Billy Porter to portray James Baldwin in new biopic
Julia Johnson
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Actor and musician Billy Porter will play famous writer and playwright James Baldwin in a new biopic.
Baldwin is well known for his 1953 novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, as well as others such as Giovanni’s Room, Another Country, and Just Above My Head. He also penned essays, including Notes of a Native Son and The Fire Next Time. The author was also publicly out as gay at a time when it was much less accepted.
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Porter is known for portraying Pray Tell on the TV series Pose, which focused on “the gay and trans community, the raging AIDS crisis, and capitalism” in the ballroom subculture of New York City. Ballroom, or ball, culture was an underground black and Latino subculture in which drag queens would hold various pageants.
He also recently starred in a new Cinderella live-action adaptation, in which he played a genderless fairy godmother.
“As a black, queer man on this planet with relative consciousness, I find myself, like James Baldwin said, ‘in a rage all the time.’ I am because James was,” Porter said of the role, per Deadline. “I stand on James Baldwin’s shoulders, and I intend to expand his legacy for generations to come.”
The new biopic will be based on the 1994 book James Baldwin: A Biography by David Leeming. Leeming is a professor emeritus of English at the University of Connecticut and was also Baldwin’s friend for 25 years. He also served as his assistant at one point.
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“We at Allen Media Group Motion Pictures are extremely passionate about sharing James Baldwin’s phenomenal story with the world,” said Byron Allen, Allen Media Group’s founder, chairman, and CEO. “Billy Porter and Dan McCabe’s talent and commitment to amplifying James Baldwin’s legacy and contributions are invaluable and unmatched for this unique and epic story.”
Porter will also serve as a producer of the film.