Billy Porter Owes His POSE Emmy to Janet Mock

Billy Porter recently made history as the first openly gay black man to win the Emmy for Leading Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Pray Tell on FX's Pose. Porter opens up to Variety about how he owes his Emmy to Janet Mock, a writer, director, and producer on the show.

Porter tells Variety that Mock came into his world in 2014 after seeing her on MSNBC talking about her book "Redefining Realness." He said, " As a gay man who came out in 1985, the "T" in "LGBTQ" was largely absent from my queer knowledge, and I was just so moved by this woman."

Porter goes on to talk about getting to work with Mock on Pose, "It was Episode 6 of Season 1 - the first thing she directed - and I remember looking her in the face and seeing her eyes. I just said, 'Baby, I got you. We're going to turn this s- out.' We took a breath together, and we took a hug together. And that's why I won an Emmy. For real. That episode is why I won the Emmy."

Porter finishes his tribute to Mock by saying, "As a person who has spent a lot of time with no opportunity, I feel safer, and the world is a better place because we have somebody like Janet at the helm, telling the stories that would not otherwise be told or get told."

Janet Mock is an American writer, television host, director, producer and transgender rights activist. Her debut book, the memoir Redefining Realness, became a New York Times bestseller. Mock works on the FX series Pose as a writer, director, and producer, and in 2018 Mock directed the episode of Pose titled "Love Is the Message", making her the first transgender woman of color to write and direct any television episode.

Billy Porter is a Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award-winning singer, composer, actor, playwright and director from Pittsburgh, PA. He currently stars Pray Tell on the FX television series Pose. He originated the role of 'Lola' in the Broadway hit Kinky Boots, which won him 2013 Tony, Grammy, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards. Other theatre: Shuffle Along, Miss Saigon, Five Guys..., Grease, Smokey Joe's..., Dreamgirls, Angels in America,The Merchant of Venice, Radiant Baby, Birdie Blue, Songs for a New World, Ghetto Superstar (one-man show),Topdog/Underdog, King Lear. As a recording artist, Porter's solo albums include his first CD, Untitled, on A&M records, At the Corner of Broadway + Soul - LIVE on Sh-K-Boom Records, and Billy's Back on Broadway, on Concord Records.

Read the original story on Variety.