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Billy Porter says he was forever changed by two specific stage shows that he saw when he was young.
While speaking exclusively to PEOPLE about his early artistic influences, the Tony Award winner, 55, recalled the live stage moments he witnessed in his pre-teens that made him realize he needed to devote his life to the arts.
“Seeing the national touring company of The Wiz and the Tony Award performance of Dreamgirls where Jennifer Holliday introduced the song ‘And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going’ into the zeitgeist in the same year, which was circa 1981, was the turning point in my life. That was the year I knew I would live my life as an artist,” he says.
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The Broadway star also opened up about the significance of his show Pose, a TV drama that ran from 2018 to 2021, which explored various aspects of drag ball culture in the 1980s.
“I don’t believe we could completely comprehend how important our work was on Pose while we were in it,” he shares. “I recently returned to the series and watched all three seasons in three days. I was struck by the attention to the details and truth of the trans experience. There is no stone unturned.”
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“Everything you need to know about the history of LGBTQ+ community during the AIDS crisis is laid bare. The show should be required reading for everyone on the planet — particularly in this present moment of erasure of all things that make some White people in power uncomfortable,” he adds.
Porter, however, said that he wasn’t immediately sold when he heard the concept of the show, which was co-created by Ryan Murphy.
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“When I was told that Ryan Murphy was committed to telling the ball culture story of the ’80s and ’90s during the AIDS crisis, I was hopeful and trepidatious. As a Black, gay man who lived through the era, and with the history of appropriation and theft of our community over the years, I was happy to hear that Ryan’s concept was to center Black and Brown transgender stories on the show.”
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“No one in a position of power in the entertainment industry had ever been brave enough to tell our story before then,” he continues. “Pose told truth and shifted something very profound in our world through the power of art. There’s hope and healing in our show. And I am forever grateful to have been chosen to be a part of it.”
Porter — who made history in 2019 when he became the first openly gay Black man to win an Emmy for Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of Pray Tell in Pose — told PEOPLE that he hopes the trend continues.
“I may be the first, and I do not want to be the last. We’ve come a long way and there is so much farther to go. I would like to live in a world where Black, queer firsts are not a thing anymore. I’m a dreamer. Maybe someday,” he says.
