Billy Porter has a reason to rejoice this LGBTQ+ Pride season.
The Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award winner is adding a new feather to his wide-brimmed chapeau with a newly announced first-look deal with FX Productions, the same company that propelled him to meteoric fame with “Pose.”
Under the agreement, he will develop content via his new production company, Incognegro — described as focusing on Black and LGBTQIA narratives and will work across TV, film, music, theater and fashion platforms.
“I’m so glad I’ve been blessed to live long enough to see this day. The day where my queerness was my liability, to now where it grounds my work in personal authenticity and power,” the Pittsburgh native said in a statement Wednesday. “This is where we change the conversation. This is where they have the guts to tell the stories that resonate on the deepest level.”
Porter, 52, got a chance to flex his versatile skill set on the Steven Canals-created drama series, which was set in the 1980s gay ballroom culture. For his portrayal of the character Pray Tell, the “Kinky Boots” star won the Emmy for outstanding lead actor in 2019 — becoming the first openly gay Black man to be nominated and win in any lead acting category,
“Whether it’s about famous artists who you don’t fully understand or people from communities you don’t fully know or biting comedy you’ve thought about but never fully explored, this is such a wonderful home to tell the stories I’ve been talking about my whole life,” he said of FX. “I can’t wait to break new grounds together.”
Porter, who previously helmed theatrical productions, will make his feature-film directorial debut with “Anything’s Possible,” Ximena García Lecuona’s coming-of-age comedy, scheduled to stream July 22 on Amazon Prime Video.
The “Children” singer also been tapped to direct an episode of Fox’s anthology series “Accused,” and a queer-centered teen comedy, titled “To Be Real.”
FX President of Original Programming Nick Grad commented: “Billy Porter was an incredibly accomplished artist before joining FX’s ‘Pose’ to deliver the iconic, breakout, award-winning performance that helped define the series as one of the most memorable and groundbreaking in recent TV history.
“[He] has excelled as a writer, director and so much more — and we are excited to help him produce bold new stories that reflect his vision and unmatched style,” the top executive added.
Porter most recently won a second Tony Award as a producer of Michael R. Jackson’s acclaimed Broadway musical “A Strange Loop.”
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