{"id":33341,"date":"2021-09-01T14:11:19","date_gmt":"2021-09-01T14:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=33341"},"modified":"2021-09-01T15:48:54","modified_gmt":"2021-09-01T15:48:54","slug":"billy-porter-cinderella-interview","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/billy-porter-cinderella-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy Porter on Reinventing Cinderella\u2019s Fairy Godmother"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Billy
Billy Porter (Photo: Amy Sussman\/WireImage)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At this point, does anyone really need to be told that there\u2019s just something undeniably magical about Billy Porter<\/a>? The Tony, Grammy and Emmy winning actor is known as much for his fierce\u2014and fiercely empathetic\u2014portrayal of ball culture veteran Pray Tell on FX\u2019s ground-breaking series Pose<\/em><\/a> as he is for his own ground-breaking<\/a>, gender defying<\/a> red-carpet style<\/a>. Whenever he attends a premiere, it\u2019s like getting a glimpse of a fantasy being from another realm.<\/p>\n

So, naturally, he was a shoo-in to play Cinderella\u2019s Fairy Godmother in Amazon Prime\u2019s new jukebox musical adaptation of the well-worn tale. In fact, it turns out director Kay Cannon wrote the part of the non-binary Fab G with Porter in mind. Ahead of the film\u2019s premiere this week, Porter chatted with GRAZIA about reinventing the classic character, carving out a creative path of his own and honoring Whitney Houston\u2019s turn<\/a> as a very different Fairy Godmother.<\/p>\n

Kay Cannon has said she wrote the character with you in mind. When you first got the script did you know that? Did you kind of recognize yourself in the character? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I did not know that she wrote it with me in mind until a few days ago. I did feel like it was in my voice when I read it for the first time over two years ago. So, it\u2019s not a surprise. One of the things that I gravitated towards is\u2014I feel like my life has changed, having chosen my truth, having chosen my authenticity all those decades ago in the time and space where that authenticity was not received. Being Black and queer in this world was not popular. It\u2019s easy to be who you are when what you are is what\u2019s popular. I chose the road less traveled, and to open up that script and to read something that sounded like my true authentic self was a gift. And I saw it, and I felt it, and that\u2019s why I said yes.<\/p>\n

\"Billy
Billy Porter and director Kay Cannon (Photo: Kerry Brown\/Amazon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Did the two of you talk about why she wanted to reimagine the Fairy Godmother as a fabulous non-binary character? \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, it was an unspoken inevitability. What else is it gonna be? If we\u2019re gonna do something different, if we\u2019re gonna take these problematic classics, fairy tales\u2014if we\u2019re gonna take them and flip them on their ear\u2014what else is it? You have to depart from the original conceit completely to make a fully different choice. There has been progress. You know, the Cinderella that is the most resonant with me is the Brandi\/Whitney one<\/a>. As a Black person, that\u2019s the one that I care about the most. That\u2019s the first time I saw a Black princess. That\u2019s the first time I saw a Black Fairy Godmother\u2014in the original traditional setting. They used the original Rodgers and Hammerstein score. And my 14-year-old self wanted to grow up and be the male Whitney Houston.<\/p>\n

I feel like a lot of people will make the comparison between your role and Whitney Houston\u2019s. Did you have her performance in mind at all as you were crafting your take on the character?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No. Because it\u2019s a completely different thing. It is not the Rodgers and Hammerstein score. So, I get to show up and put my own stamp on it, as she put her own stamp on that. And if it was the Rodgers and Hammerstein score, I would have put my own stamp on that as well. I am 52 years old. I\u2019ve been in this business a long time. I feel comfortable and safe putting my own stamp on stuff.<\/p>\n

However, the honor\u2014honoring what came before me is very necessary, in terms of how the torch gets passed. The torch has been passed to me and I had to fulfill the assignment. And I think I did.<\/p>\n

\"Camila
Camila Cabello and Billy Porter (Photo: Kerry Brown\/Amazon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The role also feels like kind of a nod to the role that gay men and queer fems play in cisgender straight women\u2019s lives as arbiters of style. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Right! I think it\u2019s implicit in the writing, so I don\u2019t have to do a lot of work but say the lines. The whole gag around the heels hurting\u2014that was already there. But the thing that I brought to the table, I believe, is how to talk about it. How to talk about it in this space where so much of our conversations are in soundbites. \u201cMagic has no gender\u201d is the soundbite that kept coming to me. It\u2019s a quick and easy way to get inside of the inner workings of the \u201cWhy?\u201d and \u201cWherefore?\u201d Magic doesn\u2019t have a gender. Why has it always been a woman? And a white woman until Whitney Houston? Why is that? It doesn\u2019t have to be that. So, now it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n

I also read that Fab G was originally going to sing a different song. How did you settle on Earth, Wind and Fire\u2019s \u201cShining Star?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, I had a lot less to do with that. I read the first script. It was the Eurythmics\u2019, Annie Lennox\u2019s \u201cSweet Dreams.\u201d I loved it. When I got the shooting script, the song had changed to \u201cShining Star,\u201d Earth, Wind and Fire. Therefore the assignment changed. Therefore the character shifted. I was like, \u201cOh, so ya\u2019ll just want me to slay all<\/em> day?\u201d Ok. I got it. [Laughs<\/em>] When it shifted to that song, it was like, Alright, you\u2019ve unleased the Kraken!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Billy
Billy Porter in Cinderella<\/i> (Photo: Kerry Brown\/Amazon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You\u2019re known for playing these bold, sassy, fabulous characters that seem to sort of reflect your own red-carpet image. I\u2019m curious if, after three seasons of Pose<\/em> and this role in Cinderella<\/em>, you\u2019re looking to pivot to something unexpected. <\/strong><\/p>\n

I just finished directing my first feature film. That\u2019s about as pivot<\/em> as you can get. I have new music coming out in the fall. I just signed a major record deal with Republic Records and Island in the U.K. Another pivot. That\u2019s an actual comeback, because I\u2019m coming back to pop music with this new project. I have a memoir coming out in October that I wrote myself. So, I don\u2019t have any limitations placed on my inside of my creativity. I have cracked open a space where I get to live inside of the fullness of whatever creative space I want to navigate. I sold a pilot to Peacock that I created. So, there is no limit. There is no pigeonholing or boxing me in ever again. That happened early in my career, and I spent decades pulling myself out of that. So, to dream the impossible, to live the impossible is the only goal I have in my life. And I wake up every day putting one foot in front of the other, living that<\/em> kind of truth. And it\u2019s amazing.<\/p>\n

I kept thinking of Fab G as Pray Tell reincarnated as this magical being. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

You know, someone else actually just said the same thing! And I\u2019d never thought about it until she said it. And it\u2019s really sweet, and it\u2019s really moving that people connected that intensely with Pray Tell and his journey that, you know, they would connect a reincarnated, heavenly version of Pray Tell this. I think it\u2019s really magical. That\u2019s really moving to me. I had not thought about it, but now I do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29097,"featured_media":33342,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[38,3324,16],"yoast_head":"\nBilly Porter on Reinventing Cinderella\u2019s Fairy Godmother - Grazia USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There\u2019s just something undeniably magical about Billy Porter. 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