Jai Rodriguez

Jai on his true passion: I have been singing and performing since I was a kid. I was starring in a Broadway show before Queer Eye and would love to get back to that life soon. I am a performer first and foremost. I love Queer Eye with all my heart but if I never give another makeover when its all said and done that would be too soon. I love theatre and performing is my first love. - Houston Voice, February 2005.

Jai on Rent: Rent changed my life! I grew so much as a person. It taught me about accepting myself and embracing those who are different. I am so grateful for what I have been given and Rent has shown me how to appreciate it. I like bringing smiles to people's faces. I love telling the story of someone who's terminally ill, but still is gonna enjoy every minute of life. I lost two family members to AIDS, Aunt Joanne and cousin Rico, and I felt they chose to live their lives that way, so my doing the show is almost a tribute to them. - Playbill.com, August 2004.

Jai on being Latino: I grew up with the last name Rodriguez, and I was discriminated against because of it. It's harder; there are not a lot of roles for you, and you constantly have to fight to not talk with an accent. I started off auditioning for "Javier from Brooklyn": the Hispanic guy with lots of tattoos. I was like, "You choose to see me as a Latino person who only represents a portion of the Latino community." I was really upset that we were so misrepresented in the media. It is our differences that make us unique, but I was still left stuck in the middle a lot of times. I'm the only ethnic person in the Fab 5, and I am the voice of ethnicity in our group, so it's nice to represent people who I feel have not been represented enough. Now everything Latin is so hot, and for us it's like, finally! - Hispanic, November 2004.