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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
drag played realness
I always said if I played a drag queen, I'd want to create a template with the realness they talk about in 'Paris Is Burning.'
I do 'sissy with a heart of gold' really well.
artists embrace gives power social trying
I'm trying to embrace social media because it gives artists a little more power than we've had in the past.
human
We need to understand that whatever we do, we're all human beings first.
age call
When I was younger, I did what I now call 'extreme singing.' I could do this thing where I would sing really high. I can't really do that anymore, at my age. My voice has shifted. It's changed.
songs
For me, I really feel like if there's not a real, true connection to the material, I don't need to sing it. I don't need to sing songs just because I like them anymore. I've done that.
gauge people regardless responding somebody whether work
If you gauge how you're doing on whether somebody is responding vocally or not, you're up a creek. You can't do that; you kind of have to be inside of your work and play the scene. And tell the story every day. Tell the story. Tell the story. Regardless of how people are responding, I'm going to tell the story.
advised either fit label remain time
There was a time in the '90s where, as an African-American man, you had to be a misogynistic R&B star or a rapper, and I didn't fit into either one of those. I was advised by my label to remain closeted at that time.
nobody turning
There's this misconception that I've been turning down roles. It's just not true. The reality is, there was nothing for me to do, nobody was calling, the phone wasn't ringing.