BILLY PORTER!
He stars in a show on FX called POSE. (Before that, he starred in Kinky Boots on Broadway.) I remember seeing previews for Pose last year and set a season pass on my Tivo. Or so I thought. It wasn't until there were only two episodes left that I realized it hadn't been recording. Boo. I was disappointed.
Then Billy showed up to the Oscars in that gorgeous tuxedo gown and that's when I learned that he was on this show. (I really didn't know much about the show, other than it looked cool and dancing was involved.)
Pose was renewed for a second season and before it started back on FX, they put Season One on Netflix. I started seeing previews for it while watching Fosse/Verdon and then a friend of mine posted about the show on Facebook, so I decided to dig in. I now know that the show is about the LGBTQ ball culture in the late 80s/early 90s. You can do your own research on what "ball culture" is, but just know that it's where Madonna learned how to "Vogue." (This features prominently in Season 2.) Billy Porter plays Pray Tell, the emcee at the balls, and he is just wonderful. The show takes place during the rise of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and he handles scenes around that subject with such grace. He's a fantastic actor. (Now, sometimes--I admit--the show doesn't have the best acting you've ever seen, BUT, the stories are heartfelt and Billy Porter makes up for it all. Kudos to the show for hiring transgender actors to play transgender roles.)
Toward the end of the first season, Pray Tell goes to sing at the ward where his boyfriend is dying of AIDS. I rewound and watched this five times with tears streaming down my face. The description on the video says, "Set in the 80's, in this scene, Pray Tell (Billy Porter) arranged a cabaret to cheer the patients in the AIDS Ward where his boyfriend is in treatment. His dear friend, Blanca (transgender actress MJ Rodriguez) agrees to sing. Both characters have also recently been diagnosed. This is so beautiful."
Oh man. That gets me every time.
When I searched for that video, I also came across this fantastic scene that happened during the commercial break at the Tony awards. This made me a fan forever.
And then just the other day, I caught his serious side in an interview with other Emmy-nominated actors. He touched my heart. The interview is long, but here's his response to the question, "I knew I had made it in Hollywood, when.....?" (From YouTube, I can set where the video starts, but I can't set where it stops, so you can hit pause after you see Billy speak. I do encourage everyone to watch the whole roundtable because it was kind of interesting. Especially Hugh Grant...I can't tell if he's just self-deprecating, or if he really is a monster to work with. I'm going with self-deprecation. I digress.....)
I hate to admit, but that's really when I first noticed him too. And then it was just like, look at all that fabulousness! I could just hear Christian Siriano (the gown's designer) saying, "Fierce!"
Here's another moment from the interview that I liked where he's discussing his role on Pose:
I really hope he gets that Emmy award.
So, that's it for my Billy Porter fan post. I'll leave you with this, Billy Porter, in all his Pray Tell glory!
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