Michaela Jaé (MJ) Rodriguez

Biography

Michaela Jaé Rodriguez is an American actress and singer who grew up in Newark, New Jersey, and studied at youth performing arts programs before winning the role of Angel Dumott Schunard in an off-Broadway production of Rent, a performance that brought her the 2011 Clive Barnes Award. Between 2012 and 2016 she took small parts on television shows such as Nurse Jackie, The Carrie Diaries, and Luke Cage. Her breakthrough came as Blanca Evangelista in the FX drama Pose, a lead role that drew critical praise. She earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Pose in 2021 and won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Series Drama in 2022. Her other credits include the independent film Saturday Church (2018), in which she played Ebony and received a Tribeca Film Festival Best Actress nomination, and she released a debut single, Something to Say, in 2021.

35years old

Turns 36 on January 7in 58 days

Born January 7, 1991Newark
Star sign: CapricornThe sign runs December 22 to January 19
Also credited as Michaela Antonia Jaé Rodriguez and M.J. Rodriguez

Movie Career

Films: 5
Career span: 6 years2018 to 2024

Every film, newest first

2024SkincareIMDb rating 5.7
2021tick, tick...BOOM!IMDb rating 7.5
2019AdamIMDb rating 4.3
2018Saturday ChurchIMDb rating 6.4
2018The Big TakeIMDb rating 5.2

Genres

Did you know?!

Big break
Rodriguez was cast as Angel in an off-Broadway production of Rent after Fredi Walker-Browne, who originated Joanne Jefferson on Broadway, asked her to read for the part and helped her land an audition.
About the name
Rodriguez chose the stage name Mj Rodriguez after Mary Jane "MJ" Watson, a Marvel Comics character. She calls herself a comic book geek and formed the name from letters of her birth name.