Michaela Jaé Rodriguez Is Celebrating Her Historic Golden Globe Win

On Sunday, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez made history as the first trans actress to win a Golden Globe, winning for her turn as Blanca Evangelista in the third and final season of Pose on FX. But unless you were one of the few who attended the ceremony at the Beverly Hills Hilton, you might not have realized that. The 2022 Golden Globes were tweeted rather than broadcast; as such, Rodriguez had to turn to Instagram instead of an adoring crowd to celebrate her groundbreaking achievement.

Vanity Fair thought she deserved a bigger spotlight. So we Zoomed Rodriguez Monday, chatting with her about the win, her Pose family, and what she would have said at the podium. “I’m still on cloud nine, child,” she said as an opening. “I’m still like ‘What is going on!?’”

Vanity Fair: How did you find out the big news?

Michaela Jae Rodriguez: It was a different way then the Golden Globes had ever been announced before, so I had to really do my work on finding the site. I struggled so heavily, I was like “Oh my god, where is it?” So, I’m sitting in the living room and I see on the screen that the next category they’re going to announce is best leading actress . I see my face. I scream, I kick and break my ankle—I really didn’t break my ankle, I just kind of hurt it a little bit. I remember running and calling my father and my mom, and the rest is history.

What does this award mean to you?

Child, it changed my whole perspective of how I saw myself and how I saw myself as an actress. I just felt so seen. I felt so seen.

Now there are more opportunities for me to really showcase myself in different aspects of film and television. People now get to see me as a full, well-rounded artist. They get to see that I’m actually serious about my craft. They see that I don’t play games when it comes with what I love to do, and that I want to be an example for other people—let them know that hard work truly pays off.

I see so many things happening. I’m going to be speaking into existence other films—I’m working on some now. There are a lot of things that are happening. There was a time where I didn’t see this for myself. Now I’m in a space where I’m like, ‘Yes. It’s going to happen for me now. There’s no time to second guess myself. Just dive on in.’

Did anyone from Pose reach out to congratulate you?

The Pose family is a family, honey, and the family that prays together stays together [laughs]. I heard from Dominique [Jackson]. She sent me a beautiful text message. I got a call from Indya [Moore]. Hailie Sahar contacted me. Angelica [Ross], Billy [Porter], Ryan Jamaal Swain. I’m listing all the names when I could just say everybody. But those names mean so much to me. That’s why I say them. They all lifted me up and in reverse I was just like, “Y’all, it takes the village.” This is not just me. I said, “Thank you, cause this was for us.”

What would you have said if you had an opportunity to give an acceptance speech?

At least I have enough time to actually give a good speech. The minute would have gone by quick and I would have been like “Oh damn, I didn’t get a chance to finish” [laughs].

I am thankful, number one, to the FX crew, the FX team, and the FX production. They saw something in a lot of these actors and actresses that a lot of people wouldn’t have seen. I’m obviously thankful to Ryan Murphy—along with [creator] Steven Canals, [executive producer] Brad Falchuk, Brad Simpson, and Nina Jacobson—they took the time out to see us. They came to New York City and they sought out actors who were authentic to these characters. I would thank Janet [Mock] and Our Lady J for coming in so beautifully, writing and directing and being strong pillars for trans women behind the scenes. I want to thank my cast. We did our research as actors. We did our research as artists, and made sure that we delivered as best as we could to portray these characters to their truest form. And lastly, I have to thank my mama and my daddy for loving me, because if they didn’t love me hard like they did I would not have been able to win this award.