Josielyn Aguilera’s Wishes Come True

Josielyn Aguilera always wanted to be an actress. Creative and expressive from a young age, she didn’t always see herself reflected on screens, but that didn’t dim her ambition.

The Latino Alternative Storytellers documentary team caught up with her during a photoshoot in Downtown Los Angeles, where she opened up about her journey as a trans artist in Hollywood.

“Once upon a time,” Josielyn begins with a smile, “there was a little kid with dreams of becoming a star, and they had trouble being themselves, but luckily with the love and support of their family they [became] this amazing, beautiful woman and ventured off into new lands.”

Josielyn was born in Michoacán, México, and her mom brought her to California when she was five-year-old, where she grew up alongside her sister and an array of cousins and tíos and tías.

Josielyn Aguilera on set for Latino Alternative Storytellers

Being different has been a cornerstone of Josielyn’s life.

A Latino kid in rural California, she didn’t look like the white kids she went to school with. All she wanted to do was play with them and be part of their friend groups. But she felt left out. She was misunderstood. Instead, she focused on learning English and hoped that would help her fit in.

From a young age, she also knew she was trans. As early as she can remember, she wanted to be a girl, and that inner battle between how she felt and what she looked like further isolated her from the heteronormative mainstream.

“Every year, on my birthday, [I wished] that I would wake up as a girl the next day,” Josielyn says.

For a long time, she kept her wish a secret. She feared that her family—rooted in strong Mexican tradition—would not accept her.

But eventually, she had no choice. Josielyn came out to her mom when she was 15-years-old. Surprisingly, she was met with love and support. Then she came out to her uncle, a macho Mexican man, the closest father-figure she had growing up. She was scared to tell him and because she was unsure how he’d react, but she found the courage to sit him down and speak her truth.

“I told him who I was, that I wanted to be a girl, and I wanted to be me, the real me,” Josielyn says. “I remember he took a pause, then he gets up and gives me the biggest hug, and he just looks at me and says … ‘So, what are we going to call you?’ Instantly, without skipping a beat, he goes ‘Josielyn?’ and in that moment, that was who I was meant to be.”

Josielyn Aguilera on set for Latino Alternative Storytellers

For Josielyn, film and tv has the power to change how people understand the world.

We live in polarizing times. People get organized into demographic boxes to help feed political agendas, and minorities typically get caught in the intersectional crossfires. Being trans, being Latina—these are pieces of Josielyn’s identity that get misrepresented or overexaggerated, simplifying her full tapestry of character into stereotypes and generic clichés. Hollywood, with the ability to humanize people through story, can deepen people’s understanding of trans people, of Latinas, and Josielyn is playing an active role in that cultural shift.

She plays trans roles. She plays Latinas. And she brings integrity and pride to each of these characters on set. What she’d like to see more of in casting breakdowns are trans Latinas with fuller, more universal character arcs—women experiencing the ups and downs of everyday life who just happen to be trans, who just happen to be Latina.

“If there’s a way we can express more love and more acceptance in a film or a show, that could definitely change the way we express love and acceptance in the world,” Josielyn says.

Get to know Josielyn Aguilera better on Latino Alternative Storytellers.