- Title: Billy Porter makes directorial debut with transgender romantic comedy
- Date: 25th July 2022
- Summary: UNKNOWN LOCATION (RECENT – JULY 14, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR, EVA REIGN, SAYING: ''Like playing Kelsa really taught me to just kind of like let it go more, to lean into the joy which is something that Billy said to me the first day that we met you know he said 'this is going to be such a whirlwind, this is your first movie, but lean into the joy' and I
- Embargoed: 8th August 2022 10:36
- Keywords: Anything's possible Billy Porter Eva Reign LGBTQ Transgender
- Location: VARIOUS
- City: VARIOUS
- Country: USA
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Film,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA004385322072022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Award-winning actor Billy Porter has stepped behind the camera for new film ''Anything's Possible'', which he says brings the idea of ''trans joy'' to the screen.
Porter's directorial debut, a romantic comedy set in a high school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, tells the story of a young transgender girl called Kelsa who starts dating one of the guys at her school.
''What I love about this... (is) bringing in the idea of joy, LGBTQ+ joy - trans joy, specifically in this moment the trans narrative has been more about the trauma than the joy,'' Porter told Reuters in an interview.
''As a black gay man who came out in 1985, I’m very aware that my own personal humanity has been up for legislation since I could comprehend thought, so to see that happening to another group of people who are in the same family is really devastating and we have the power to change that narrative.''
The movie opens as debates such as those around transgender women competing against cisgender women in sport are hot topics in the United States and other countries.
Transgender actor Eva Reign, who plays Kelsa, said her character taught her to ''let ...go more'' and ''lean into the joy.''
''Billy said to me the first day that we met ...''This is going to be such a whirlwind, this is your first movie, but lean into the joy'' and I hope that everyone who watches this film also does that same thing,'' she said.
"(The film shows) that there’s more than what we've seen when it comes to trans people, especially trans women, black trans women, we've seen so many sad narratives, but joy exists in everyone’s life," Reign added.
Porter, who won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for portraying HIV-positive ballroom emcee Pray Tell in hit TV show ''Pose'' about New York’s LGBT+ drag ball culture, said it was important for him to lead the charge when it comes to telling LGBTQ stories.
As for if he plans to carry on directing, he said that the ''sky is the limit'' and that he will be doing more, joking that all it depends on is his schedule.
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