After three seasons of playing Blanca Evangelista on the groundbreaking FX drama Pose—and becoming the first trans woman to win a Golden Globe and earn an Emmy Award nomination in a leading acting category—Michaela Jaé Rodriguez was looking for a role that was a dramatic departure from the HIV+ trans woman and house mother navigating the underground ballroom culture of New York City in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
“I didn’t want people to keep this image of Blanca in their head,” Rodriguez tells Xtra in a recent Zoom interview from Los Angeles. “Instead, I wanted them to just keep her on their shoulder, and I wanted them to see Michaela Jaé as a well-rounded actress, so I wanted to try to just delve into something new.”
To her surprise, the 31-year-old multi-hyphenate found exactly what she was looking for in Loot, which premieres Friday on Apple TV+. Created by Matt Hubbard and Alan Yang (Parks and Recreation, Forever), the new comedy series follows Molly Wells (Maya Rudolph), a billionaire who discovers in the wake of her painful divorce that she has a charitable foundation, giving her a newfound sense of purpose. Rodriguez plays Sofia Salinas, the no-nonsense executive director of the foundation who fears that Molly’s misguided—albeit well-intentioned—actions will generate bad press and prevent the organization from helping vulnerable people in Southern California.
“I love comedy and I always wanted to try it, and I never really had that opportunity until this audition came along. It just kind of came out of nowhere, and I was really thankful for it,” Rodriguez says. “You never think in a million years you would be able to execute a character like this until you realize, ‘Oh, I want to play something different. I want to play a badass chick who knows about herself, who’s self-assured, who is on a trajectory that’s upward and onward and not looking back.’ And that’s what Sofia is now. She doesn’t want to stay stagnant. Instead, she wants to keep moving.”
Below, Rodriguez speaks about the importance of capturing humanity in fictional characters, the enduring impact that Pose has made on her own life, and the actor she would love to cast as her love interest in a romantic comedy one day.
It would be really easy to write Sofia off as a hard-headed boss, but it becomes clear through her conversations with Molly that she cares deeply about her community, and that her passion stems from an incident in her own childhood. What do you think slowly wears down Sofia’s tough exterior?
You mentioned something about her past, and I think that was the main thing for me. That monologue alone, talking about her father and her mother and her father being laid off because he broke his leg, and him not being able to get a job anymore, I think that’s what spoke to me most. That was the most important part about building this character and knowing that Sofia at that moment has a heart of understanding, because she’s been through something. She understands the struggle, so she looks at Molly and even though with all of this privilege and even a lot of ignorance, she still sees a human being who definitely is rich and wealthy, but also could possibly change the narrative if someone influences her to [do so]. And it looks like not only Sofia does that, but the group—the ensemble—helps her through that as well.
Do you think Hollywood is getting to a place where a character’s transness isn’t always at the forefront of their identity, but is rather an intrinsic part of who they are that is accepted without question? Was that part of the appeal of playing Sofia, where audiences don’t explicitly know if she’s cis or trans?
Yeah, that was a conscious decision on my own. And not that I was shunning away my transness, because I never do that, obviously, through my interviews and letting people know how proud I am to be a part of the LGBTQIA community. But I also wanted to break it down within the industry, in the film realm, that your transness is not everything that you lead with. Being a human first is what is most important. And whoever sees this, whether they know I’m trans or whether they don’t know, that’s the best part about it, because then they’ll just look at the human who’s really trying her best to climb the ladder as a woman in an industry that is really hard—in a corporate industry—and [she] so happens to be the COO to a CEO. That’s what people should focus on and see how she’s really changing the dynamic [of the company]—and not only that, but she’s influencing the CEO to do the same, and transness or not has nothing to do with it.
From the beginning, Blanca on Pose was very adamant about wanting to cement her legacy, and in the process of playing her on a show that carved out a space for trans actors, you were able to make television history. How did that role change the way you walk through the world as a trans woman?
I think most importantly, that role made me understand that a struggle is extremely real. There’s no fakeness about a struggle: you go through it and you endure it as much as you can until you persevere or, unfortunately, until you can’t anymore. And the fortunate part is that Blanca persevered, she transcended and she got the fruits of her labour, and when I saw that within the writing in the third season, that inspired me to keep going. If Blanca [could do that] in 1987 through 1995, at a time where trans women were seen as deviants and prostitutes and these systemic and stigmatized kind of images, she showed me that I can win in 2022 where a trans woman can be number one on a call sheet and actually lead in a show, and that I’m going to continue to win, and I’m not going to stop winning until I’m off this Earth! [Smiles.]
What did it mean to you to finally feel seen and recognized by your peers in the television academy for everything that you bring to the table as an Afro-Latina trans woman?
Well, I’ll say this: what it means to me is that if I’m being seen, then every single last person who’s a part of the LGBTQIA community, especially the trans women and trans men, is being seen. If [my peers] are looking at me, that means their scope of people like myself is there. They can watch it, they can understand it, they can study it … they need to study it! [Laughs.] And it’s going to be an evolution constantly with us as human beings all the time.
How would you say you have found and grown into your own voice through your work and your craft?
Well, I’ll start with personally: I wake up every morning and I know that my life is limited because we’re not promised tomorrow—and I’m not trying to be religious; I’m very spiritual, but it’s just a reality. Anything can happen to you, whether you are cis, trans, non-conforming, African American, Asian, the list goes on and that is what sets me grounded and keeps my feet on the ground. But when it comes to professionally, I’ll say the work. The work is the most important thing: how the story is relayed, what kind of stories I’m telling and what I’m making the decisions to be a part of, and how I want that to be translated to other people around the world.
Has there been a response from a fan to your work that has continued to stick with you throughout the years?
Oh, definitely. I always talk to my fans. Sometimes, I talk to them so much, they’re like, “Okay, you have a good day, sis.” And I’m like, “Oh, okay, I must have been talking too much.” [Laughs.] But I try to make it my duty to just get in contact with them. And when I hear, “You changed my life,” or “I’ve never had a house mother,” or “I’ve never seen a trans woman in a position of a COO in a television show, and now I feel like I can actually just go out and audition—simply alone, just audition,” that makes the difference for me. That means I—as well as the other women who are alongside me, because it’s not just me—am influencing people to move and act—and not just act in my terms as an actress, but to get up and take action. That’s what my goal is. That’s what I want people to do every single time they see my work or any other trans person’s work or any other LGBTQIA+ person or ally: gGet up, act, make it happen for yourself.
Now that you seem to have a bit more agency and the ability to cross over from one medium to another, what attracts you the most to a project? Is there a certain thing that you’re looking for, or is it simply a case of wanting to diversify your body of work and broaden people’s perceptions of what you can do as an actress?
It’s both. I definitely want to take part in something that I really love, but it’s also: “What is the story going to tell? And how can I convey it the best way I can?” There are things like rom-coms—I would love to be a part of a rom-com movie, if possible, because I feel like there’s definitely a space for seeing women like myself being loved, but also being funny and [seeing] how it happens. You see the generic story of a girl falling down the stairs and then a guy comes out of nowhere and he trips over her, and that’s how they fall in love, and I think a trans woman should be alloted that. There needs to be trans women being shown love on the big screen so that the girls in the audience can say, “Oh, I can receive that?!” I think that’s most important.
Is there a certain actor with whom you would like to act in a rom-com?
Ooh, let’s see, because there are plenty. [Stares directly into the camera.] And Stephen, baby, my boyfriend, I love you. [Laughs.] I wouldn’t have a problem playing—and this is just thrown out there, but I think he would be great because he’s just beautiful and we would really work well together in the realm of acting—Jacob from Euphoria. Is that his name?
Yes, Jacob Elordi! He plays Nate Jacobs.
Yes, yes! He’s tall, Australian, handsome—perfect match. Just saying …
A perfect match indeed. Apart from the classic rom-com, is there a role or a genre you really want to tackle next?
Oh yeah, I definitely have a role and a genre—it’s action. I’m a bad girl, I love to be the girl who you know is the superhero, but who has to shoot things up in order to make that happen. It’s my favourite thing. I love Lara Croft—she’s a badass, and I would love to play a character that’s like her. I won’t be that kind of action girl, but there is a movie that I’m possibly attached to right now that I’m really excited about, and hopefully you guys will hear about it soon. [Smiles.]
Do you have any new music in the works, or any things that you can tease for your fans in that space?
I do have new music in the works! I did perform it not too long ago. I opened up for Christina Aguilera and Anitta, and I played two of my songs from my EP, so people will be hearing them pretty soon—sooner than later.
As one of the people who is leading the charge to increase trans visibility in the media, what advice do you have for younger trans creatives who feel like they are finally being seen, but who don’t know if they are able to take that next step and feel truly recognized for who they really are?
At this point in time, I would say, “Gracefully break down the wall.” Now, you would probably wonder, What does gracefully breaking down the wall mean? Can you really gracefully knock down a wall? Well, believe it or not, you can. Your words have so much power. Sometimes, they have more power than your actions, and it’s how you convey it, it’s how you say it, it’s how you get the point across. My words, I try to use them with love, care, but also diligence and also sternness. I mean what I say, I know what I want and I don’t really take no for an answer, and I think that’s what the trans community and the LGBTQIA community should do. We are a community who thrives with love, and we are so multifaceted and we have all of these beautiful talents, and not to mention we’re every beautiful colour of the rainbow; we’re such a diverse group. We have the power to change, and it’s individuals like Laverne Cox and Alexandra Billings and Trace Lysette—the list could go on, I could go on for days—who are really showing, We can do this, so why not?
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity. The first three episodes of Loot premiere Friday on Apple TV+, followed by a new episode every week through August 12.
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