MICHAELA JAÉ RODRIGUEZ 'I'm the Girl That I've Always Been

AFTER BURSTING ONTO THE SCENE IN POSE, THE TRANS ACTRESS AND ACTIVIST IS THRIVING CONSCREEN AND OFF

- JANINE RUBENSTEIN

Only one thing scares Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, and unfortunately it's something the in-demand actress can't really avoid these days: planes. "Listen, I'm that girl that doesn't fear a lot," she says. "I've realized through growing up and going through the world as a Black trans woman who's Latina and having to deal with the hard hits of people on the street calling me all kinds of names, the only thing I could really be afraid of is falling from the sky. Anything else, I've dealt with it already." The 33-year-old has carried that hard-won fierceness into every role, including her star-making performance as Blanca on FX's Pose. The trailblazing drama about New York City ballroom culture earned Rodriguez an Emmy nomination and scored her the first-ever Golden Globe awarded to an out trans person. "I didn't realize until after it ended how much of a catapult it was," she says of the show. Now she's making her mark in comedy as no-nonsense do-gooder Sofia on Loot, in its second season on Apple TV+. "I'm so in awe and thankful," she says of starring alongside Maya Rudo