Though Michaela Jaé Rodriguez may be a successful star in Hollywood, she is far from perfect.
"I'm human — I have insecurities, judging myself on my body," the Pose alum, 33, told E! News. "You know, a lot of trans women go through that. Women in general go through it."
As for how the brunette beauty gets into the right mindset, she often thinks about Halle Bailey's speech from Essence's Black Women in Hollywood Awards last month.
"Halle mentioned something that really spoke true to me," she noted. "She said, 'I learned what it's like in this space to know how to hold agency over my body, because I don't owe anyone anything when it comes to my body, especially the rights of my body now being a mother.' I took that, and put it to myself."
"I'm not a mother yet, but I know that I have a strengthened guard over my body and no one else does," she added. "The only way we can be kind of ourselves is if we draw a boundary."
These days, the actress is all about being genuine and authentic.
"It makes me feel empowered," she said of her role in the beauty industry. "It's more of an accentuation and elevation than just hiding behind makeup. Makeup was never that [for me]. And I feel even more uplifted in the space."
For now, Rodriguez is focused on what the future holds.
"I think it definitely elevated things for me," she told The Cut of winning a Golden Globe for Pose. "Winning really meant a lot to me, but there was a lot of pressure that came with it, too — to be the only one. It feels great to win, but it’s so lonely and bittersweet. I’m thankful for the opportunity. It did change a lot for me, but with that change I know that I have to keep breaking down as many doors as I can so that I won’t be the only one."
"After I got it, I had a lot of anxiety about why I won and if I deserved it. As trans women, we come with a lot of insecurities due to our environments and how we grow up, and a lot of us have dealt with a lot of unwanted trauma. I think because of that, I started questioning that Golden Globe win. Like, Do I deserve this? Am I simply getting this because they wanted their first trans winner, or is my talent actually speaking for itself? I’ve put in a lot of work to heal from those insecurities, and I’ve learned through the healing that if something keeps happening for you then it probably means something. Like, if I am a lead on a show, like I was on Pose, and then win an award for that role and then go on to play second to Maya Rudolph and then book American Horror Story, that has to mean that my talent is pushing through. I try to keep myself grounded in that so I remember that I deserve this," she added.
