Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s drama Pose is a revelation. Inspired by the documentary Paris Is Burning and set within the underground ball scene that flourished in 1980s Manhattan, it chronicles the highs and lows of an enormous variety of trans characters – from the scene’s reigning queen Elektra (Dominique Jackson) to beautiful streetwalker Angel (Indya Moore). Frankly, it’s worth watching for Billy Porter’s turn as the MC, Pray Tell, alone.
While Pose famously boasts the largest recurring cast of LGBTQ+ actors for a scripted drama in history, it’s commitment to diversity extends off screen as well. Murphy tapped writer and advocate Janet Mock to collaborate with him on the scripts – a partnership that eventually saw her become the first trans woman of colour to direct a television episode. Ahead of the series’s long-awaited UK release on BBC Two on March 21, Vogue caught up with the 36-year-old about working with the legends behind Glee, representing the trans community, and making history.
How did you first end up collaborating with Ryan Murphy?
It makes me laugh to remember it. He requested a meeting with me, but I had no idea what it was about – so I had to go in blind! I met him on a nightclub set for The Assassination of Gianni Versace, and he told me that he had this idea for a drama series that ultimately became Pose. From that moment onward, I pretty much signed my life over to him. Ryan has this phrase that he repeats a lot on set: show running is advocacy. He’s really committed to empowering people behind the scenes. It made it easy for me to get on board.
What was it like going into a writers’ room for the first time?
Ryan gave me scripts for different pilots that he had done, like Glee and The People v. O. J. Simpson – but I had already done a fair bit of research into screenwriting beforehand. I worked with the series’s co-creators Ryan, Brad [Falchuk] and Steven [Canals] – sort of helping to colour in the world that the three of them had envisioned. All of us were really committed to making this a rich and vibrant portrait of a typically marginalised world. Of course, I pulled a lot from my own history, but I also studied a lot of photography books and consulted with members of the trans community who lived in Manhattan at the height of ball culture – not to mention the AIDS crisis.
How did your own experience as a trans woman inform the series?
Growing up in Hawaii, I had a group of friends who transitioned at the same time as I did, so I always had this sisterhood around me to guide me. At the same time, each of us was our own person – with her own goals, understanding of her body, and notion of the sort of partner she was looking for. To me, it felt essential that Pose represented the massive diversity within the trans community and highlighted the fact that that, like any family, it can be loving and throw shade and make you doubt yourself all at once. That’s what I tried to bring to the script.
Did you feel a sense of pressure representing the trans community in such a groundbreaking series?
Yes and no. On a day-to-day basis, I just focus on the work, but of course I’m aware that if I do a less-than-great job it’s going to make it harder for other people outside the mainstream to get the same opportunities. Honestly, I just felt like I had to be involved with creating Pose. I needed to make sure that my community was accurately reflected and protected – and that people understood the fact that at the end of the day we want a lot of the same things that everybody else wants. Once I had that epiphany, I just sat down and wrote the truth. That’s always my goal really, no matter what I’m working on at any given moment.
How did it feel to become the first trans woman of colour to direct a television episode?
It’s still crazy to me. When Ryan asked me to do it, I said, “I have no idea how to direct a television episode!” He told me he had no clue what he was doing when he started working on Nip/Tuck, but he just figured it out – and nobody understood the characters better than I did. On the first day of filming, he gave a speech to the cast and all of the hundreds of extras in the ballroom letting them know that it was a historic night – and asking them to support my vision. I held back the tears then because – to quote Tom Hanks in A League Of Their Own – there’s no crying in baseball. When we wrapped the episode a few weeks later though, I sobbed. There are too few women who have had the opportunity to direct, and it’s such an honour to be among the ones who have.
Pose will premiere on BBC Two at 9 pm on Thursday March 21.
