Mj Rodriguez

Being able to change the world and change hearts and minds - it's uplifting.

I would never try to measure fame; I'm really just a regular chick from New Jersey.

I do like to think of myself as a star: because there's room for many stars up in the sky - and we all have the chance to shine bright.

When I was little, all I could think about was just being on some kind of stage, whether it be on a live stage, whether it be on a set stage.

When I started 'Rent,' I already had an idea of how I was going to portray Angel, simply because of who I was at that moment. Everyone always perceived her as a drag queen, but the reality of the matter is that I truly believe she was a trans woman.

I'm obviously fighting for my community simply because I'm trans, and I have to do that, and I do it because that's my existence. I wake up in the morning, and that is my activism.

Sometimes I feel like my life is at risk. It doesn't matter if I'm famous or not. My life is as much at risk as other women.

Hopefully I can play a role where I'm not stigmatized to just being a trans woman.

When it comes to my career, I'm an actress before I'm trans. I think people should see the talent first.

It feels completely amazing to finally be in the space where there are so many people taking me seriously as an actress.

It all started when I was 11 months old, singing a song by Jodeci in the back seat of the car. My mother turned around and said, 'Who is that?' When she saw it was me, she said, 'I think we have a singer on our hands.'

I hear from a lot of young kids. One said to me, 'You remind me of my house mother that passed away,' and another said, 'You remind me of the mother that I didn't have.'... It's beautiful that I can instill that in people.

Today I may advocate through my art, but I've won my share of 'hood fights.' So if I ever saw one of my sisters being beaten in the street, I'd be the first one to jump in.

I just want to instill love into everyone's hearts. I know that sounds cheesy, but it's true.

There's a lot of hope and comfort and nurturing in the ballroom scene.

The ball scene was never really only gay people. I think people have this notion that if there's a man hanging around a gay man, he must be gay, but that's just stigma. Back in the day, it was the same; there were lots of different people there: gay, straight, whatever. They did not care what they were called because they knew who they were.

There's so much you can say about the ballroom scene. But, simply, it's just a way of life. It's a place you can live out a fantasy you never lived before.

Sometimes I wake up, and I wear jeans; sometimes I want to wear khakis or full-on overalls.

Every single day, I wake up and take a glimpse of where I am now compared to where I was before, and the work that we have all put in to be in this space. I think of that, and being able to express myself through my art and show up and be present - that's activism, advocacy, and artistry in itself.

When I was in high school, I was doing a fashion show, and my House Father would host fashion shows at the school. He was great at it. He saw me and said, 'That's my daughter.' The rest was history! We went to New York City to rehearse and go to balls, and I was in the ballroom scene until I was 17 years old.

I never thought in a million years that people would be able to take me seriously as an actress, and now, being a part of the Golden Globes, that's just a stamp of approval that people are seeing me as the actress I am.

A lot of people have forgotten the severity of this disease, of HIV. So I think it's important that we just talk about things like this: how we can prevent it, how we can make sure that people are safe, how they can move forward, too, if they do have HIV.

'Paris Is Burning' was only just a glimpse into what was happening within the ballroom scene. The difference is that 'Pose' is opening the lens a little bit more, and it's diving into the personal lives of these women who fought for their kids - who raised their kids to be strong individuals so that they can move on and have a legacy, too.

'Rent' was one of the main defining moments, and it was like the precipice of my transition.

Every day, I walk the streets with my head held high, but deep down inside, sometimes I'm like, 'I just hope I can get through the day.'