Why trans actors should be cast in trans roles
Mj Rodriguez is giving the breakout performance of the summer on the FX series "Pose." Set amid New York's ballroom culture of the late 1980s, the show focuses on a small community of black and Latinx trans and queer characters including Rodriguez's Blanca, who strikes out on her own and takes a few friends under her wing while she's at it.
Blanca is a trans woman. And she is played by a trans actress. Rodriguez may not be a household name yet, but she is the big thumping heart of the show - it's a role that straddles both comedy and drama, vulnerability and blazing confidence, high-style and a totally over-the-top '80s aesthetic. "Pose" won't be eligible for the Emmys this year (the show premiered a few days after the cutoff date) but let's hope Rodriguez gets recognition down the line because this is, without question, an award-worthy turn.
The entire cast is filled with talent - specifically trans actors playing trans characters, in their first real major TV roles.
That's notable because it's so rare. More often than not, it is a cisgender actor - meaning, a person whose gender corresponds with their birth sex - who gets hired
