Trivia

First trans woman to be nominated for an Emmy award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

Her mother is African-American and her father is half Puerto Rican and half African-American, making Michaela Jaé Rodriguez one-quarter Puerto Rican.

She modeled her stage name 'MJ' after a Marvel Comics character: MJ decided to take on a stage name while pursuing acting and singing. Prior to her transition, she took on the name MJ. The moniker was an obvious merge of initials in her real name, but MJ--an avid comic book fan--also took inspiration from Mary Jane 'MJ' Watson, the love interest of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the Marvel Comics. "The first time they called her MJ, I thought, 'That's a cool name!' I put 'Michael' and 'Junior' together, and It worked out perfectly!" she told Broadway.com in 2011.

She sings opera.

Attended the Queen of Angels Catholic Church.

MJ wanted to become an actress at a young age, so her mother enrolled her in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center at age 11.

After graduating from Newark's Art High School, she left the Garden State to pursue Performing Arts at Berklee College of Music.

She grew up in a choir.