Writer/director Kay Cannon (Pitch Perfect, Blockers) has re-envisioned Cinderella as a modern musical with a heroine at its center who has ambitions of a career in a world that just wants her to find a prince to marry. Ella (pop music superstar Camila Cabello) wants to design beautiful ball gowns while her stepmother (Tony Award winner Idina Menzel) unsympathetically attempts to squash her dreams, until her fairy godmother Fab G (Billy Porter) shows up to help boost the confidence she already has in her heart.

During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, Porter talked about why he loved this retelling of Cinderella, getting to rebrand the traditional fairy godmother character, what Fab G is to him, finding the right balance for his fabulous wardrobe, and why “Shining Star” was the perfect song selection for him to sing. He also talked about what he hopes the lasting legacy of Pose will be, and all of the things he’s juggling as a “multi-hyphenated Renaissance artist.”

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Collider: I thought you were absolutely fabulous in this, which seems appropriate when you’re playing a character named Fab G. When the possibility of a Cinderella musical came your way, what was your first reaction to the project? Did you wonder how you’d fit into that world?

BILLY PORTER: Kay Cannon, our writer and director, at the inception of her reimagining, knew that she wanted me as the fairy godmother. I just learned this information a couple of days ago. It makes sense because when I started reading the script, it felt like it fit like a glove. The idea that she was taking this classic traditional fairytale and turning it on its ear and exploding all of those old tropes, I was completely in. And there was no question that my 14-year-old self, who had longed and dreamed to be the male Whitney Houston when I grew up, was ecstatic that I had just been offered the Whitney Houston part.

You really get to rebrand this character. Who is Fab G to you and who do you hope Fab G is to audiences when they see this?

PORTER: Fab G, to me, is the culmination of my life, my journey, the trajectory of not only my career, but my personal journey, being told that my queerness would be my liability and having that be true for decades, until it wasn’t, and having chosen myself in a time when who I am and my authentic self was not what’s popular. It’s easy to be who you are when who you are is what’s popular. Being Black and queer in America and in the world has never been popular. The idea of being able to play this iconic character, as myself, and getting the call because I chose myself, is quite profound. It’s really profound and magical, and magic has no gender, so here I am.

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Image via Amazon Studios

You’ve definitely developed your own persona of joy and magic on the red carpet, especially over the last few years. The fearlessness and the fierceness in your fashion make your choices unexpected, impeccable and flawless. How did the final look for your character come about? How much did you get to have a say in what Fab G’s wardrobe would be?

PORTER: Ellen Mirojnick, the costume designer, and myself had several conversations and they were really based on the balance. What is the balance between the masculine and the feminine? What does that look like? It had to be grand. Daddy likes a train, so I knew I wanted a train. We landed on those glitter pants. It was the final moments, where we decided right before it was shot, to cut the hair piece that we had talked about. We cut the hair piece and we kept the goatee, and all of a sudden, it was balanced. It was like, “That’s the magic. That’s the balance.” There were conversations right up to, “Action!,” and I was in all of them, hopefully helping to guide them in the right direction.

One of the most important roles of the fairy godmother in any Cinderella story is to encourage confidence and beauty from within, and your character does that for this Cinderella. Do you feel like you’re at a point in your life where you recognize and are fully accepting of your own power, or do you still feel like you need a pep talk, now and again, whether it’s from yourself or somebody that you turn to because they’re a cheerleader for you?

PORTER: I think we all need pep talks, at different phases in our lives. I am in a really great place, just in terms of knowing my worth and owning my power that I created for myself. So, both things are true.

I absolutely love the rendition of “Shooting Star” that you have in this. Was that always the song that you were going to do? Were there conversations about what song to choose, before landing on that song?

PORTER: In the original script, it was “Sweet Dreams,” by Annie Lennox and The Eurythmics. I was happy with “Sweet Dreams.” I was fine. I knew it would be a different kind of arrangement, and I was all ready and gung-ho to do “Sweet Dreams.” And then, I got a revision of the script and it was “Shining Star.” And I was like, “Okay, so they want a little Earth, Wind & Fire. They want that intention. I get it.” And that changed my approach. The song changed my approach to the role, and for the better.

I love both songs.

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Image via Amazon

PORTER: I love both songs too. But I believe “Shining Star” was the better, for this particular moment.

Now that the show has finished, what does the existence of Pose and your involvement with it mean to you? What do you hope the lasting legacy of that show will be?

PORTER: We made the invisible visible and we sparked a conversation that would not have existed without our presence in the world. My hope is that we’re here to stay. It is my mission to make sure that we’re here to stay.

Do you know what’s next for you?

PORTER: I am a multi-hyphenated Renaissance artist. I have new music coming out. It’s new pop music. I’m gonna try my hand at that again. I’ve been working on some new music. I signed a new deal with Republic Records in Ireland in the UK, so I’m excited about that. I have a memoir coming out in October (called Unprotected: A Memoir). I just finished directing my first feature film (called What If?), in Pittsburgh. I spent the summer doing that. I sold a pilot (called Fruits of Thy Labor), that I created and developed, to Peacock. I’ve got my hands in a lot of stuff and I’m just trying to breathe and put one foot in front of the other, on a daily basis.

Cinderella is available to stream at Amazon Prime Video.

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