Billy Porter To Portray James Baldwin In Untitled Biopic

Billy Porter is a one-in-a-million talent. The multitalented performer already touts Emmy, Tony, and Grammy Awards and just might complete the EGOT with his latest project. As first reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Porter will portray legendary writer and activist James Baldwin in an upcoming biopic.

Porter will also pen the film’s screenplay alongside Dan McCabe. The movie will be based on based on David Leeming’s 1994 book James Baldwin: A Biography. Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group Motion Pictures will co-produce the venture along with Porter’s Incognegro Productions.

In a statement, Porter explains why he feels it’s so important to tell Baldwin’s story on the big screen.

“As a Black queer man on this planet with relative consciousness, I find myself, like James Baldwin said, ‘in a rage all the time.’ I am because James was. I stand on James Baldwin’s shoulders, and I intend to expand his legacy for generations to come,” Porter said.

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James Baldwin garnered acclaim for his work across several mediums, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, was published in 1953. Decades later, Time magazine included the novel on its list of the 100 best English-language novels released from 1923 to 2005. In addition to writing, Baldwin was also a well-known, and controversial, public figure and orator, especially during the civil rights movement in the United States. In 2019, Baldwin was one of the inaugural fifty Americans” inducted into the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights and history within the Stonewall National Monument.

Billy Porter won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Lola in Kinky Boots. Following a transition to television, Porter won the 2019 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Pose. In doing so, he became the first gay Black man to be nominated and win in any lead acting category at the Primetime Emmys. Most recently, Porter has starred as the Fabulous Godmother in Amazon’s Cinderella and joined Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field in 80 for Brady.

What do you think of the news? Will you check out the James Baldwin biopic? Let us know your thought below!

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