New York: “Pose” star Mj Rodriguez became the first transgender woman ever nominated for best lead actress in a drama at the Emmys and the first trans performer ever nominated for any major acting category at the awards show.
Rodriguez scored her nomination for her role as Blanca Rodriguez-Evangelista, also a trans woman, in the FX period drama “Pose.”
Learning of her historic Emmy nomination, Mj Rodriguez of “Pose” had one overwhelming feeling: “I felt so seen.”
The nom for Rodriguez, who plays house mother and nurse Blanca in the FX show about ballroom culture in the 1980s and ’90s that recently ended its third and final season, was one of several nods for the show, including best actor for Billy Porter and best drama. The series from Steven Canals and Ryan Murphy broke ground with the casting of transgender actors as trans characters.
Rodriguez and her family were not alone in their joy or recognition of the enormity of the moment. Sarah Kate Ellis of GLAAD, the LGBTQ+ organization, called her nomination “a breakthrough for transgender women in Hollywood, and a long-overdue recognition for her groundbreaking performance over the past three seasons of ‘Pose’”.
