“OMG OMGGG!!!! @goldenglobes Wow! You talking about sickening birthday present! Thank you! This is the door that is going to Open the door for many more young talented individuals,” Mj \u2013 short for Michaela Ja\u00e9 \u2013 wrote on Instagram<\/a>. “They will see that it is more than possible. They will see that a young Black Latina girl from Newark, New Jersey, who had a dream, to change the minds others would WITH LOVE. LOVE WINS. To my young LGBTQAI babies, WE ARE HERE the door is now open now reach the stars!!!!!”<\/p>\n This historic win comes months after Mj broke down barriers at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards. She was the first trans actress nominated in a lead acting category. “It’s astounding, and not just for me,” she told IndieWire<\/em><\/a>. “I’m winning for so many people out there, so many babies out there, the generation that comes after me — that’s who it’s for, not me.” Though she didn’t take home the award \u2013 Olivia Colman <\/strong>won for her part on The Crown <\/em>\u2013 Mj is now the owner of a shiny Golden Globe trophy.<\/p>\n So, who is Mj Rodriguez? Here are five key things to know about the actress, from her Broadway roots to the details surrounding her courageous decision to transition.<\/p>\n Mj was born on January 7, 1991, in New Jersey. She was assigned male at birth, and was named Michael Anthony Rodriguez Jr. Her parents, an African-American mother and an Afro-Puerto Rican father, raised her in Newark, where she 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. She graduated high school from Newarks Art High School and left the Garden State to pursue performing arts at Berklee College of Music.<\/p>\n Just as stars like Lady Gaga<\/strong>, The Weeknd,<\/strong> and Miley Cyrus<\/strong> have done, 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 \u00a0\u2014 an avid comic book fan \u2014 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<\/em><\/a> in 2011.<\/p>\n While in college, Mj was cast in a theater production of\u00a0Rent\u00a0<\/em>as Angel Dumott Schunard. Her performance impressed actress Fredi Walker-Browne<\/strong>, who offered Mj the same role in the off-Broadway production of\u00a0Rent<\/em>. “Those are some big shoes to fill, and people expect to see the same thing they’ve seen before,” she told Broadway<\/em>.com<\/em> in 2011 of playing Angel. Mj’s performance in the production earned her the 2011 Clive Barnes Award. She was only 20 at the time.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/MJ-Rodriguez-5-things-golden-globes-embed1.jpg?resize=620%2C930\")
1. Mj grew up in New Jersey.<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n
2. She modeled her stage name after a Marvel Comics character.<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"MJ](\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/MJ-Rodriguez-5-Things-embed-2.jpg?w=620&resize=620%2C604\")
3. She appeared in ‘Rent’ off-Broadway in college.<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n
4. Mj began transitioning in 2012…<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"MJ](\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/MJ-Rodriguez-5-Things-embed-3.jpg?w=620&resize=620%2C413\")