Netflix Releases Trailer for New Series “Uncoupled,” Guest Starring Jai Rodriguez

Jai Rodriguez is uncoupling

Netflix has released the full trailer for Uncoupled, the upcoming eight-part series featuring the 43-year-old half-Puerto Rican actor, musician and former Queer Eye for the Straight Guy host.

Jai RodriguezStarring Neil Patrick Harris, the project hails from Emily in Paris creator Darren Star and Jeffrey Richman.

Harris stars as a gay man in his mid-40s navigating the single life in New York City after he was unceremoniously dumped by his partner of 17 years.

In addition to Harris and Rodriguez, a guest star on the series, Uncoupled also stars Tisha Campbell, Brooks Ashmanskas, Emerson Brooks and Marcia Gay Harden.

André De Shields, Byron Jennings, Colin Hanlon, Dan Amboyer, Gilles Marini, Nic Rouleau, Peter Porte and Stephanie Faracy join as guest stars.

Jai Rodriguez to Star in Universal Pictures’ Groundbreaking LGBTQ+ Rom-Com “Bros”

It’s Bros time for Jai Rodriguez.

The 42-year-old half-Puerto Rican actor, musician and former Queer Eye for the Straight Guy co-host is starring in Nicholas Stoller’s groundbreaking LGBTQ+ rom-com Bros for Universal Pictures.

Jai RodriguezRodriguez is starring alongside previously announced cast members including Billy EichnerLuke MacfarlaneTS Madison, Miss LawrenceSymoneGuillermo DiazGuy Branum, Monica Raymund, Jim Rash, Harvey Fierstein, Bowen Yang, Amanda Bearse, Dot-Marie Jones and more.

Bros is the first romantic comedy from a major studio about two gay men. The film written by Eichner and Macfarlane is billed as a smart, swoony and heartfelt story about gay men—played by Eichber and Macfarlane—maybe, possibly, probably, stumbling towards love. Maybe. They’re both very busy. Pic is scheduled to arrive in theaters on September 30th.

Judd Apatow is producing the project alongside Stoller and Josh Church, with Eichner exec producing.

Rodriguez won an Emmy in 2004, as co-host of Outstanding Reality ProgramQueer Eye for the Straight Guy, and will also soon be seen in the Amazon series Bosch: Legacy.

He’s also appeared on series like The RookieEastsidersDollfaceThe Resident and Kingdom, among others.

His film credits include The Producers and The New Guy.

Jai Rodriguez to Star in HBO Max’s LGBTQ+ Landmark Events Docuseries “Equal”

Jai Rodriguez has found his Equal

The 41-year-old half-Puerto Rican actor/musician and original culture guide on Queer Eye has joined the cast of HBO Max’s Equal, its upcoming four-part docuseries chronicling landmark events and the forgotten heroes of the LGBTQ+ movement.

Jai Rodriguez

The project hails from Greg Berlanti’s Berlanti Productions, Jim Parsons and That’s Wonderful Productions, Scout Productions, Jon Jashni and Warner Horizon Unscripted Television.

In addition to Rodriguez, who’ll portray José Sarria, the first openly gay candidate for public office in the United States, the cast includes Samira Wiley, Cheyenne Jackson, Anthony Rapp, Sara Gilbert, Shannon Purser, Heather Matarazzo, Jamie Clayton, Isis King, Gale Harold.

They’ll allportray the LBGTQ+ visionaries in the docuseries that contains never-before-seen archival footage.

Part one of the docuseries explores the rise of early organizations, The Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis in Los Angeles and San Francisco, respectively; part two stories chronicles the 20th century trans experience, bookended by the 1966 Compton Cafeteria riots in San Francisco; part three examines the contributions from the Black community on the growing LGBTQ+ civil rights movement; and part four ties in the decades long struggles with the culminated Stonewall uprising – the beginning of the Pride movement.

Stephen Kijak is the showrunner and director of episodes one, three and four alongside ground-breaking trans director Kimberly Reed, who directs episode two.

Here’s a full list with character descriptions:

Cheyenne Jackson as Dale Jennings. Dale was a gay rights activist, playwright and author. He was one of the founding members of the Mattachine Society in the early 1950s, one of the earliest gay rights groups in the United States. Following his entrapment and arrest on sex charges, Jennings fought the charges in a successful court cast which became a landmark moment for the movement. He was also one of the founders of One Magazine, the first pro-gay publication in the U.S.

Anthony Rapp as Harry Hay. Harry was the founder of The Mattachine Society. His manifesto, “The Call,” written feverishly one night in 1948 called for the protection and improvement of the rights of homosexuals and was the foundation on which the group was built.

Shannon Purser & Heather Matarazzo as Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon. Del & Phyllis were a lesbian couple (together for 56 years until Martin’s death in 2008) who founded the Daughters of Bilitis in San Francisco in 1955, the first social and political organization for lesbians in the United States. They also published The Ladder, the first nationally distributed lesbian publication in the US. Active in both gay and feminist politics their whole lives, they were the first same-sex couple to legally wed.

Sara Gilbert as J.M. From Cleveland. “JM” is an “anonymous reader” of The Ladder, representing the isolated lesbians of the 1950’s who found a lifeline in the pages of the magazine, but who were forced to live closeted lives for fear of losing jobs, friends and family.

Anne Ramsay as The FBI Agent: A composite character, the FBI kept active files on the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilitis – gay groups were often linked to communism and considered to be dangerous subversives.

Alexandra Grey as Lucy Hicks Anderson. Socialite, chef, and prohibition-era entrepreneur – and one of the first documented Black transgender persons in the USA — Lucy Hicks Anderson was one of the most prominent citizens of Oxnard, CA until 1945 when a syphilis outbreak at her brothel became her undoing, outing her to the community.

Theo Germaine as Jack Starr. Jack is a little-known character in the history of folks who probably would have self-identified as trans. He was a prominent local outcast at the turn of the century in Montana, in and out of jail and in and out of the local headlines for refusing to wear clothes that conformed to the gender assigned to Jack at birth. A Jack-of-all-trades and teller of tall tales, Jack Starr (aka Jacques Moret) is an enigmatic early figure who pushed the boundaries of gender expression.

Jamie Clayton as Christine Jorgensen. Widely known as the world’s first transgender celebrity, Christine became an internationally known figure following the publicity surrounding her gender confirmation surgery in the early 1950’s. She became a popular nightclub entertainer, author, and lecturer and used her celebrity to advance the cause of transgender rights.

Isis King as Alexis. “Alexis” is a composite character, the spirit of the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot in 1966, one of the first known instances of trans and queer folk rising up against police harassment – three years before the Stonewall Riots.

Samira Wiley as Lorraine Hannsberry. Author of the landmark play “A Raisin in the Sun,” Lorraine Hansberry was the first African American female author to have a play performed on Broadway. She was a radical and forceful voice within the Civil Rights Movement, who died far too young at age 34 of pancreatic cancer. While closeted during her lifetime, she wrote extensively under a variety of pseudonyms – in plays, stories and letters that discussed her lesbianism and the oppression of homosexuals in society.

Keiynan Lonsdale as Bayard Rustin. Bayard was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, nonviolence, and gay rights. He was a close mentor and advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and one of the chief architects of the March on Washington. Because of a 1953 arrest on sex charges his sexuality was often weaponized against him and the movement, but he remained a tireless advocate for social justice his entire life – and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barak Obama in 2013.

Jai Rodriguez as José Sarria. In 1961 José became the first openly gay candidate for public office in the United States, running for a seat on the SF Board of Supervisors 16 years before Harvey Milk. He is also remembered as a beloved and inspiring drag performer at SF’s Black Cat Bar, who raised the spirits and political consciousness of the bar’s gay male patrons with his rousing anthem “God Save Us Nelly Queens”! A lifelong advocate and activist, José founded the Imperial Court System, one of the oldest and largest LGBT organizations in the world.

Hailie Sahar as Sylvia Rivera. Sylvia was a Latina American gay liberation and transgender rights activist. Prominent as an activist and community worker in New York, Rivera, along with close friend Marsha P. Johnson, co-founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries in 1970, a group dedicated to helping homeless young drag queens, gay youth, and trans women. Whether true or a bit of self myth-making, Sylvia placed herself at the center of the Stonewall Riots – either way, her perspective on the riots and its aftermath are an indelible part of the oral history of Stonewall.

Scott Turner Schofield as Craig Rodwell. Craig was an American gay rights activist known for founding the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop in 1967, the first bookstore devoted to gay and lesbian authors. A witness and participant in the Stonewall riots, he was one of the prime movers in the creation of the first New York City Pride demonstration.

Cole Doman as Mark Segal. Mark is an American journalist and prominent gay rights activist. He participated in the Stonewall riots and was one of the original founders of the Gay Liberation Front where he created its Gay Youth program.

Elizabeth Faith Ludlow as Stormé DeLarverie. Stormé was a gay civil rights icon and entertainer whose scuffle with police was, according to many eyewitnesses, the spark that ignited the Stonewall riots, spurring the crowd to action. She worked for much of her life as an MC, singer, bouncer, bodyguard and volunteer street patrol worker, the “guardian of lesbians in the Village.”

Gale Harold as Howard Smith. Howard was an Oscar-winning film director, producer, journalist, screenwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. At the peak of the historic Stonewall Riots in New York City in 1969, he managed to get inside the now famous bar with his Village Voice reporter’s police credentials. He was the only journalist who reported about the siege from that dangerous vantage point.

Sam Pancake as Dick Leitsch. Dick was a prominent LGBTQ rights activist and president of the Mattachine Society in the 1960s. He is also known for being the first gay reporter to publish an account of the Stonewall Riots, which appeared in a special edition of the Mattachine Newsletter the day after he witnessed the first night of the riot.

Jai Rodriguez to Host This Weekend’s Daytime Emmy Awards Livestream Honoring Digital Dramas

Jai Rodriguez is livin’ thestream…

The 41-year-old half Puerto Rican actor and former Queer Eye for the Straight Guy talent will host the Daytime Emmy Awards livestream ceremony honoring Digital Dramas this Sunday, while The Real’s Loni Love will host the ceremony for Children’s, Lifestyle & Animation programming next Sunday.

Jai Rodriguez

The host announcements were made by The National Academy of Television Arts & SciencesNATAS also said the 41st Sports Emmy Awards will livestream on Tuesday, August 11, at 8:00 pm ET, and the 41st News & Documentary awards will stream in mid-to-late September, followed by the 71st Technology & Engineering Emmys in mid-to-late October.

Two dedicated specials will also debut this fall, one recognizing Lifetime Achievement honorees in Daytime, Sports, News & Documentary and Technology & Engineering programming, and the other recognizing Spanish-Language nominees across the genres.

The new formats were designed to fit the demands of the coronavirus pandemic. 

“These unprecedented circumstances demanded new and exciting ways to recognize the great talents creating Daytime television,” said Adam Sharp, president & CEO of NATAS in a statement.

The Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony honoring Digital Dramas will livestream on Sunday, July 19, 9:00 pm ET. The ceremony for Children’s, Lifestyle & Animation programming will stream on Sunday, July 26, 8 p.m. ET. All events will be viewable on desktop, mobile, and smart TV platforms via TheEmmys.tv.

In addition to being one of the original Queer Eye hosts, Rodriguez has appeared on television in Malibu CountryThe MagiciansGrey’s Anatomy and Grace and Frankie.

Rodriguez to Appear on Kelly Clarkson’s NBC Christmas Special

Jai Rodriguez will have a cautionary Christmas

The 34-year-old Puerto Rican/Italian American actor and musician is among the stars joining Kelly Clarkson for her upcoming holiday special Kelly Clarkson’s Cautionary Christmas Music Tale, according to NBC.

Jai Rodriguez

Rodriguez, best known as the culture vulture on Bravo’s Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, joins Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, William Shatner and Blake Shelton as guests for the night.

Clarkson’s special will celebrate the season with a comedic musical take on the traditional Christmas morality tale, and will feature songs from her just-released Christmas album, Wrapped in Red.

The special, slated to air Wednesday, December 11 at 10:00 pm, will also include Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood, Jay Leno, Matt Lauer, Danica Patrick, Heidi Klum and Ken Jeong.

Rodriguez most recently starred opposite McEntire on her ABC comedy series Malibu Country.

Rodriguez and His “Queer Eye” Cast Mates Returning to Bravo

Jai Rodriguez is heading back to Bravo

The 34-year-old half-Puerto Rican actor/musician and “culture vulture” will be reuniting with his Queer Eye for the Straight Guy cast mates to celebrate the hit reality series’ big anniversary.

Jai Rodriguez

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was a surprise hit when it premiered back in July 2003, adding the “make-better” to the pop culture conversation and sending Bravo on its reality television track.

Now the cable channel is celebrating the five-season series with Queer Eye Reunion: 10 Years Later, an Andy Cohen-hosted gathering of the “Fab Five”: Rodriguez, Ted Allen, Kyan Douglas, Thom Filicia and Carson Kressley.

Along with discussing the Emmy-winning show — whose title was shortened to Queer Eye after Season 3 — the men will highlight behind-the-scenes secrets and discuss how their lives have changed in the past decade.

The reunion special will air in October.