Pose star and Newark Native, MJ Rodriguez came back to her hometown yesterday to help local high school kids from her former high school, Newark Arts, stomp out bullying. Rodriguez even connected with some of her former high school teachers as she talked about growing up in Newark and how the love from her mother taught her how to be authentic. In celebration of National Bully Prevention Month, the actress who stars as Blanca Rodriguez-Evangelista on the hit F/X show, Pose, participated in a Q&A with New York Times best-selling author, Aliya S. King, at 3rd Space, an upscale boutique family-owned and operated coworking space in Newark.
Pose boasts the largest cast of transgender actors to be starring as series regulars in a scripted show. Rodriguez began pursuing the acting profession at the age of 11 after her mother enrolled her in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center—where she became an eight-year veteran of the program and participated in its New Jersey Youth Theater program.
In the fall of 2019, Rodriguez played Audrey, the leading lady in Pasadena Playhouse’s production of Little Shop of Horrors, becoming the first transgender woman of color to play the role in a major production. About the role she told Broadway.com, “I’m simply an actress. I think any woman should be considered for this role. [My casting] shouldn’t be something that’s trending—it should be normal.”
Feature image courtesy of 3rd Space.
