-Welcome back to "Late Night." We're here with Billy Porter.
So this is a romantic comedy
that focuses around a trans character.
Was it rewarding to tell this kind of story
that we rarely, if ever, see?
-Yeah, we need to put some joy out into the world.
-I think that's right. -And, you know, coming --
[ Cheers and applause ] Yeah, and coming from "Pose,"
most of the trans stories and LGBTQ+ stories that we see,
particularly trans, are always about the trauma.
-Mm-hmm.
-And I was so drawn to this piece because
it's about trans joy.
It's about celebration.
It's about the normalizing and the humanizing
of a group of people that have been dehumanized.
And so it's in the spirit of old John Hughes movies,
coming-of-age rom-coms,
and the characters look like what the world looks like today.
And I just feel so blessed to be able to sort of
usher this kind of art out into the world.
It's really lovely.
-That is really special.
It's also, as you mentioned, you did it.
You went back, you filmed it in Pittsburgh.
-Yes. -And you got to pull people
from your past life into the whole production.
-Yeah, you know, I was reading the script
and it just happened to be written in Pittsburgh,
and when I was casting, I thought,
"Oh, I have so many angels there, so many friends there,"
so most of the characters that are ancillary
are either my friends, like the mother of Khal
and the nurse and the teacher,
we all did Kennywood Park together back in the '80s.
-Alright, so real quick, Kennywood Park
is the Pittsburgh amusement park.
-Yes. -You worked there?
-I worked there for three summers, doing the shows.
-What were the shows? -Oh, my God.
I can't even remember. They were good, though.
Six different shows.
-So you weren't, like, selling funnel cake
or tickets to the Tilt-a-Whirl. -No, no.
I was on the stage, letting the kids have it, honey.
You know, singing --
♪ Wake me up before you go-go ♪
You know? We were performing.
So I had those people.
One of my mentors that got me to Carnegie Mellon,
Lenora Nemetz, a Fosse dancer, she plays the art teacher.
Vanita Harbour and Renee Goldsberry,
we all went to Carnegie Mellon together,
so they play the two moms.
Billy Hartung, who I went to dance class with
on the other side of town.
His mom and dad would put us in the pickup truck
and drive me all the way to the other side of town.
Home at 10:00 after dance class. You know?
It's really a love letter to Pittsburgh
and the chosen family and the mentors and the friends
who raised me, because I wouldn't be here
if it wasn't for that.
And a lot of people still think that Pittsburgh is like,
this old, depressed steel town.
And child, it's not.
[ Applause ]
She's fabulous and she's progressive.
-Yeah? -And she's, you know,
Obama had the first G20 summit there,
because Pittsburgh was one of the only cities
that was not affected by the 2008 recession.
So I wanted to, like, give Pittsburgh some shine.
-Yeah, well, you know that will enamor you to my father,
who's a child of Pittsburgh. -I know!
-His favorite guests are
the ones who talk kindly about Pittsburgh.
A lot of times, directors, I feel like
maybe the stereotype is they look a little
schlubby on set, you know?
They obviously are very busy.
They don't have time to worry about their outfits.
I'm happy to report that was
not the case with director Billy Porter.
Look at you!
[ Cheers and applause ]
You just don't take a day off, do you?
[ Applause ]
-You know, that's a caftan moment.
I found the caftan situation during COVID.
It's a really, really easy silhouette.
-Yeah. -You get a good pattern,
and you just put it on, and I'm like Bea Arthur.
-Yeah. -You know?
-We have to find things from the pandemic
that were teachable moments.
-Yes, and so I had those moments,
and, you know, like I said the last time,
I want to be the Head Bitch in Charge,
so you gotta dress for the job you want.
The one you have, honey, every day.
[ Applause ] -Wait, my last question.
And by the way, I do like checking in on
the progress of you achieving Head Bitch in Charge.
-Yes, yes. -I do feel like every time,
we're a little closer. -I'm closer and closer.
-One might say you've achieved it,
but we don't want to put your fire out.
-No, not yet. I have some more [bleep] to do.
I only said that because I think I just heard you
drop the [bleep] bomb earlier.
We're allowed to do that now?
-Yeah! -Alright.
-We're on very late at night. -Get ready, bitches!
I work blue.
[ Laughter ]
Ooh, I made you laugh. -You did make me laugh.
It's fun to have somebody say they work blue
when there's so much blue.
There's so much actual blue, on the eyes and...
Alright, ready?
This director's chair. Explain.
-I don't like director's chairs.
They are awkward. They are uncomfortable.
-Uh-huh.
-And I don't like sitting in them.
And so, you know, Ryan Murphy, my mentor,
comes to work to direct with his own chair.
They bring a chair in for him, and I was like,
"I'mma do my Ryan Murphy thing, get my own chair!"
-Well, you deserve it. -And so I got my own chair,
and it was comfortable.
-There you go. Caftan, chair, movie, check, check, check.
Thank you for being here, Billy.
-Thank you. -Always such a pleasure.
Love having you. -Thank you, thank you.
-Billy Porter,
"Anything's Possible" is streaming now on Prime Video.
We'll be right back with Jane Mayer, everybody.