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Entertainment

Mj Rodriguez is first trans woman nominated for lead Emmy Award

By
Brooke Kato
Published July 13, 2021
Updated July 13, 2021, 6:06 p.m. ET
Emmy nominee Mj Rodriguez in a Season 3 episode of "Pose."
Emmy nominee Mj Rodriguez in a Season 3 episode of "Pose." Eric Liebowitz/FX

The nominee for making history is: Mj Rodriguez.

The “Pose” star, who played nurse and house mother Blanca Rodriguez on the FX drama, was nominated for a 2021 Emmy Award in the Best Actress in a Drama category — a first for a transgender performer in a lead role.

Rodriguez said her nomination is a step forward for the LGBTQ community, specifically with trans representation, at the awards show.

“I do believe this is a pivotal moment. There’s never been a trans woman who has been nominated as a leading outstanding actress and I feel like that pushes the needle forward so much for now the door to be knocked down for so many people — whether they be male or trans female, gender nonconforming, LGBTQIA+, it does not matter,” Rodriguez told Variety.

Before Rodriguez’s nomination, only two trans actresses had received Emmy nods: Rain Valdez, for Best Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series in 2020’s “Razor Tongue,” and four-time nominee Laverne Cox, for Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series for “Orange Is the New Black.”

“Now I can sit here and say I’ve actually solidified my roots — actually being a leading lady next to the leading man [Porter] of a great show. It’s possible, it’s obtainable, and you can achieve it simply by all of our stories right here, watching us right now,” Rodriguez, 30, said of her groundbreaking role in an April press call before the show’s final season premiere in May. “And I just hope that it carries through.”

The Ryan Murphy series featuring Rodriguez has earned a plethora of nominations this year, coming in at a grand total of nine, including nods for Best Drama and Best Actor in a Drama for Emmy-winning co-star Billy Porter.

"Pose" star Mj Rodriguez with fellow Emmy nominee Billy Porter.
“Pose” star Mj Rodriguez with fellow Emmy nominee Billy Porter. Eric Liebowitz/FX

Rodriguez has appeared in a variety of television shows, films and theater productions. While she’s been a nominee and winner of smaller awards, being nominated for an Emmy is the next big step in her career.

“I think a lot of people out in the world are probably going to see what is possible when it comes to a trans woman taking a role and taking a lead,” Rodriguez said in the April call.