PITTSBURGH — Eva Reign had wanted to be an actor since she was 10 years old. As a transgender woman, though, she wasn't sure what opportunities would be available for her.
Even during her days as a journalist and trans activist, Reign was always taking acting classes and "trying to find a way into the industry." Watching trans actors like Laverne Cox ("Orange is the New Black") and Michaela Jae Rodriguez ("Pose") find success in Hollywood gave her the confidence to continue pursuing her creative ambitions.
On Friday, movie audiences will be introduced to Reign when Prime Video releases "Anything's Possible," Pittsburgh native Billy Porter's feature directorial debut that he shot throughout his hometown last summer. Reign stars as Kelsa, a trans high school student whose plans for a quiet senior year in the Steel City are complicated when she develops feelings for her cisgender classmate, Khal (Abubakr Ali).
It's a breakout role and performance for Reign, who would love to be just one of many trans actors being celebrated for their work.
"Before, I wasn't sure if there was a place for me because I wasn't really seeing anyone else like me on television or in movies," Reign told the Post-Gazette. "It's really cool and I'm super grateful. I just wish it wasn't so rare."
Reign is a St. Louis native who had never been to Pennsylvania before arriving here to shoot "Anything's Possible." She didn't have much time to explore the city since filming would often go late into the evening and many places were still closing early due to COVID-19 safety protocols. She was able to check out some local thrift stores and restaurants while getting to "see this new place that I want to visit again."
Filming "Anything's Possible" allowed Reign to see some prominent Pittsburgh sites. Downtown's CAPA, Porter's alma mater, is lovingly rendered as the film's fictional high school. Kelsa and Khal's first official date takes place at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens and the National Aviary. There are even scenes filmed at The Andy Warhol Museum and on a bus exiting the Fort Pitt Tunnel "Perks of Being a Wallflower"-style.
As a kid, Reign sometimes felt frustrated by how every movie or show seemed to be set in Los Angeles or New York City. Getting to showcase Pittsburgh was a privilege Reign wishes was afforded to her home state more often.
"There's this thing with cinema where oftentimes they talk about Missouri like it's a sad, dreary place," she said. "I think just being from St. Louis, it's something that I've noticed a lot. It was cool to film somewhere different than the status quo and to really show what that place looked like."
Her guide to all things Pittsburgh and filmmaking was Porter, who Reign said directed "Anything's Possible" "like a piece of theater" with plenty of time for rehearsals, fleshing out individual characters and examining the history of trans people on screen. Porter had the film's young cast spend a week watching all of FX's LGBTQ+ rights docuseries "Pride" and discussing what they learned to help them grasp the enormity of what they were doing.
She said that as a director, Porter was "always trying to instill confidence in me and everyone else." That included encouraging her to speak in her natural voice, a seemingly simple thing that actually meant the world to Reign. It was the first time anyone had given her license not to raise her voice an octave in an effort to sound more feminine. She has a deep appreciation for Porter instinctively knowing "what's up and to make space for trans actors in that way."
"Billy gave us a lot of space to explore and play with things and try new stuff," Reign said. "I just felt very seen, very heard, very taken care of throughout the whole process. It felt like we were kind of building the blocks of the story piece by piece as one unit."
It didn't take much work for Reign to develop chemistry with Ali that translated on camera for Kelsa and Khal. Reign is an astrology aficionado and attributed part of the ease with which they bonded to their shared birthday. Porter noticed the faces Reign would make when Ali said something wild off-camera and told them, "Whatever that is, you have to keep it."
"We're both just funny people and our humor bounces off of each other," Reign said. "Abu says a lot of things that I think are kind of ridiculous, and I always tease him for it. That's just the nature of our relationship. ... You put two Geminis in the same room, we're bound to make someone laugh."
Similarly, it wasn't tough for Reign to form a believable mother-daughter dynamic with Renee Elise Goldsberry, Porter's former Carnegie Mellon University classmate who plays Kelsa's well-meaning but overprotective mother. They talked frequently via FaceTime while Goldsberry was filming the Disney+ "She-Hulk" series. Reign said it became quickly apparent on set that the former "Hamilton" star possessed "an amazing gift to just sort of drop into the moment."
Kelsa institutes a "law of averages" rule at home where her mother is only allowed to ask questions a mother would typically ask her daughter. That aspect of their relationship combined with Kelsa's trans-positive online persona are emblematic of the dichotomy between her desire to be treated normally as she also learns to embrace her uniqueness.
Reign said that constant struggle is one she identifies with and expects many trans viewers will find familiar while watching "Anything's Possible."
"Kelsa is proud of being trans," she said. "She wouldn't make those videos if she wasn't. At the same time, she wants to hang out with her friends, go to school, read more books about animals. She just wants to live life like anyone else. That's where a lot of that comes from."
