Billy Porter has gained another accolade. The Pose actor (known as Pray Tell) recently told Variety that he will step into the director’s chair for the program’s forthcoming third season.
“I’ve been directing for 20 years in the theater, and I’m directing an episode of Season 3 myself,” he said. “I’m trying to be the head bi**h in charge, hunny!”
Porter recently made history with his Emmy win for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. He became the first black gay man to win the award. “I am so overwhelmed and I am so overjoyed to live long enough to see this day,” he said during his acceptance speech. “James Baldwin said, ‘It took many years of vomiting up all the filth I’d been taught about myself, and half-believed before I was able to walk on the earth as though I had a right to be here.’ I have the right, you have the right, we all have the right!”
The 50-year-old actor also credited the importance of creating authentic artistry. “We are the people. We as artists are the people that get to change the molecular structure of the hearts and the minds of the people who live on this planet,” he said. “Please don’t ever stop doing that. Please don’t ever stop telling the truth.”
Pose has made history as the first show to cast a slew of transgender women of color in lead roles. The show depicts the HIV/AIDS epidemic within the LGBT community in the ’80s and ’90s New York City.
