MJ Rodriguez

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MJ Rodriguez in 2019

MJ Rodriguez (born January 7, 1991 in Newark ), also written as Mj Rodriguez , is an American actress and singer . She was best known for her leading role as Blanca Rodriguez-Evangelista in the FX series Pose and in the theater for her off-Broadway role as Angel in Rent and in regional productions as Audrey in Der kleine Horrorladen .

Life

MJ Rodriguez was born in Newark to an African American and a Puerto Rican . She first attended the Queen of Angels Catholic School and was enrolled by her mother at the age of 11 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center , one of the largest cultural centers in the United States. There she was a member of an acting course for children and young people for eight years.

Rodriguez outed at the age of fourteen to their parents as homo - or bisexual . At the same time she became active in the so-called ballroom scene, in which members of the LGBT community in groups called houses compete against each other in various artistic competitions. The head of her house also taught Rodriguez the Vogue dance style , which is central to ball culture. After graduating from Newark Arts High School , Rodriguez went to Berklee College of Music , where she received two scholarships in 2009. In the same year she adopted MJ as a stage name. She decided on the two letters because they are included in her birth name, and she is a big comic fan, which is why the character Mary Jane Watson (called MJ ) from the Spider-Man magazines also played a role in the choice .

In 2012, Rodriguez decided to pause her career except for a few, very small roles in order to begin a gender reassignment exercise. After hormone replacement therapy in 2016, she completely resumed her job.

Career

During her studies, Rodriguez was in 2011 in a local theater production of Rent to star Angel Dumott Schunard occupied. She contacted the actress Fredi Walker-Browne , who played the character Joanne Jefferson in the original Broadway production, and invited her to attend one of the performances. After Walker-Browne saw Rodriguez on stage, she recommended that she apply for an off-Broadway production of the play. With the assistance of Walker-Browne, Rodriguez was invited to an audition where she eventually got the role. Her performance was received positively by critics, she received the Clive Barnes Award for her performance , which honors young actors and dancers.

One of her first roles in the aftermath of her gender reassignment program was a prostitute on an episode of Marvel's Luke Cage in 2016 . Rodriguez was only seen in a small supporting role without a text, but her character was the first trans character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe . In June of the same year, she uploaded a video to her Facebook account in which she sang the song Satisfied from the musical Hamilton . The video spread on the website to a largely positive response, whereupon she was invited to audition for the character Peggy Schuyler / Maria Reynolds in Hamilton . As a result, she starred in four other plays from 2016 to 2017. In 2016 she was also engaged for a role in the independent film Saturday Church . This celebrated its premiere in January 2018 and is about a young person who runs away from home and finds himself in the ballroom scene. For this production, Rodriguez received a nomination for Best Actress at the Tribeca Film Festival .

In 2017, Rodriguez was selected for the role of Blanca Rodriguez-Evangelista , a house manager, in the FX series Pose developed by Ryan Murphy , Brad Falchuk and Steven Canals during a six-month casting call . The production is about the mostly Afro - and Latin American participants in the ballroom scene in the 1980s and 1990s and their struggle with trans - and homophobia , racism and HIV . Finally, on June 3 of that year, Pose first aired. The series was widely praised by critics and viewers, Rodriguez was named by Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter as the "star" of the series, which did its best work in the "quiet scenes of loud production", Dino-Ray Ramos claimed Deadline.com for bringing humanity, humility and soul to the program. Richard Lawson commented in Vanity Fair that Rodriguez, as Blanca, skillfully vacillated between her "maternal care" for her House members and her "own private worries and longings". For Pose , Rodriguez was the first trans actress to receive an Imagen Award for best actress in a television series .

In 2019 she was hired to star Audrey in Little Shop of Horror at the Pasadena Playhouse . She is the first non-white trans actress to appear in a major performance of the play. In November of the same year, she was named brand ambassador for the face care brand Oil of Olaz ( known as Olay in American-speaking countries ). She is the first trans woman with Latin American roots to take on this role.

Filmography

  • 2012: Nurse Jackie (TV series, episode 4x6)
  • 2013: The Carrie Diaries (TV series, episode 1x3)
  • 2014: Dear Pauline Jean (short film)
  • 2016: [Blank] My Life (TV series, episode 1x3)
  • 2016: Marvel's Luke Cage (TV series, episode 1x7)
  • 2017: Saturday Church
  • 2017: Bun in the Oven (short film)
  • 2018: Gemma (short film)
  • 2018: The Big Take
  • since 2018: Pose (TV series)
  • 2019: Adam

Awards and nominations

Clive Barnes Award

  • 2011: Award for Best Young Actress for Rent

Tribeca Film Festival

  • 2017: Nomination for Best Actress for Saturday Church

MTV Movie Awards

  • 2019 : Nomination for Best Newcomer for Pose

Imagen Award

  • 2019: Best Actress Award for Pose

Critics' Choice Television Award

  • 2020: Nomination for Best Actress in a Drama Series for Pose

Web links

Commons : Mj Rodriguez  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kathy Henderson: MJ Rodriguez on a Heavenly Off-Broadway Debut as Angel in Rent. In: Broadway.com. September 1, 2011, accessed February 1, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Jerry Nunn: NUNN ON ONE TV Mj Rodriguez strikes a 'Pose'. In: Windy City Times. July 16, 2018, accessed February 1, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b c Kenneth Jones: MJ Rodriguez of Rent Is Clive Barnes Award Winner. In: Playbill . December 5, 2011, accessed February 1, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b c d Michael Gioia: Mj Rodriguez Talks Her Transition and Hamilton Audition. In: Playbill. June 7, 2016, accessed February 1, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Lulu Garcia-Navarro: 'You Just Serve As Much As You Can': Mj Rodriguez On Ball Culture And 'Pose'. In: National Public Radio . June 17, 2018, accessed February 1, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Jocelyn Silver: Talking 'Pose' with Mother Mj Rodriguez. In: Paper. July 19, 2018, accessed February 1, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Paul Wontorek: Runaways star MJ Rodriguez on Keeping the drama onstage and getting real as a Trans Actress. In: Broadway.com. July 6, 2016, accessed February 1, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Brett White: 'Marvel's Jessica Jones': Every Easter Egg and Marvel Reference in Season 2. In: New York Post . March 8, 2018, accessed February 1, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Ryan McPhee: MJ Rodriguez & More Set for Encores! Off-Center's Runaways at City Center. In: Broadway.com. May 25, 2016, accessed February 1, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Olivia Clement: Street Children Proclaim the Right to Be Fabulous in the Face of Adversity. In: Playbill. December 6, 2016, accessed February 1, 2020 .
  11. ↑ Olivia Clement: Watch the Cast of Trans Scripts Discuss the Groundbreaking ART Production. In: Playbill. January 23, 2017, accessed February 1, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Adam Hetrick: Pop-Synth Musical Burn All Night, by Andy Mientus and Teen Commandments, Arrives at ART In: Playbill. July 28, 2017, accessed February 1, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Christine Champagne: Mj Rodriguez on Breaking Out as Blanca on Ryan Murphy's Pose. In: Motion Picture Association of America . June 28, 2018, accessed February 1, 2020 .
  14. ^ Lesley Goldberg: Ryan Murphy Makes History With Largest Cast of Transgender Actors for FX's 'Pose'. In: The Hollywood Reporter . October 25, 2017, accessed February 1, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Rebecca Patton: Is Blanca On 'Pose' A Real Person? Mj Rodriguez Shares Some Life Experiences With Her Nurturing House Mother Character. In: Bustle. June 3, 2018, accessed February 1, 2020 .
  16. ^ Daniel Fienberg: 'Pose': TV Review. In: The Hollywood Reporter. May 22, 2018, accessed January 31, 2020 .
  17. ↑ Dino-Ray Ramos: 'Pose' Review: Ryan Murphy's' 80s NYC Ball Scene Drama Scores 10s Across The Board. In: Deadline.com . May 31, 2018, accessed January 31, 2020 .
  18. ↑ Richard Lawson: Pose Is Bold, Necessary Melodrama. In: Vanity Fair . May 30, 2018, accessed January 31, 2020 .
  19. ↑ Daniel Reynolds: Mj Rodriguez Wins Best Actress at Imagen Awards, Makes Trans Herstory. In: The Advocate . August 13, 2019, accessed February 1, 2020 .
  20. ↑ Paul Wontorek: Suddenly Mj! Pose's Mj Rodriguez on Her Star Turn in Little Shop of Horrors and the Broadway Dream Role She'd 'Act a Fool In'. In: Broadway.com. September 19, 2019, accessed February 1, 2020 .
  21. ^ Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz: Pose's MJ Rodriguez Lands Her First Big Beauty Contract. In: New York . November 8, 2019, accessed February 1, 2020 .
  22. ↑ Rachel Yang: 'Avengers: Endgame,' 'Game of Thrones' Dominate MTV Movie & TV Award Nominations. In: Variety . May 14, 2019, accessed February 1, 2020 .
  23. ↑ Nominations Announced in Motion Pictures and Television Programs Categories - 2020 Awards. In: producersguild.org. January 7, 2020, accessed on January 31, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Rodriguez, MJ
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rodriguez, Mj
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actress and singer
DATE OF BIRTH January 7, 1991
PLACE OF BIRTH Newark , New Jersey