s raised amazing children. And now that they’ve all grown up and are doing their own thing, Blanca is focusing on herself and making sure that she gives all the love and care that she can for herself while still being the matriarch of the house. She has this openness now to having a relationship and being able to really dive into that when she didn’t really have the time before. I think that’s the growth of everything when it comes to Blanca.
Having played her three seasons, are there qualities that you share with her?
There are a lot of qualities that I share with Blanca. I’ve seen how much of a leader Blanca is and how she really takes the stage and makes sure that she’s there, that she’s prominent, and that she’s still a face within every single part of her family so that they know that she’s someone they can lean on. And that’s something that I tie into. I’m always making sure that my family outside of this show is taken care of and I make sure that I’m being a leading force as much as I can because now I’m about to become the matriarch of my own house. So, I think those things tie very closely to each other and, more than anything, Blanca is very present. She’s been more present than ever in this season knowing that she and her kids are probably going in different directions and are growing. I think that’s why she’s doing it because she knows that they’re going. She has to be as present as she can so that she can let them know where they’ve come from and what they had to do to get to where they have to be.
Pray Tell has a rough season. What’s driving him this season? He really lashes out at Blanca.
Pray Tell is dealing with a lot of things when it comes to dealing with the HIV/AIDS pandemic. There have been a lot of people in Pray Tell’s life that have passed away, that have not gotten to live a full life, or even get to see a future. And, I think, he also could possibly see himself going that route. There’s a whole bunch of that stuff weighing on him and I think that’s one of the reasons why he lashes out the way he did. The best thing is that the family is rallying around him.
What’s it been like to film Pose, set in the time of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic?
There is [a shared message]. The shared message is to cherish the people who are around you because they may not be here when you expect them to be here. And also With this pandemic, there are lives that are being lost at an exponential rate. It’s really ironic that it somewhat ties close to what had happened in the ‘80s all the way to the mid-‘90s and possibly the late ‘90s. When it came to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, it was very, very, very hard. There were so many lives that were lost and, I think, that’s the similarity. Also, communication and needing to be around people, but not knowing if you can, because of something that’s prohibiting you or a stigma. With COVID-19, there’s a stigma now just like what happened with HIV and AIDS. I think people really need to take notice of that and see how different they are, obviously, but also how similar they are when it comes to what they are pushing when it comes to the masses.
What will people take away from this final season?
With the House of Evangelista, I think the goal was to make sure that people saw that when it comes to legacy work, that resilience can come out of that, that growth can come out of that, that strength can come out of that, and that perseverance can come out of that. I really have to give Blanca all the praise for that, because not only is she a trans woman, with that being stacked against her for people thinking that she’s not deserving or not even capable of being a mother, but she actually superseded all the expectations of what people thought she couldn’t do. I think that’s what this third season is showing: that every single woman on this show, especially with Blanca, that trans women have the ability to do anything they want and that they can have a long lineage of great opportunities if they work toward it, whether it be living a regular life as a mother or whether becoming an iconic pop star, or becoming a model, or becoming a businesswoman. It’s possible if you put your mind to it. I love that the third season is pushing that as much as possible. It’s hope and legacy.
One of the things we had talked about when we spoke for Season 2 was being seen as human, as opposed to the labels that we may seem to fill.
I think now more than anything, people are really getting to understand that we are human. Obviously, there’s more work to be done. I think within this season of Pose, the human aspect is seen completely, especially now that so many people are falling in love, so many people are getting what they want. They’re getting what they want because they fought for it. So, I feel like the human condition is totally being seen the third season.
What’s next for you?
There’s so much next for me. I probably should keep it under wraps, but there’s something that’s happening that I can’t really talk about right now, but I just got an opportunity [for a role] and I’m really happy with it. You should be finding out about it very soon. I’m still working on music as always, and I’m just pushing forward. I’m trying to make sure that I can make my stamp as much as possible because I feel like now’s the time. Pose premieres Sunday, May 2 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX. Next, learn all about the Pride flags.
