Billy Porter
Billy Porter
Billy Porteris a Broadway performer, pop singer, film and television actor and vocal coach. He graduated from the Musical Theatre Program at Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School's School of Drama and achieved fame performing on Broadway before starting a solo career as a singer...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionStage Actor
Date of Birth21 September 1969
CityPittsburgh, PA
CountryUnited States of America
cast people revival
People don't see me in traditional roles; I'm not getting cast in the revival of 'Company' as Bobby.
insular people saw supposed understand
When you grow up in the church, the only translation in that insular world that people understand is preaching. You're supposed to be a minister. So I was going down that path, and then I saw the Tonys.
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Many movie stars or American Idol contestants sort of fall into theater... and say, 'Oh, yeah, I would love to do theater.' And then they get here and say, 'Oh, wait a minute, this actually is a craft!' It's not just show up one day and do it. It's show up eight times a week, twice on Wednesdays and twice on Saturdays.
america anybody choice gay nature refuse true
Just by the nature of making the choice to be true to who I am, I'm political. Sometimes that's all you need to do: Show up and be black, gay and Christian in America and actually say it out loud. And refuse to let anything or anybody take that away from you.
time trenches
I don't in any way disparage any time I've had in the trenches because it really has made me the artist I am today.
tried
For years I tried to put myself in a box, and it frustrated me, so I had to let go and let the universe take its course.
Broadway! Broad-way! I don't aspire to the middle. I aspire to the tip-tip-top of it all.
business everybody exactly fuels gratitude hits prove stage stand time work wrong
There aren't many hits like 'Kinky Boots,' so when you get one, the gratitude that comes with it fuels your energy. From the time I started in this business, everybody told me that who I was and what I represented would never work. Well, I get to stand on stage every day and prove the naysayers wrong by doing exactly what they told me not to do.
fiber inhabit position requiring somebody
You can't ever put yourself in a position where someone is requiring you to inhabit somebody else's energy. You have to own your thing, or own it with very fiber of your being.
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I've worked with a lot of gay and lesbian organizations. I sit on the board of the Empire State Pride Agenda. I've also done a lot of work for Broadway Care/Equity Fights AIDS. I think it's important because, when we can be of service to others, it only enhances our lives. I've been helped a lot in my life.
active choosing depressed five state turn
All you need to do is turn on the news, and in five minutes, you're depressed with the state of the world. Choosing joy is a completely active choice. It doesn't just happen. You can't just say, 'I want to be happy.' You have to take action.
eight means work
I want to do work that means something to me so that when I go to work at the theater eight times a week, I want to be there.
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I just feel like we as a human race tend to fear that which we don't understand. It's cause for a lot of bad things and bad behavior to exist on the planet. Artists have a way of touching people and changing minds in a way that sometimes other mediums don't.
business money
Just because you're working does not mean you're making money. That's two very different things in show business.