August 13, 2024 • 30 mins
Michaela Jaé Rodriguez made history in 2022 when she became the first trans actor to win a Golden Globe for her role as Blanca in “Pose.” This year, Michaela Jaé turned 33 and is commemorating that milestone year by turning to music with her debut album titled “33,” out September 26th. She joins The Bright Side to discuss her new album and all things “Pose” and reflect on her historic win at the Golden Globes.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello Sunshine, Hey besties.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Today on the bright Side, we're joined by the one,
the only, Mikayla J Rodriguez. She's here to talk about
her trailblazing career, from her Golden Globe winning role in
Pose to her more recent performance in the Apple TV
comedy series Lute, and now MICHAELA. Jay is coming out
with a debut album next month. It's Tuesday, August thirteenth.
I'm Simone Boyce.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
I'm Danielle Robe and this is the bright Side from
Hello Sunshine, a daily show where we come together to
share women's stories, to laugh, learn and brighten your day. Okay, Simone,
I'm gonna take us back for a second. Let me
set the scene for you, New York City, nineteen eighty seven.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Okay, the ball scene. Yes, it's giving glitter vogue hands.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I'm talking about the show Pose and our guest today,
Mikayla Jay was a star of that show.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
I even say the breakout star. It was so fun
to watch.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
It gave us fishnets and drama and Donna summer music,
and it also gave us heartfelt and real and an
inside look into the experiences of the LGBTQ community at
that time.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
You couldn't help but fall in love with each and
every one of those characters. Yes, they were so lovable.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
So the show also really highlighted the experiences of queer
and trans people of color. There's a writer from The
Guardian that wrote something about the show Pose that I
think covers it better than I could.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
They wrote, the story is achingly.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Now and as old as the Hollywood Hills, and I
think that's part of what people loved about it. It
gave us a look into a time period that we
hadn't seen depict it on TV before in a narrative way.
It was the height of the AIDS epidemic. This show
was also completely universal. It was a guide for living life,
for encouraging people to stand up for themselves, uplifting each other,
(01:57):
and to pose proudly in their purpose. You know, sometimes
the right TV series comes along at the moment that
we need it, and that was Pose.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Well. We see so much trans struggle, pain, heartbreak, and
Pose did not shy away from that. It was so
honest about that. But it was really heartening to see
the joy on full display on the ballroom floor and
to see the bridges that this community has built.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Yeah, You're right because with any minority group, we don't
often see the joy, we see the struggle.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
That's such a good point.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
And I think that word community is the word I
think of when I think of that show, because the
show was centered around chosen family, chosen community, which is
such a buzzword in the LGBTQ community because there's still
so many people whose birth families don't embrace them. So
the show debuted in twenty eighteen and it ran until
twenty twenty one. But here's the thing, we're still talking
(02:51):
about it.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
It had such a.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Lasting impact on people, and Mikayla Jay's role as Blanca
Evangelista launched her into the spotlight. That performance actually earned
Mikayla Jay her first Emmy nomination and Golden Globe. It
made her the first transactress to win the award.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Truly iconic, and since then, Mikayla Jay has taken Hollywood
by storms. She's starred in an American horror story and
Loot alongside Maya Rudolph, and now she's making some music, y'all.
Her debut album, titled thirty three, is out next month
on September twenty sixth, and it explores themes of resilience
and self discovery through the eyes of a very sexy
(03:30):
avatar named Mikayla J three three f seven. So with
this concept album, Mikayla Jay said she wanted to create
a quote deeply flawed but resilient hero that young people
can look up to.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
And even though this may be a new venture, Mikayla
Jay knows music. She attended the Berkeley College of Music
in Boston and soon after got her start in an
off Broadway production of Rent, which we love.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yeah, she actually fell in love with music first and
then acting came second.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
She really did us at all.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Mikayla Jay. Welcome to the bright Side.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Yes, welcome. What's that? What's that? What's up?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
You know what?
Speaker 4 (04:07):
We actually have to rewind.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
I have to do that again because our guest today
requires a different introduction. Oh okay, and the category is
oare somebody had to do it.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Somebody had to do it. I'll take that. I'll take it. Respect.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
Thank you for not shaving me for the corny intro.
Speaker 5 (04:25):
I had to No, that's home right there, Yes, no
puns intended, No puns intended. I just realized I said home,
and that s pose home this is needed. We're never
mad at that.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Well. I wanted to talk to you about your home
because I found out last night that you were from.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
Newark, New Jersey.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Bricksy Loot American horror story pose one of my favorites.
You're so Hollywood. Now are you still a Jersey girl
or you? Have you gone full blown Hollywood?
Speaker 5 (04:53):
Oh no, She's going to be Jersey all day every day.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
You just you want people to take it out of
me at all.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Okay, Mikayla, So you recently turned thirty three. You're also
out with your debut album, also titled thirty three. It
seems like you are commemorating this big milestone with this year.
What does this year mean to you?
Speaker 1 (05:13):
It means a lot to me.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
I mean, there's so much that has happened within this
year as far as growth when it comes to me
as a person, realizing, rectifying, changing, this year has been
very prolific for me, and I thought it was only
right to come out with a body of work, a
project of work that will really showcase what I've gone through,
the stories that I can create, how creative I am,
(05:36):
and how people can really get an understanding of me.
And I thought the best way to do it was
through music. So I think that's like the best kind
of like layout I can give.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Which song do you think best represents the growth that
you've experienced why?
Speaker 5 (05:49):
It is basically a song about asking why am I
treated the way as I'm treated as a trans person
of color in the world of America and even when
I and I'm sure any woman in the world could
understand this because women go through this all the time.
But like that song, I asked all the questions of why,
(06:10):
like why am I placed here when I could be
placed here? And my sisters as well? Why are they
placed here when I could be or we could be
placed here? Why are we treated the ways that we're treated?
Why are we deemed other than a human?
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Why?
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Why?
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Why? Why?
Speaker 5 (06:25):
Why is no one doing the work to lay down
the foundation for us to feel comfortable in the being
spaces that we need to be in.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Why?
Speaker 5 (06:33):
And I think that was the growth that I had
is you should always ask questions, never be afraid to
ask questions, and also never be said that you don't
get an answer, that might be your true answer right
there when they're silent. So that was the main song
that really spoke to me, and all of them are
close to my heart.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
I mean I'm biased naturally.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
As you were talking about that, I was like, oh,
I know why, because she was clearly called to do
something great and to have a voice and to encourage
other people to have a voice. Did you, in this
process of like self discovery producing this album, did you
come up with an answer to those big whys?
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (07:09):
I think the answer for me was I wasn't being
loud enough, So I guess I just got to be
a little bit louder. I mean I and I say
enough because I was being loud but just not enough.
So I guess it's time to be a little bit louder.
And I guess music can be turned up. The volume
can be turned up, So I guess that's the loudest
we can get is through music.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
This album is a celebration of your artistic expression. Yeah,
and it's a concept album, it is what does that mean?
Speaker 5 (07:35):
So the concept album meaning like there is a story
to the whole premise of why the album's coming out
and who this person is. And Mikayla Jay is me
present day. Mikayla Jay is the girl you're talking to
right now. But like the Model thirty three of seven,
she's just another hybrid form in a total different world
than me who's trying to relate to the present day.
She's the future, you know, So like that was the
(07:57):
whole concept I wanted to help you people. I feel
as an artist, there's this entity or this bionic being
who's trying to let the president day Mion Kayla Jay
know that there is something much bigger than what all
of you really understand, and the only way she can
do it is through her passion, which is art and music.
And we all, a lot of us have the gifts
and the tenacity just stand out and show up and
(08:20):
speak through our gifts what we feel could be the
bigger answer. And I think that's what this character is
and who she is. And I don't know what she's
going through on the other end, seems like a lot,
and I don't know how I can relate to her.
But all I'm doing is conveying her message through this
piece of work and this body of work. I mean,
when they look at her, they're going to see present
day Mikaela Jay, obviously, but what they don't understand is
(08:41):
that totally different person, totally different person from who I am.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
When I sit here with you present, Mikayla, you have
such a bright spirit. That's the first thing I realized
when you walk through the door. How does past, Michayla
play into present? Who were you as a kid in Newark,
New Jersey?
Speaker 5 (09:00):
I was a rambunctious stand out, took no mess, always
had a mouth.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
My mouth got me in trouble a lot.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
I got to learn from my mama, Yeah, no mess,
Like my mom had to always be like girl, you
can't always just like react. And I'm glad I've grown
not to react. But I think that was the strength
that I had when I was younger, for people just
to not play with me like I just never ever
had the time for that, you know what I mean.
And I think that's what made me grow into a mature, smarter,
(09:29):
intelligent human being now as an adult, as a trans
grown ass woman, you know what I mean. But when
I was younger, I was fun. I was even more
energetic than I am now. A child jumping off a wall,
just jumping off a beds, jumping in the pools, all
things everything.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Okay, I think everyone's sitting at the table, we all
know that names have power.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
And over the course of your career.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
We'd known you by many names, Yes, m J, Rodriguez,
Angel and Rent Blanca and post yes, and now you
are going by your full name, Mikayla J. And it
seems like you're in this period of expansion in your
life personally. So what does this expansion of your name represent.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
It gives people more of a personal aspect of me
versus just the minimal aspect of me.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
MJ was my nickname for so long.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
And even though everybody knew me as MICHAELA Antonio J Rodriguez,
MJ was what stuck. But I felt like that was
just the nickname that everyone knew and it wouldn't separate
me or set me apart. And then there was a
resurgence when I wanted to re enter the music rum
and reestablish myself and not tell myself to a name
(10:37):
that people would probably associate with my acting or with
anything else. I wanted to completely wash the slate clean
and show people who I was as an artist and
as a music artist. So that's why Mikaela JA was
so prominent. And I didn't want to put Antonia up
in there, and I didn't want Rodriguez to be there either.
You know, I love my Latin. You know, people so
like we always going to show up, but I wanted
(10:58):
there to be a name that stood out and also
to honor me in my initials. You know, so now
people know what the initials spell out. M spells Mikayla
and Jay. I mean, sound it out, it's Jae. But
you know, I wanted people to see who I was
as an artist and separate those two.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
This is a big reinvention for you. It's huge.
Speaker 5 (11:17):
It's huge, and like I said, I mean it's a
big reinvention for President Day. Mikayla Jay, future model thirty
three or seven, total different story.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
She's gonna thank you though hopefully.
Speaker 5 (11:27):
You know, if I do it right, If I don't
do it right, then that means I'm not doing her
mission right.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
I gotta do her mission right.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
We have to take a quick break when we come back. Artist,
actress and Golden Globe winner Mikayla Ja talks pose and
showing up on the screen and stage as her full self.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Stay with us.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
We're back with Mikayla j.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
So, Mikayla, I have to tell you as an interviewer,
as a host. As a journalist, I really.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
Try not to fan out. Ooh okay, and I have
to fan out.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
To break my role.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
I am a pose super fan.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
I fell in love with you in that show, and
I know I wasn't alone. It launched your career into
a different stratosphere. I remember interviewing you on the red
carpet at the Emmys, and everybody, all the journalists in
line in that carpet were so excited for you for
Billy Porter, like it meant so much to so many people.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
So I want to rewind for a second.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Because the show's executive produced by Reese Witherspoon. She was
our first interview and she talked about how one of
the reasons she created Hello Sunshine was she saw all
these roles for women that felt so diminishing, and I
think any minority group growing up in the time that
we did. I'm also thirty three, yes, felt that. And
(12:50):
so I want to understand what was the audition landscape
like for you, Like, were there any roles that you
could actually audition for and feel like your full self? No?
Speaker 5 (13:00):
Oh, there weren't any roles that I could audition for.
But I feel like there were people in the industry
who saw me crazy enough, and I was blessed enough
to get the roles that were representative of who I was.
And I think some of them clocked it when I
did Angel and Rent and mind You, like Angel is
a drag queen. But I think when people saw me,
(13:21):
they didn't see a drag queen. And that was what
my whole premise of playing Angel in that time was, Like,
I never saw Angel as a drag queen, whereas some
actors who played Angel, they're like, no, honey, she gets
out of the dragon. She's a man in the day.
But like from my interpretation of Rent, Angel was not
that Angel was a complete trans woman who obviously didn't
have the necessary means to get all of the things
(13:44):
that she needed, but she was living fully as who
she was and that's why she would go on the
streets and play drums.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
I'm a huge Rent heead, let me just say, And
I always saw Angel as a trans woman too.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
You feel me, yes, like in my head too.
Speaker 5 (13:56):
And I mean it's debatable, trust me, Like people will
say no, oh, and it's fine, that's what artist is.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
It's supposed to be subjective.
Speaker 5 (14:03):
But when I went into the role That means I
had space to create a character that represented myself. And
I didn't know I was subconsciously doing this. But when
people would come to the show and I got opportunities
my first debut on Airs Shacky, they saw me and
they were like, we want you to play this character.
How do you feel? And I was just like, oh, yeah,
(14:24):
she represents me completely and they were like, okay, we
get it. And it was easy. But as far as
auditioning for roles, no, it was there was I don't
think there was an opportunity for any trans woman at
that time.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
It's unbelievable when I think back, like pre Liver and
Cox and Orange is the New Black, and it just
representation was so different.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
I mean, I feel like it could be better.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
It could be way better.
Speaker 5 (14:47):
I think it could be much better. I feel like,
you know, there's a limitation on trans human beings. We've
been under fire politically, and I think there's a narrative
that's been spun around us which makes a lot of
people feel uncomfortable around us, and a lot of people
lump some the things that they've learned off of social
media with how all trans women are supposed to act.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
When that's just not the truth.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
It's made it in these past couple of years a
bit hard for us to strive because of what politically
has been done to us. And I do believe it's
because of what Pose has done. We made such a
big impact, Thank you to Ryan Murphy. We made such
a big impact as a group of trans women. It
kind of ruffled things up and people wanted to put
(15:29):
us in our place. And this is where we're at.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Now, what do you mean by that?
Speaker 5 (15:33):
Like to tell us that we're not capable of being successful,
that we're not capable of succeeding in being smart and intelligent. No,
we are just supposed to be. You know how that
old terminology goes, You're a child, so stay in your
place or sit at the child's table. That's what it
feels like. But in reality that ain't happening. Like it's
just not happening. I don't see that happening on my watch,
(15:55):
and I don't want to happen if for any of
my other sisters or any other women in general.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
My favorite kind of art is always art that immerses
us in a subculture that was previously cloaked in mystery
or previously fell off limits, and that's what POS did
for so many people. It's inspired by the queer ballroom
seeing in New York in the eighties and early nineties,
and the characters are so round and you just couldn't
help but fall in love with them instantly and fall
(16:21):
in love with the connections and the chosen families that
everyone found. What has ballroom given you?
Speaker 5 (16:28):
A sense of self? Ballroom has definitely given me a
sense of self. My mother instilled that in me, obviously
through the trace of what a mom could give. And
then after you grow up, you're like, I need to
find people who are around me who understand me. And
you know, I mean though my mother understands me completely
and loves me, that's my mother. I don't have friends
or peers to really help me grow in that space.
(16:50):
I want to ventureround and see what the environment's going
to give me. Now, mostly walking down the streets of
New York City. You know, the environment and what it's
going to give you is going to be straight up,
real and honest, and that's what I wanted.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
So I found the ballroom scene, and I found.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
It through my high school and it was through my
house father where everything sprawled out and I was going
back and forth. I didn't stay that long but four
years of all of my high school years, and then
went to college and kind of focused on my true passion,
which was the arts. But well, while I was in
high school, that was where I thrived and growing and
learning about my queer community. And high school was full
of queer people, so it was amazing.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Yeah, Okay, as I was watching Pose, I couldn't help
but wonder, how are your millennial hips and knees doing?
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Fantastic?
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Okay, fantastic. The category is orthopetic surgery.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
Yo, No for real, though, Like, can I just tell
you though I have not felt I'm so glad we
can talk about these things at our wonderful middle age.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Life.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Okay, you're right, I got like four years. We do.
Speaker 5 (17:54):
But like I'm always trying to wonder. I'm like, well,
I feel young, we look young as hell, like, but.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
What like what is this? And it's all about how
you feel? It's sued. It's the third it's.
Speaker 5 (18:04):
A third thank you, thank you. I'm gonna take that
and I'm stealing it. Thank you for my thirty third year.
I feel like I've been in this really clear space
of like Oh, I'm mature, I'm grown.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
I can make decisions on my own. But I can
also be a little bit fruitful.
Speaker 5 (18:19):
And young and like cheeky if I wanted to, maybe,
mm hmm maybe.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
But for real, do you hear the knees cracking.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Like I do?
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Because ever never? I'm sorry, what is the secret diet?
Speaker 5 (18:31):
And try to take a walk ever so often when
you can, so you can stress those legs out. I
work out to work out because your body's on point
that whole thing.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
That's so sweet. But my knees be cracking, y'all. They
be releasing the crack. Yes, releasing the cracking. Yes, they're
releasing the cracking.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
And another one.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
Because when something does pop crackling, snap, I'm going to
say it's releasing the cracking.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
I'm taking took no mess, oh, no mess.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Okay, got you.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
I'm gonna I'm gonna take something for both of y'all
before this is over.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Just watch out. Okay, okay, we're gonna drop. Listen, we
dropping diamonds. Honey.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
When I see the scenes in Pose, I see love
and self confidence and joy and so much courage, and
behind the scenes, I'm wondering what was your courageous moment,
if you could point to one.
Speaker 5 (19:18):
I think the moment I realized courage was when I
was able to actually pronounce the word courage. And I'm
being very like metaphorical in that space, but I knew
who I was, I knew what I was sent here
to do when I came out, and when I was
able to know that, I think that to change the world,
(19:40):
no matter what or how way I do it, I'm
going to continue to do it. I was just saying
earlier today. Beyonce said it her documentary. She was like,
they realized that, oh, this bitch won't give up. And
I'm just letting y'all know I'm not a bitch that
gives up. I'm capricorn. So you understand, you come into
a space as a person of color, and the only
eye is to exceed and excel higher because there's no
(20:03):
a latch for you in this world that we know
as America. It's showing all over now. It's prevalent now,
whereas years ago it wasn't. So now that I know
and I'm aware, I have the tools to say, oh, well,
I'm going to continue. You say you're going to stop
my rights. Oh child, Okay, Well, I'm still going to
keep being me and I'm still going to keep influencing
other people out here just because you have your thoughts
(20:24):
about how we are supposed to move through the world.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
You don't own my body.
Speaker 5 (20:29):
And as I realize you don't own my body, you
don't own anyone else's body. So like, that's been my
whole trajectory now, and I think the courage, when it
was fully etched over my whole body, was my mother. Like,
I don't need anything else from nobody else. And I'm sorry, y'all,
but I don't need anything else because my mama has
to littifight at all. So anyone who says anything about
(20:49):
me about when I'm not what I can't, I don't
give it down because my mama.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Already lit about it. She put me on this earth.
Speaker 5 (20:56):
I know what I know. I know a woman, and henceforth.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
For everybody listening and not watching, yes, she just did
a full body movement.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
I'm here. I'm here. I'm here because a mama orgery boom.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Okay, we need to take a quick break when we
come back. Artists and actor Mikayla Jay reflects on her
historic when at the Golden Globes, stay.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
With us, We're back with Mikayla Ja.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
I don't know if it was directly from your mom
or inspired by someone or something else, but I felt
you channeling that nurturing energy as Blanca.
Speaker 5 (21:39):
Yes, for sure, all of that, most of that love
and nurturing that I had received, I definitely brought that
to Blanca because the world.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Needed to see that.
Speaker 5 (21:49):
Yeah, and they needed to see it from a trans
woman of colors perspective too, because they're a trans women
of color. When there are mothers out there that can't
take care of their children, who bore their children but
won't share any capacity with there's always a gay man
or trans woman taking that baby in and doing their
best to raise them to be the best they can
be because they know.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
What it's like to be different.
Speaker 5 (22:10):
You know what I try to encourage more is more
trans women and bio women need to get together and
raise these kids together so they can be strong.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Well, you have protected the light of so many of
your fans and viewers and just so many people in
the queer community, and that specifically calls to mind that
moment when you want a golden Globe for your performance
in posts the first time a transgender person has ever
won in the Leading Actress and a Drama category, and
(22:38):
you had such a moving acceptance speech, and we have
a clip of it.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
This is for the LGBTQAI, black, Latina, Asian, the many
multi beautiful calls.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Of the rainbow around the freaking world. This is for
y'all own little MJ.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Yeah, when you say little MJ, what do you think?
Are you thinking about the growth and the maturity that's
happened since then?
Speaker 1 (23:03):
I am.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
I am.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
I still haven't put it up out of the case,
but it's in the case on top of the just
so I know you got to open that thing up
and put it up at some point. But looking back
at that, I'm just like wow, Like I can't even
believe the HFPA like really saw me or took the
time to notice me to award me a Golden Globe.
(23:25):
That year was very different from me and very new
to me. I was in a very vulnerable place when
it came to the Emmys and Awards season because I
knew what the stakes were like and what was stacked
against me. I knew that if I were a natural
born female, that there would be much more of an
alloction for me. And I realized that since I was
(23:47):
not that that it was going to be much harder
for me. And on top of that, being of color,
it's going to make it hardest. So when the Golden
Globe happened, I was like, what did you guys see?
What was worth getting this? Because right now I'm feeling
like I'm at oh wits end. I've been in the
industry for so long and working hard to get to
where I'm at, And what did you guys see and
(24:09):
mean that these other places didn't? And I realized a
couple of weeks afterwards, when I sat down and really
took time to think about it, to tell myself, like, one,
you won this because you deserve it and you want
it on merit.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
They saw you for who you are.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
When Simone talked about the award, you got this big
smile on your face, like almost like a childish grin,
and it was so genuine.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
What was that?
Speaker 5 (24:37):
It was the initial like giddiness and feeling of that
I made it, Like I finally made it.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
All the people who said are you sure?
Speaker 5 (24:45):
I Michaela like when you go into this world and
when you make your big reveal or when you go
into your transition, are you sure people are going to
accept you?
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Like, do you think this is the route?
Speaker 5 (24:56):
And I was like, route child, If this was a route,
it's a long one and it's been ever since number one,
route number one, all the way until thirty three.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
But I never thought of it as a route.
Speaker 5 (25:05):
But when I heard those things, I heard the nervousness,
the scaredness, the worry of if I was going to succeed.
And these were from peers, friends of mine. And this
was in what twenty eleven, so a lot of trans
women weren't being in the forefront or being centered. When
I heard those things, I was just like, I got
to turn that around. I can't sit here and listen
(25:25):
to what people have in their heads of how I'm
going to succeed, like you have to know it for yourself.
And that's how it changed around.
Speaker 4 (25:34):
So we talked a lot about pose. We have to
talk about loot.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Yeah, we can definitely talk about that.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Congratulations on the renewal for season three.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
I love season one and two.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
I was interested to read that when you were cast
on that show, you were given the choice to have
your character Sophia be either cisgender or transgender, and you
decided that you wanted her to be gender ambiguous, I
shouldn't even say her, then, right.
Speaker 5 (25:58):
You can say her, because that's how she's climbing up
the ladder, that's how she's moving. My main goal was
to show the world that it doesn't take just a
biological woman or a trans woman to make it anywhere,
Like as a woman in general, you can make it anywhere.
And I didn't want the title of me being trans yeah,
to lose it to the minds of people that's interesting.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (26:19):
I didn't want them to see me as trans and
then lose their interest because I was a trans woman
in a high position a coo and them thinking she's
not qualified to have that job because a lot of
trans women don't have that job. No matter what, if
she's trans or if she's not, she can be in
this position. And we should always make it an open
playing field when it comes to women being in a
(26:40):
high position like this. I think young girls need to
see women no matter what walk of life, succeed and
be in positions that are powerful so that they can
know they can reach and obtain it, because if they
don't see that, then they're not going to feel that.
And I knew the impact that I made on Pose
that they were going to be people who knew I
was trans already. So I was like, well, we don't
(27:00):
need the world to know that I'm trans on a
show like this. Instead, we need to just be educative
and showing how women can be bosses and not only one,
but two two and two different walks of life and personal,
you know in the personal and two different walks of
life in the show, but like juxtaposition to rich and
someone who had to work to get to where they
(27:21):
had to get to have color that that part as well.
Come on here, we're having deep conversation America.
Speaker 4 (27:28):
I need to be dumb for a second.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
And is this weird block where she can't say the
word dumb so she has to spell it off as
I can't. Yes, I feel like I don't know bad
saying it? So do you m b second? Bear with me?
Do you take no? I don't at all your characters.
I'm kidding, I'm dunk imagine that was funny.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Do you take anything from set from these characters? Like
do you have a fabulous dress or something?
Speaker 5 (27:59):
I still have Okay, I have two things from Poe's.
I tried to take some things from Lou. I'm sorry, y'all.
I couldn't do it.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
I had to respect y'all.
Speaker 4 (28:08):
It's because the show is still going.
Speaker 5 (28:10):
Yeah, They're like, here you have this, Machael, and I'm like,
thank you so much. I've been trying to take this
for so long, and I really appreciate that Jack gave no.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
But I did it the right way. I didn't klepto it.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
You know. Well, I see sex in the city and
like they're wearing the most beautiful bags. I'm like, please
tell me that Sarah Jessica Parker has keep the sequined
purple Sundy bag that was stolen from season four.
Speaker 5 (28:31):
Well, you know, I will say, Mother Carrie, she's probably
made so much money on that.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Damn sure. She didn't have to take none, So you
share the wealth, that's what you're saying.
Speaker 5 (28:39):
You're right, I did take I did take the banner
the Evangelisa Vander.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
I didn't take it. They gave it to me. At
the end of the show.
Speaker 5 (28:46):
It was Janet and Stephen Canals and I remember Janet
just flagging it out and just being like, girl, you
wanted it, so it's yours and Steven.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
I think it was Steven who did that.
Speaker 5 (28:55):
And Janet pulled behind her back, uh Blanca's mother's cookbook.
So I still have those two things. And for loot
nothing yet, but I'm steal something.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
It's called loot. You gotta you know, you gotta loot something, right.
Thank you for that.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
By the way, I didn't make that something. Thank you
because I didn't make that correlation. When you said it salute,
I had a dumb moment.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Okay, you're hired, You're our third bright side. It was like,
this is like it's no you get you like get us.
You get our language, you get the vernacular, the energy.
It's sickening. We're gonna have to talk to some of
the people exactly, okay, okay.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
Except for you seem pretty busy.
Speaker 5 (29:42):
Yeah, I am running around like a chicken with her
hair cut off. But time is always fluctuant.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
You're fucking good doing it. Thank you, Michayla. Thank you
so much for joining us on the bright side. You
sprinkled your sunshine on us.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
I told you I was always going to give you
that good ju ju.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Mikayla Jay is an artist actor and Golden Globe winner.
Her debut album thirty three is out September twenty sixth.
Speaker 4 (30:09):
We can't wait to hear it.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
That's it for today's show.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Tomorrow, Doctor Ellen Langer joins US for Wellness Wednesday to
talk about the power of mindfulness.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
Listen and follow the bright Side on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
I'm Simone Boye. You can find me at Simone Boice
on Instagram and TikTok.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
Danielle Robe on Instagram and TikTok. That's ro Ba.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Y See you tomorrow, folks. Keep looking on the bright side.
Hello Sunshine, Hey besties.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Today on the bright Side, we're joined by the one,
the only, Mikayla J Rodriguez. She's here to talk about
her trailblazing career, from her Golden Globe winning role in
Pose to her more recent performance in the Apple TV
comedy series Lute, and now MICHAELA. Jay is coming out
with a debut album next month. It's Tuesday, August thirteenth.
I'm Simone Boyce.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
I'm Danielle Robe and this is the bright Side from
Hello Sunshine, a daily show where we come together to
share women's stories, to laugh, learn and brighten your day. Okay, Simone,
I'm gonna take us back for a second. Let me
set the scene for you, New York City, nineteen eighty seven.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Okay, the ball scene. Yes, it's giving glitter vogue hands.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
I'm talking about the show Pose and our guest today,
Mikayla Jay was a star of that show.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
I even say the breakout star. It was so fun
to watch.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
It gave us fishnets and drama and Donna summer music,
and it also gave us heartfelt and real and an
inside look into the experiences of the LGBTQ community at
that time.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
You couldn't help but fall in love with each and
every one of those characters. Yes, they were so lovable.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
So the show also really highlighted the experiences of queer
and trans people of color. There's a writer from The
Guardian that wrote something about the show Pose that I
think covers it better than I could.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
They wrote, the story is achingly.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Now and as old as the Hollywood Hills, and I
think that's part of what people loved about it. It
gave us a look into a time period that we
hadn't seen depict it on TV before in a narrative way.
It was the height of the AIDS epidemic. This show
was also completely universal. It was a guide for living life,
for encouraging people to stand up for themselves, uplifting each other,
(01:57):
and to pose proudly in their purpose. You know, sometimes
the right TV series comes along at the moment that
we need it, and that was Pose.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Well. We see so much trans struggle, pain, heartbreak, and
Pose did not shy away from that. It was so
honest about that. But it was really heartening to see
the joy on full display on the ballroom floor and
to see the bridges that this community has built.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Yeah, You're right because with any minority group, we don't
often see the joy, we see the struggle.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
That's such a good point.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
And I think that word community is the word I
think of when I think of that show, because the
show was centered around chosen family, chosen community, which is
such a buzzword in the LGBTQ community because there's still
so many people whose birth families don't embrace them. So
the show debuted in twenty eighteen and it ran until
twenty twenty one. But here's the thing, we're still talking
(02:51):
about it.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
It had such a.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Lasting impact on people, and Mikayla Jay's role as Blanca
Evangelista launched her into the spotlight. That performance actually earned
Mikayla Jay her first Emmy nomination and Golden Globe. It
made her the first transactress to win the award.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Truly iconic, and since then, Mikayla Jay has taken Hollywood
by storms. She's starred in an American horror story and
Loot alongside Maya Rudolph, and now she's making some music, y'all.
Her debut album, titled thirty three, is out next month
on September twenty sixth, and it explores themes of resilience
and self discovery through the eyes of a very sexy
(03:30):
avatar named Mikayla J three three f seven. So with
this concept album, Mikayla Jay said she wanted to create
a quote deeply flawed but resilient hero that young people
can look up to.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
And even though this may be a new venture, Mikayla
Jay knows music. She attended the Berkeley College of Music
in Boston and soon after got her start in an
off Broadway production of Rent, which we love.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yeah, she actually fell in love with music first and
then acting came second.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
She really did us at all.
Speaker 4 (04:01):
Mikayla Jay. Welcome to the bright Side.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Yes, welcome. What's that? What's that? What's up?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
You know what?
Speaker 4 (04:07):
We actually have to rewind.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
I have to do that again because our guest today
requires a different introduction. Oh okay, and the category is
oare somebody had to do it.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Somebody had to do it. I'll take that. I'll take it. Respect.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
Thank you for not shaving me for the corny intro.
Speaker 5 (04:25):
I had to No, that's home right there, Yes, no
puns intended, No puns intended. I just realized I said home,
and that s pose home this is needed. We're never
mad at that.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Well. I wanted to talk to you about your home
because I found out last night that you were from.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
Newark, New Jersey.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Bricksy Loot American horror story pose one of my favorites.
You're so Hollywood. Now are you still a Jersey girl
or you? Have you gone full blown Hollywood?
Speaker 5 (04:53):
Oh no, She's going to be Jersey all day every day.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
You just you want people to take it out of
me at all.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Okay, Mikayla, So you recently turned thirty three. You're also
out with your debut album, also titled thirty three. It
seems like you are commemorating this big milestone with this year.
What does this year mean to you?
Speaker 1 (05:13):
It means a lot to me.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
I mean, there's so much that has happened within this
year as far as growth when it comes to me
as a person, realizing, rectifying, changing, this year has been
very prolific for me, and I thought it was only
right to come out with a body of work, a
project of work that will really showcase what I've gone through,
the stories that I can create, how creative I am,
(05:36):
and how people can really get an understanding of me.
And I thought the best way to do it was
through music. So I think that's like the best kind
of like layout I can give.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Which song do you think best represents the growth that
you've experienced why?
Speaker 5 (05:49):
It is basically a song about asking why am I
treated the way as I'm treated as a trans person
of color in the world of America and even when
I and I'm sure any woman in the world could
understand this because women go through this all the time.
But like that song, I asked all the questions of why,
(06:10):
like why am I placed here when I could be
placed here? And my sisters as well? Why are they
placed here when I could be or we could be
placed here? Why are we treated the ways that we're treated?
Why are we deemed other than a human?
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Why?
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Why?
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Why? Why?
Speaker 5 (06:25):
Why is no one doing the work to lay down
the foundation for us to feel comfortable in the being
spaces that we need to be in.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Why?
Speaker 5 (06:33):
And I think that was the growth that I had
is you should always ask questions, never be afraid to
ask questions, and also never be said that you don't
get an answer, that might be your true answer right
there when they're silent. So that was the main song
that really spoke to me, and all of them are
close to my heart.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
I mean I'm biased naturally.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
As you were talking about that, I was like, oh,
I know why, because she was clearly called to do
something great and to have a voice and to encourage
other people to have a voice. Did you, in this
process of like self discovery producing this album, did you
come up with an answer to those big whys?
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (07:09):
I think the answer for me was I wasn't being
loud enough, So I guess I just got to be
a little bit louder. I mean I and I say
enough because I was being loud but just not enough.
So I guess it's time to be a little bit louder.
And I guess music can be turned up. The volume
can be turned up, So I guess that's the loudest
we can get is through music.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
This album is a celebration of your artistic expression. Yeah,
and it's a concept album, it is what does that mean?
Speaker 5 (07:35):
So the concept album meaning like there is a story
to the whole premise of why the album's coming out
and who this person is. And Mikayla Jay is me
present day. Mikayla Jay is the girl you're talking to
right now. But like the Model thirty three of seven,
she's just another hybrid form in a total different world
than me who's trying to relate to the present day.
She's the future, you know, So like that was the
(07:57):
whole concept I wanted to help you people. I feel
as an artist, there's this entity or this bionic being
who's trying to let the president day Mion Kayla Jay
know that there is something much bigger than what all
of you really understand, and the only way she can
do it is through her passion, which is art and music.
And we all, a lot of us have the gifts
and the tenacity just stand out and show up and
(08:20):
speak through our gifts what we feel could be the
bigger answer. And I think that's what this character is
and who she is. And I don't know what she's
going through on the other end, seems like a lot,
and I don't know how I can relate to her.
But all I'm doing is conveying her message through this
piece of work and this body of work. I mean,
when they look at her, they're going to see present
day Mikaela Jay, obviously, but what they don't understand is
(08:41):
that totally different person, totally different person from who I am.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
When I sit here with you present, Mikayla, you have
such a bright spirit. That's the first thing I realized
when you walk through the door. How does past, Michayla
play into present? Who were you as a kid in Newark,
New Jersey?
Speaker 5 (09:00):
I was a rambunctious stand out, took no mess, always
had a mouth.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
My mouth got me in trouble a lot.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
I got to learn from my mama, Yeah, no mess,
Like my mom had to always be like girl, you
can't always just like react. And I'm glad I've grown
not to react. But I think that was the strength
that I had when I was younger, for people just
to not play with me like I just never ever
had the time for that, you know what I mean.
And I think that's what made me grow into a mature, smarter,
(09:29):
intelligent human being now as an adult, as a trans
grown ass woman, you know what I mean. But when
I was younger, I was fun. I was even more
energetic than I am now. A child jumping off a wall,
just jumping off a beds, jumping in the pools, all
things everything.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Okay, I think everyone's sitting at the table, we all
know that names have power.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
And over the course of your career.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
We'd known you by many names, Yes, m J, Rodriguez,
Angel and Rent Blanca and post yes, and now you
are going by your full name, Mikayla J. And it
seems like you're in this period of expansion in your
life personally. So what does this expansion of your name represent.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
It gives people more of a personal aspect of me
versus just the minimal aspect of me.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
MJ was my nickname for so long.
Speaker 5 (10:16):
And even though everybody knew me as MICHAELA Antonio J Rodriguez,
MJ was what stuck. But I felt like that was
just the nickname that everyone knew and it wouldn't separate
me or set me apart. And then there was a
resurgence when I wanted to re enter the music rum
and reestablish myself and not tell myself to a name
(10:37):
that people would probably associate with my acting or with
anything else. I wanted to completely wash the slate clean
and show people who I was as an artist and
as a music artist. So that's why Mikaela JA was
so prominent. And I didn't want to put Antonia up
in there, and I didn't want Rodriguez to be there either.
You know, I love my Latin. You know, people so
like we always going to show up, but I wanted
(10:58):
there to be a name that stood out and also
to honor me in my initials. You know, so now
people know what the initials spell out. M spells Mikayla
and Jay. I mean, sound it out, it's Jae. But
you know, I wanted people to see who I was
as an artist and separate those two.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
This is a big reinvention for you. It's huge.
Speaker 5 (11:17):
It's huge, and like I said, I mean it's a
big reinvention for President Day. Mikayla Jay, future model thirty
three or seven, total different story.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
She's gonna thank you though hopefully.
Speaker 5 (11:27):
You know, if I do it right, If I don't
do it right, then that means I'm not doing her
mission right.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
I gotta do her mission right.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
We have to take a quick break when we come back. Artist,
actress and Golden Globe winner Mikayla Ja talks pose and
showing up on the screen and stage as her full self.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Stay with us.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
We're back with Mikayla j.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
So, Mikayla, I have to tell you as an interviewer,
as a host. As a journalist, I really.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
Try not to fan out. Ooh okay, and I have
to fan out.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
To break my role.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
I am a pose super fan.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
I fell in love with you in that show, and
I know I wasn't alone. It launched your career into
a different stratosphere. I remember interviewing you on the red
carpet at the Emmys, and everybody, all the journalists in
line in that carpet were so excited for you for
Billy Porter, like it meant so much to so many people.
Speaker 4 (12:28):
So I want to rewind for a second.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Because the show's executive produced by Reese Witherspoon. She was
our first interview and she talked about how one of
the reasons she created Hello Sunshine was she saw all
these roles for women that felt so diminishing, and I
think any minority group growing up in the time that
we did. I'm also thirty three, yes, felt that. And
(12:50):
so I want to understand what was the audition landscape
like for you, Like, were there any roles that you
could actually audition for and feel like your full self? No?
Speaker 5 (13:00):
Oh, there weren't any roles that I could audition for.
But I feel like there were people in the industry
who saw me crazy enough, and I was blessed enough
to get the roles that were representative of who I was.
And I think some of them clocked it when I
did Angel and Rent and mind You, like Angel is
a drag queen. But I think when people saw me,
(13:21):
they didn't see a drag queen. And that was what
my whole premise of playing Angel in that time was, Like,
I never saw Angel as a drag queen, whereas some
actors who played Angel, they're like, no, honey, she gets
out of the dragon. She's a man in the day.
But like from my interpretation of Rent, Angel was not
that Angel was a complete trans woman who obviously didn't
have the necessary means to get all of the things
(13:44):
that she needed, but she was living fully as who
she was and that's why she would go on the
streets and play drums.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
I'm a huge Rent heead, let me just say, And
I always saw Angel as a trans woman too.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
You feel me, yes, like in my head too.
Speaker 5 (13:56):
And I mean it's debatable, trust me, Like people will
say no, oh, and it's fine, that's what artist is.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
It's supposed to be subjective.
Speaker 5 (14:03):
But when I went into the role That means I
had space to create a character that represented myself. And
I didn't know I was subconsciously doing this. But when
people would come to the show and I got opportunities
my first debut on Airs Shacky, they saw me and
they were like, we want you to play this character.
How do you feel? And I was just like, oh, yeah,
(14:24):
she represents me completely and they were like, okay, we
get it. And it was easy. But as far as
auditioning for roles, no, it was there was I don't
think there was an opportunity for any trans woman at
that time.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
It's unbelievable when I think back, like pre Liver and
Cox and Orange is the New Black, and it just
representation was so different.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
I mean, I feel like it could be better.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
It could be way better.
Speaker 5 (14:47):
I think it could be much better. I feel like,
you know, there's a limitation on trans human beings. We've
been under fire politically, and I think there's a narrative
that's been spun around us which makes a lot of
people feel uncomfortable around us, and a lot of people
lump some the things that they've learned off of social
media with how all trans women are supposed to act.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
When that's just not the truth.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
It's made it in these past couple of years a
bit hard for us to strive because of what politically
has been done to us. And I do believe it's
because of what Pose has done. We made such a
big impact, Thank you to Ryan Murphy. We made such
a big impact as a group of trans women. It
kind of ruffled things up and people wanted to put
(15:29):
us in our place. And this is where we're at.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Now, what do you mean by that?
Speaker 5 (15:33):
Like to tell us that we're not capable of being successful,
that we're not capable of succeeding in being smart and intelligent. No,
we are just supposed to be. You know how that
old terminology goes, You're a child, so stay in your
place or sit at the child's table. That's what it
feels like. But in reality that ain't happening. Like it's
just not happening. I don't see that happening on my watch,
(15:55):
and I don't want to happen if for any of
my other sisters or any other women in general.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
My favorite kind of art is always art that immerses
us in a subculture that was previously cloaked in mystery
or previously fell off limits, and that's what POS did
for so many people. It's inspired by the queer ballroom
seeing in New York in the eighties and early nineties,
and the characters are so round and you just couldn't
help but fall in love with them instantly and fall
(16:21):
in love with the connections and the chosen families that
everyone found. What has ballroom given you?
Speaker 5 (16:28):
A sense of self? Ballroom has definitely given me a
sense of self. My mother instilled that in me, obviously
through the trace of what a mom could give. And
then after you grow up, you're like, I need to
find people who are around me who understand me. And
you know, I mean though my mother understands me completely
and loves me, that's my mother. I don't have friends
or peers to really help me grow in that space.
(16:50):
I want to ventureround and see what the environment's going
to give me. Now, mostly walking down the streets of
New York City. You know, the environment and what it's
going to give you is going to be straight up,
real and honest, and that's what I wanted.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
So I found the ballroom scene, and I found.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
It through my high school and it was through my
house father where everything sprawled out and I was going
back and forth. I didn't stay that long but four
years of all of my high school years, and then
went to college and kind of focused on my true passion,
which was the arts. But well, while I was in
high school, that was where I thrived and growing and
learning about my queer community. And high school was full
of queer people, so it was amazing.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Yeah, Okay, as I was watching Pose, I couldn't help
but wonder, how are your millennial hips and knees doing?
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Fantastic?
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Okay, fantastic. The category is orthopetic surgery.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
Yo, No for real, though, Like, can I just tell
you though I have not felt I'm so glad we
can talk about these things at our wonderful middle age.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Life.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Okay, you're right, I got like four years. We do.
Speaker 5 (17:54):
But like I'm always trying to wonder. I'm like, well,
I feel young, we look young as hell, like, but.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
What like what is this? And it's all about how
you feel? It's sued. It's the third it's.
Speaker 5 (18:04):
A third thank you, thank you. I'm gonna take that
and I'm stealing it. Thank you for my thirty third year.
I feel like I've been in this really clear space
of like Oh, I'm mature, I'm grown.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
I can make decisions on my own. But I can
also be a little bit fruitful.
Speaker 5 (18:19):
And young and like cheeky if I wanted to, maybe,
mm hmm maybe.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
But for real, do you hear the knees cracking.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Like I do?
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Because ever never? I'm sorry, what is the secret diet?
Speaker 5 (18:31):
And try to take a walk ever so often when
you can, so you can stress those legs out. I
work out to work out because your body's on point
that whole thing.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
That's so sweet. But my knees be cracking, y'all. They
be releasing the crack. Yes, releasing the cracking. Yes, they're
releasing the cracking.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
And another one.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
Because when something does pop crackling, snap, I'm going to
say it's releasing the cracking.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
I'm taking took no mess, oh, no mess.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Okay, got you.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
I'm gonna I'm gonna take something for both of y'all
before this is over.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Just watch out. Okay, okay, we're gonna drop. Listen, we
dropping diamonds. Honey.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
When I see the scenes in Pose, I see love
and self confidence and joy and so much courage, and
behind the scenes, I'm wondering what was your courageous moment,
if you could point to one.
Speaker 5 (19:18):
I think the moment I realized courage was when I
was able to actually pronounce the word courage. And I'm
being very like metaphorical in that space, but I knew
who I was, I knew what I was sent here
to do when I came out, and when I was
able to know that, I think that to change the world,
(19:40):
no matter what or how way I do it, I'm
going to continue to do it. I was just saying
earlier today. Beyonce said it her documentary. She was like,
they realized that, oh, this bitch won't give up. And
I'm just letting y'all know I'm not a bitch that
gives up. I'm capricorn. So you understand, you come into
a space as a person of color, and the only
eye is to exceed and excel higher because there's no
(20:03):
a latch for you in this world that we know
as America. It's showing all over now. It's prevalent now,
whereas years ago it wasn't. So now that I know
and I'm aware, I have the tools to say, oh, well,
I'm going to continue. You say you're going to stop
my rights. Oh child, Okay, Well, I'm still going to
keep being me and I'm still going to keep influencing
other people out here just because you have your thoughts
(20:24):
about how we are supposed to move through the world.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
You don't own my body.
Speaker 5 (20:29):
And as I realize you don't own my body, you
don't own anyone else's body. So like, that's been my
whole trajectory now, and I think the courage, when it
was fully etched over my whole body, was my mother. Like,
I don't need anything else from nobody else. And I'm sorry, y'all,
but I don't need anything else because my mama has
to littifight at all. So anyone who says anything about
(20:49):
me about when I'm not what I can't, I don't
give it down because my mama.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Already lit about it. She put me on this earth.
Speaker 5 (20:56):
I know what I know. I know a woman, and henceforth.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
For everybody listening and not watching, yes, she just did
a full body movement.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
I'm here. I'm here. I'm here because a mama orgery boom.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Okay, we need to take a quick break when we
come back. Artists and actor Mikayla Jay reflects on her
historic when at the Golden Globes, stay.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
With us, We're back with Mikayla Ja.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
I don't know if it was directly from your mom
or inspired by someone or something else, but I felt
you channeling that nurturing energy as Blanca.
Speaker 5 (21:39):
Yes, for sure, all of that, most of that love
and nurturing that I had received, I definitely brought that
to Blanca because the world.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Needed to see that.
Speaker 5 (21:49):
Yeah, and they needed to see it from a trans
woman of colors perspective too, because they're a trans women
of color. When there are mothers out there that can't
take care of their children, who bore their children but
won't share any capacity with there's always a gay man
or trans woman taking that baby in and doing their
best to raise them to be the best they can
be because they know.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
What it's like to be different.
Speaker 5 (22:10):
You know what I try to encourage more is more
trans women and bio women need to get together and
raise these kids together so they can be strong.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Well, you have protected the light of so many of
your fans and viewers and just so many people in
the queer community, and that specifically calls to mind that
moment when you want a golden Globe for your performance
in posts the first time a transgender person has ever
won in the Leading Actress and a Drama category, and
(22:38):
you had such a moving acceptance speech, and we have
a clip of it.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
This is for the LGBTQAI, black, Latina, Asian, the many
multi beautiful calls.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Of the rainbow around the freaking world. This is for
y'all own little MJ.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Yeah, when you say little MJ, what do you think?
Are you thinking about the growth and the maturity that's
happened since then?
Speaker 1 (23:03):
I am.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
I am.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
I still haven't put it up out of the case,
but it's in the case on top of the just
so I know you got to open that thing up
and put it up at some point. But looking back
at that, I'm just like wow, Like I can't even
believe the HFPA like really saw me or took the
time to notice me to award me a Golden Globe.
(23:25):
That year was very different from me and very new
to me. I was in a very vulnerable place when
it came to the Emmys and Awards season because I
knew what the stakes were like and what was stacked
against me. I knew that if I were a natural
born female, that there would be much more of an
alloction for me. And I realized that since I was
(23:47):
not that that it was going to be much harder
for me. And on top of that, being of color,
it's going to make it hardest. So when the Golden
Globe happened, I was like, what did you guys see?
What was worth getting this? Because right now I'm feeling
like I'm at oh wits end. I've been in the
industry for so long and working hard to get to
where I'm at, And what did you guys see and
(24:09):
mean that these other places didn't? And I realized a
couple of weeks afterwards, when I sat down and really
took time to think about it, to tell myself, like, one,
you won this because you deserve it and you want
it on merit.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
They saw you for who you are.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
When Simone talked about the award, you got this big
smile on your face, like almost like a childish grin,
and it was so genuine.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
What was that?
Speaker 5 (24:37):
It was the initial like giddiness and feeling of that
I made it, Like I finally made it.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
All the people who said are you sure?
Speaker 5 (24:45):
I Michaela like when you go into this world and
when you make your big reveal or when you go
into your transition, are you sure people are going to
accept you?
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Like, do you think this is the route?
Speaker 5 (24:56):
And I was like, route child, If this was a route,
it's a long one and it's been ever since number one,
route number one, all the way until thirty three.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
But I never thought of it as a route.
Speaker 5 (25:05):
But when I heard those things, I heard the nervousness,
the scaredness, the worry of if I was going to succeed.
And these were from peers, friends of mine. And this
was in what twenty eleven, so a lot of trans
women weren't being in the forefront or being centered. When
I heard those things, I was just like, I got
to turn that around. I can't sit here and listen
(25:25):
to what people have in their heads of how I'm
going to succeed, like you have to know it for yourself.
And that's how it changed around.
Speaker 4 (25:34):
So we talked a lot about pose. We have to
talk about loot.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Yeah, we can definitely talk about that.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Congratulations on the renewal for season three.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
I love season one and two.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
I was interested to read that when you were cast
on that show, you were given the choice to have
your character Sophia be either cisgender or transgender, and you
decided that you wanted her to be gender ambiguous, I
shouldn't even say her, then, right.
Speaker 5 (25:58):
You can say her, because that's how she's climbing up
the ladder, that's how she's moving. My main goal was
to show the world that it doesn't take just a
biological woman or a trans woman to make it anywhere,
Like as a woman in general, you can make it anywhere.
And I didn't want the title of me being trans yeah,
to lose it to the minds of people that's interesting.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (26:19):
I didn't want them to see me as trans and
then lose their interest because I was a trans woman
in a high position a coo and them thinking she's
not qualified to have that job because a lot of
trans women don't have that job. No matter what, if
she's trans or if she's not, she can be in
this position. And we should always make it an open
playing field when it comes to women being in a
(26:40):
high position like this. I think young girls need to
see women no matter what walk of life, succeed and
be in positions that are powerful so that they can
know they can reach and obtain it, because if they
don't see that, then they're not going to feel that.
And I knew the impact that I made on Pose
that they were going to be people who knew I
was trans already. So I was like, well, we don't
(27:00):
need the world to know that I'm trans on a
show like this. Instead, we need to just be educative
and showing how women can be bosses and not only one,
but two two and two different walks of life and personal,
you know in the personal and two different walks of
life in the show, but like juxtaposition to rich and
someone who had to work to get to where they
(27:21):
had to get to have color that that part as well.
Come on here, we're having deep conversation America.
Speaker 4 (27:28):
I need to be dumb for a second.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
And is this weird block where she can't say the
word dumb so she has to spell it off as
I can't. Yes, I feel like I don't know bad
saying it? So do you m b second? Bear with me?
Do you take no? I don't at all your characters.
I'm kidding, I'm dunk imagine that was funny.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
Do you take anything from set from these characters? Like
do you have a fabulous dress or something?
Speaker 5 (27:59):
I still have Okay, I have two things from Poe's.
I tried to take some things from Lou. I'm sorry, y'all.
I couldn't do it.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
I had to respect y'all.
Speaker 4 (28:08):
It's because the show is still going.
Speaker 5 (28:10):
Yeah, They're like, here you have this, Machael, and I'm like,
thank you so much. I've been trying to take this
for so long, and I really appreciate that Jack gave no.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
But I did it the right way. I didn't klepto it.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
You know. Well, I see sex in the city and
like they're wearing the most beautiful bags. I'm like, please
tell me that Sarah Jessica Parker has keep the sequined
purple Sundy bag that was stolen from season four.
Speaker 5 (28:31):
Well, you know, I will say, Mother Carrie, she's probably
made so much money on that.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Damn sure. She didn't have to take none, So you
share the wealth, that's what you're saying.
Speaker 5 (28:39):
You're right, I did take I did take the banner
the Evangelisa Vander.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
I didn't take it. They gave it to me. At
the end of the show.
Speaker 5 (28:46):
It was Janet and Stephen Canals and I remember Janet
just flagging it out and just being like, girl, you
wanted it, so it's yours and Steven.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
I think it was Steven who did that.
Speaker 5 (28:55):
And Janet pulled behind her back, uh Blanca's mother's cookbook.
So I still have those two things. And for loot
nothing yet, but I'm steal something.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
It's called loot. You gotta you know, you gotta loot something, right.
Thank you for that.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
By the way, I didn't make that something. Thank you
because I didn't make that correlation. When you said it salute,
I had a dumb moment.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Okay, you're hired, You're our third bright side. It was like,
this is like it's no you get you like get us.
You get our language, you get the vernacular, the energy.
It's sickening. We're gonna have to talk to some of
the people exactly, okay, okay.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
Except for you seem pretty busy.
Speaker 5 (29:42):
Yeah, I am running around like a chicken with her
hair cut off. But time is always fluctuant.
Speaker 3 (29:50):
You're fucking good doing it. Thank you, Michayla. Thank you
so much for joining us on the bright side. You
sprinkled your sunshine on us.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
I told you I was always going to give you
that good ju ju.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
Mikayla Jay is an artist actor and Golden Globe winner.
Her debut album thirty three is out September twenty sixth.
Speaker 4 (30:09):
We can't wait to hear it.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
That's it for today's show.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Tomorrow, Doctor Ellen Langer joins US for Wellness Wednesday to
talk about the power of mindfulness.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
Listen and follow the bright Side on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
I'm Simone Boye. You can find me at Simone Boice
on Instagram and TikTok.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
Danielle Robe on Instagram and TikTok. That's ro Ba.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Y See you tomorrow, folks. Keep looking on the bright side.
Hosts And Creators
Simone Boyce
Danielle Robay
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