Billy Porter is ecstatic he was able to become the character that he needed to exist when he was younger, and credits Cinderella for making that magic happen.
Speaking to ABC Audio, Porter gushed about playing the Fairy Godmother — since renamed to Fab G — in the Amazon Prime Video film, adding that it allowed him to become closer to his idol, Whitney Houston.
“As a black, queer man on this planet growing up in the 70s and 80s, there wasn’t anything to really identify with. The thing I identified with the most was Whitney Houston,” the Pose star explained. “By the time I was a teenager, I wanted to be the male Whitney Houston.”
Houston famously played the Fairy Godmother in the 1997 TV musical Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella.
“Imagine getting this part all these years later… I’m playing the Whitney Houston part!” Porter exclaimed, “I could die and go to heaven today.”
As for becoming a character he needed to see on television when he was younger, Porter, who turns 52 this month, is thankful that he is able to let queer, Black boys see themselves represented on screen. He also admitted that he was unable to become that person when he first started in Hollywood, telling ABC Audio, “I was trying to fit in the masculinity box, so that I could eat, right? There was never a possibility for anything that looked like this [movie.]”
Continued the Emmy winner, “As far as Cinderella is concerned? That looks like me! As far as Billy Porter in the world and the way that I resonate right now, it didn’t exist [before.]”
Cinderella, also starring Camila Cabello, Idina Menzel and Pierce Brosnan, premieres on Amazon Prime Video this Friday.
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Related Posts
Camila Cabello reveals release date of new album
May 6, 2024
Geffen/InterscopeWe finally know when Camila Cabello's new album will arrive.She announced the news…
Billie Eilish to hold ‘HIT ME HARD AND SOFT’ listening parties in NYC and LA
May 6, 2024
InterscopeBillie Eilish is taking her new album, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, to arenas before her tour…
James Gunn reveals first photo of David Corenswet in his ‘Superman’ suit
May 6, 2024
Warner Bros. DiscoveryOn his Threads account on Monday, May 6, writer-director James Gunn posted…
Meghan Trainor says younger son almost made her change her mind about having more kids
May 6, 2024
Chris Haston / Warner Bros. Meghan Trainor is a mom of two who has told everyone who will listen…
‘Fallout’ threepeats for TV; ‘Anyone But You’ debuts at #1 for movies on weekly streaming list
May 6, 2024
Prime Video/Bethesda Game StudiosPrime Video's video game adaptation Fallout stayed atop Reelgood…
Tom Brady takes his lumps during Netflix’s ‘Greatest Roast of All Time’
May 6, 2024
NetflixA host of celebrities came to take their shots at Superbowl champ Tom Brady on Sunday…
ICYMI: Watch Dua Lipa’s surprise May 5 show in New York’s Times Square now
May 6, 2024
Gotham/WireImageOn the afternoon of May 5, Dua Lipa sent word to fans on her mailing list that she…
Taylor Swift’s still #1 as Charlie Puth seemingly takes her shout-out as “sign” to release new music
May 6, 2024
Beth GarrabrantAfter a massive debut, Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department spends a second…