{"id":2079452,"date":"2025-10-09T13:13:35","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T13:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2079452"},"modified":"2025-10-09T13:13:35","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T13:13:35","slug":"michaela-jae-rodriguez-knew-she-would-make-it-long-before-hollywood-did","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/michaela-jae-rodriguez-knew-she-would-make-it-long-before-hollywood-did\/","title":{"rendered":"Michaela Ja\u00e9 Rodriguez Knew She Would Make It Long Before Hollywood Did"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p id=\"73101f85-8c14-4c2b-80d9-bf887b7bc137\">Long before <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mjrodriguez7\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mjrodriguez7\/\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\">Michaela Ja\u00e9 Rodriguez<\/a> earned an Emmy nomination and became the first trans actor to win a Golden Globe for her lead role in <em>Pose<\/em>, she knew she was destined to make it as a performer.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Never worried about not making it ever. I always had the mindset of, like, achieving what I wanted to achieve,&#8221; Rodriguez says on the latest episode of <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.marieclaire.com\/tag\/nice-talk\/\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.marieclaire.com\/tag\/nice-talk\/\">&#8220;Nice Talk&#8221;<\/a>. The conversation was recorded in September when the actor and singer joined editor-in-chief Nikki Ogunnaike on stage at <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.marieclaire.com\/culture\/power-play-philadelphia-day-one-recap\/\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.marieclaire.com\/culture\/power-play-philadelphia-day-one-recap\/\"><em>Marie Claire<\/em>&#8216;s Power Play<\/a> summit in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" id=\"elk-seasonal\" href=\"\" data-url=\"\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"\/><\/p>\n<aside id=\"seasonal_0\" class=\"hawk-root\" data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\"\/>\n<p id=\"73101f85-8c14-4c2b-80d9-bf887b7bc137-2\">Rodriguez attended a performing arts high school and later studied at Berklee College of Music, where she says taking business courses alongside her music studies helped her better understand the entertainment industry.<\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-recirculation-type=\"inline\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"Trending Bar\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"pt-3 pb-4 mb-4 border-b border-solid border-[#333]\">\n<span class=\"&#10;after:content-[''] after:flex-1 after:ml-4 after:my-[0.7rem] after:border-t-[#333] after:border-t after:border-solid&#10;before:content-[''] before:flex-1 before:mr-4 before:my-[0.7rem] before:border-t-[#333] before:border-t before:border-solid&#10;font-article-heading pb-3 !text-base font-bold uppercase sm:text-sm text-[#333] flex\"><br \/>\nYou may like<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>&#8220;[They] made me more aware how the mechanism of the machine worked, so that when I went in, I had a clear vision of what I wanted to do and how I was going to move collectively in it,&#8221; the 34-year-old says.<\/p>\n<p>But beyond her training, Rodriguez credits her confidence and drive to her mother.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I always go back to my mother, because she was always the person to achieve what she wanted to achieve. And she never stopped,&#8221; the <em>American Horror Story<\/em> star says. &#8220;She was literally the vision that pushed me forward &#8230; And I don&#8217;t see it any other way, either. I&#8217;m gonna keep going.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p id=\"2292735d-4e70-4252-93eb-f0bd4ceea80a\">And while she\u2019s undeniably self-assured, Rodriguez admits that before landing her breakout role on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.marieclaire.com\/culture\/a32827511\/dominique-jackson-pose-interview\/\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.marieclaire.com\/culture\/a32827511\/dominique-jackson-pose-interview\/\"><em>Pose<\/em><\/a>, there was a moment when doubt crept in. During a period when she was \u201cauditioning like crazy\u201d and feeling discouraged about her career, it was her mom who offered the words she needed most.<\/p>\n<div id=\"slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-rrhfWftNmaWxcPPvCEzsD7\" class=\"slice-container newsletter-inbodyContent-slice newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-rrhfWftNmaWxcPPvCEzsD7 slice-container-newsletterForm\">\n<div data-hydrate=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-form__wrapper newsletter-form__wrapper--inbodyContent\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form__container\">\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__top-bar\"\/>\n<section class=\"newsletter-form__main-section\">\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">Get exclusive access to fashion and beauty trends, hot-off-the-press celebrity news, and more.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;I remember going into my mom&#8217;s room with my stepdad, and I was just like, &#8216;I&#8217;m giving up. I&#8217;m just gonna go and live my regular life, and I&#8217;m gonna get a nine-to-five, and we are gonna be okay, and we are gonna be alright&#8217;. And my mom said, &#8216;I just don&#8217;t see that for you. I see it. Something&#8217;s right around the corner.&#8217; After my mom said that, literally, two days afterwards, I saw a breakdown and it was <em>Pose<\/em>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Now, Rodriguez is continuing to push forward. She&#8217;s woking on a new EP\u2014her last album, <em>33<\/em>, was released in 2024\u2014and she&#8217;s starring in the comedy series <em>Loot<\/em> alongside Maya Rudolph. The third season premieres on Oct. 15.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The whole cast, we are fools,&#8221; Rodriguez says. &#8220;We have so much fun on that set. It&#8217;s a dream.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>For more from Rodriguez\u2014including how she felt about winning her Golden Globe and the celebrity whose closet she&#8217;d love to raid\u2014check out this week\u2019s installment of <em>Nice Talk<\/em>. The episode is available everywhere you listen to podcasts.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" id=\"elk-2ad81392-42b6-4eda-8b65-630484224b1e\" href=\"\" data-url=\"\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\"\/><iframe allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" height=\"352\" width=\"100%\" id=\"\" style=\"border-radius:12px\" data-lazy-priority=\"low\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/6XpnKFBWWeBRWNijCeRcpm?utm_source=generator\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.marieclaire.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Long before Michaela Ja\u00e9 Rodriguez earned an Emmy nomination and became the first trans actor to win a Golden Globe for her lead role in Pose, she knew she was destined to make it as a performer. &#8220;Never worried about not making it ever. I always had the mindset of, like, achieving what I wanted [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2079453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2079452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrities"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Michaela-Jae-Rodriguez-Knew-She-Would-Make-It-Long-Before.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2079452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2079452"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2079452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2079454,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2079452\/revisions\/2079454"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2079453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2079452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2079452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2079452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}