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The role Billy Porter plays onPosedidnt exist when he first auditioned.
Poseis the impossible, he tells Vulture.
Its a magic quality to me.
It wasnt even a thought because it wasnt there.
Thats the greatest gift that Ive gotten from this experience.
It felt like a really hopeless thing at the time.
It made me very thankful that Ive lived long enough to see this day.
Ive lived long enough to see this transition in our culture to be able to tell this story.
Theyre coming out of the woodwork.
One friend actually saidPosehelped him to move past the survivors guilt hes been holding on to for decades.
He said, I dont feel guilty anymore, and thanked me for that.
The complexities of surviving AIDS come out in Pray Tells character.
That was the hardest part of that time.
It was surprising if you werent.
So, he tries to find some joy in at least still being alive.Thats what I did.
Thats all of us everywhere.
Were not the only one with hardships.
Do you choose to wallow, and give in, and give up?
Or do you choose life?
Thats what this show is about watching a group of people choosing life.
Hopefully, that will be inspiring to somebody.
You moved to New York in the 1980s, right?I started coming in the summer of 88.
I moved officially in the original cast ofMiss Saigonin 1990.
Thats who I was, you know?
The other side of the coin was the gang violence, and that whole thing.
I was blessed because I could sing.
I had a talent that could pull me out of it.
Everybody doesnt have that.
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Posehas really incredible music selections.
Theyll have the music that theyll spend their money on.
Because she aint the only one!
You got Tina Turner, you got Janet Jackson, you got Diana Ross, you got Whitney Houston.
Those songs are not cheap, honey.
When they filmed that, they didnt have the rights.
What was it like to hear thatPosegot a second season?
Duck Dynasty?Who the fuck knows about that?
Or cares about it?
Its the kind of thing where you dont know that you care about it until you see it.
Its sort of like Apple you dont know what you need until they create it.
Thats a property that our show has.
You buy in to something youve never seen before.
Hopefully, that will snowball.
Love Is the Message also marks the first time Janet Mock directed an episode.
I tease her because she puts on her grown lady boots.
She has a little Cha Cha heel boot when she feels like she needs to come authoritative.
Im so happy for her, and so proud of her.
The fight was about something else.
Thats how it works.
Internal vigilance is the price of liberty.
It is almost a respectability thing.
When we know better, we do better.
Now yall know better, lets see what happens.
Thats the thing about this show for me.
Im learning so much about the transgender community.
I mean, you think its hard for a gay boy.
Ive learned so about what it takes every single day.
You motherfuckers cant even let me spritz perfume?
You cant even get a job, so then where do you go?
If youre neglecting your citizens, you are inhumane.
