Mj Rodriguez Makes History With Lead Actress Emmy Nomination

Mj Rodriguez is officially an Emmy-nominated actress. Rodriguez was nominated on Tuesday for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as house mother Blanca Evangelista on Pose, and made history as the first trans performer to ever be nominated for an Emmy award in a lead acting category. This is Rodriguez’s first Emmy nomination.

“I do believe this is a pivotal moment,” Rodriguez told Variety. “There’s never been a trans woman who has been nominated as a leading outstanding actress and I feel like that pushes the needle forward so much for now the door to be knocked down for so many people — whether they be male or trans female, gender nonconforming, LGBTQIA+, it does not matter.”

Pose, which aired its series finale on FX in June, has received critical acclaim and is considered a watershed in television history for its depiction of LGBTQ culture. The Ryan Murphy-led drama follows an ensemble cast of LGBTQ characters, mostly portrayed by LGBTQ actors, immersed in the world of ballroom culture in the 1980s and 1990s. The show features the largest cast of transgender actors ever to appear as series regulars on a scripted show.

Rodriguez’s nomination is widely considered overdue. While Pose has been nominated for numerous Emmys throughout its run, the only actor from the show’s cast to ever be recognized with a nomination is Billy Porter — who made history when he became the first openly gay Black man to take home the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series award in 2019. The failure to recognize any of the trans actresses who fill out the rest of the main cast across the show’s three seasons gained the attention of GLAAD, which teamed up with multiple other LGBTQ organizations to pen an open letter to the Emmy Award Voters on the opening day of nominations, urging voters to understand that “more recognition is merited now.”

“The talented transgender actresses, actors, and non-binary performers in this series have not yet been honored by Television Academy members and their performances deserve acknowledgment,” reads the letter. “In 2021 – with Pose’s third and final season – this once in a lifetime moment is right now.”

Rodriguez's nomination wasn't the only history-making one. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bowen Yang became the first Chinese-American man nominated as a supporting actor; Lovecraft Country stars Jonathan Majors and Jurnee Smollett were nominated for best leading actor and actress, marking the first time a Black lead actor and actress from the same drama were nominated in the same year.

Pose earned a total of nine nominations on Tuesday, including a nomination for Outstanding Drama Series, another Lead Actor nomination for Billy Porter, and the historic leading actress nomination of Mj Rodriguez. According to Variety, only two openly trans actors have received Emmy nominations before Rodriguez: Laverne Cox in the guest drama actress category for Orange is the New Black, and Rain Valdez in the short form comedy or drama actress category for Razor Tongue.

Rodriguez went on Instagram Live shortly after nominations were announced to deliver a message of gratitude to her fans. “I’ve been wanting to express, and feel, and spread love all my life, and I’ve always wanted to spread it through my art, and I finally feel like I can do it,” Rodriguez said. “I finally feel like people are seeing it."

In an interview with AP following the nominations, Rodriguez spoke further on the impact she hopes her nomination will have on young people, “who can look to us and see that we are human and that we have so much to offer and that we can be looked up to and that there are dreams that are obtainable, because we can make them happen.”

You can find the complete list of nominations for the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards here.

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Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out: Pose Is Making Television History With These 5 Transgender Actors