Doing It My Way

Angelica Ross Is More Than a Scene-Stealer

The Pose and American Horror Story actress and activist opens up about the presidential election, Buddhism, and mending a broken relationship

Angelica Ross speaks onstage during the 2020 Embrace Ambition Summit by the Tory Burch Foundation at Jazz at Lincoln Center on March 05, 2020 in New York City. Photo: Craig Barritt/Getty Images

We know Angelica Ross as a scene-stealing actress and firebrand activist, but she’s also a technology nerd at heart. Before she landed prime-time TV roles on Pose and American Horror Story, making her the first transgender actor to land two series-regular roles, she taught herself how to code. Tech wasn’t just a hobby. It helped Ross navigate “a very treacherous path to womanhood,” she tells ZORA. “By using technology, by finding safe spaces online, by finding employment and training opportunities online, [I curated] my own personal blueprint. My own personal way out.”

That blueprint helped the Wisconsin native secure a leading role in the Emmy-nominated web series Her Story to jumpstart her acting career. In 2014, Ross launched Trans Tech Social, a company that empowers trans and gender nonconforming people through on-the-job training and workplace skills. Since then, she’s scored a Louis Vuitton ad campaign and hosted a presidential candidate forum on LGBTQ issues.