I'm Jonathan K. Parton, welcome to K-PART.

Actress Michaela J. Rodriguez is now starring in the hilarious Apple TV-plus series Lute

with Maya Rudolph.

But Rodriguez is best known for her historic role as Blanca Evangelista in the FX series

Pose, a role that made her the first out-trans actress to win a Golden Globe and the first

to receive an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

In this conversation, first recorded on August 10th for Washington Post Live, Michaela J.

talks about her career, what it means to be a role model, and when exactly did she come

out as trans?

The world has believed that I came out at 24, but I didn't.

I was seven years old and I had an understanding of myself as just a feminine body creature,

but when I let the world know who I am, it wasn't a coming-out story.

It was just, oh, this has been me, and this has been me clarifying to you guys, like this

is who I've always been.

Let's start with the here and now.

You are in the new Apple TV-plus series called Lute.

You play Sofia Salinas, she's tough, a hard-ass.

Let's just say I've watched some of the episodes, she's a hard-ass, tell us more about her.

She definitely is, so Sofia, she is the COO to Molly Neyfak, no, that, excuse me, and

she is this starchy kind of character, this very straight-laced character who loosens

up down the line due to Molly's influence and her free spirit in this.

Also Sofia is this driven activist, but also driven, hard-working woman who wants to climb

...