MJ Rodriguez Declares 'There's A Future' For Trans Actors After 'Pose,' Says 'We Can't Let This Momentum Go'
Pose — a show starring trans actors and featuring a predominantly non-white cast at a time when Hollywood executives still struggle to see BIPOC and LGBTQ+ individuals and stories as profitable — broke barriers on cable TV.
Prolific mega-producer Ryan Murphy took a show about New York’s ballroom scene during the height of the AIDS epidemic and turned it into a TV juggernaut.
The beloved TV series came to a heart-wrenching end on Sunday, June 6, after three seasons that tackled homelessness, sex work, the rejection the trans community deals with on a daily basis and combined it with heart and dance to captivate millions around the world weekly.
OK! recently chatted with Pose star MJ Rodriguez, who portrays Blanca — the legendary mother of the House of Evangelista — and declares that although Pose has come to an end, trans representation in Hollywood is just beginning.
“We can’t let this momentum go,” she exclusively tells OK!, referring to the power Pose had on changing the hearts and minds of people. “I think it’s so important that we keep featuring people of the LGBTQIA community, especially the trans community, especially the trans male community.”
Rodriguez continues: “There needs to be a lot of awareness coming out, it shouldn’t stop here, there’s such a future for us.”
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OK! caught up with Rodriguez on the carpet for the final night of the OUTLOUD: Raising Voices concert series, a Pride event she was handpicked by superstar Adam Lambert to partake in.
VINCINT, ADAM LAMBERT, MJ RODRIGUEZ
Lambert curated the headlining show for the collaboration with Pride Live's Stonewall Day and his Feel Something Foundation, which featured LGBTQ+ artists Kim Petras, Vincint, Sam Sparro and many more, to shine a spotlight on artists he believes are often overlooked in the industry.
“I started in the business 10 years ago, it was a different landscape, there were not a lot of queer people in mainstream music on major labels, it was sort of a niche thing,” he exclusively spilled to OK!. “Now, that environment has changed so much, you see queer artists are a viable, commercial product [so to speak] for a record label.”
Lambert continued: “There are so many queer people of all different types, colors, sizes and genres in the game,” so he took it upon himself to spearhead a movement that ensures all LGBTQ+ artists are given their chance to shine.
