When Billy Porter became the first openly gay Black man to win the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 2019 Emmy Awards for his role in Pose, he quoted author and activist James Baldwin in his acceptance speech. “I am so overwhelmed, and I am so overjoyed that I have lived long enough to see this day. James Baldwin said, ‘It took many years of vomiting up all the filth that I had been taught about myself and halfway believed before I could walk around this earth like I had the right to be here’. I have the right, you have the right, we all have the right.”

Now in 2023, Porter is set to play Baldwin in a feature based on the life of the esteemed novelist, essayist and activist. Porter will not only star as the lead of this film, but as co-writer of the script alongside his regular collaborator Dan McCabe, and co-producer along with Byron Allen’s Media Group Pictures.

Porters has long had a personal and creative desire to complete this project. In a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, Porter declares that “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.”

Baldwin is a much beloved literary icon, best known for his books Giovanni’s Room, Go Tell It on the Mountain, Notes of a Native Son, Another Country and The Fire Next Time. His novels have inspired movies and documentaries such as Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk and Raoul Peck’s I Am Not Your Negro. Due to the extreme love and admiration, Baldwin’s fans have for him; they’re not convinced that Porter can represent Baldwin with the honour he deserves. One Twitter user commented, “Billy Porter plays himself in most of his on-screen roles. I don’t know if he has the acting muscle and versatility to embody James Baldwin.” Since Pose, Porter hasn’t taken many non-comedic acting roles, most recently featuring in the comedy-drama 80 for Brady, Anything’s Possible, and the genuinely appalling Amazon Original musical Cinderella featuring Camila Cabello. 

For those who have little faith in Porter’s Baldwin, fear not! Actor Chris Chalk, best known for his role as Paul Drake in HBO’s Perry Mason, is also set to play Baldwin in the second season of Ryan Murphy’s anthology series, Feud: Capote’s Women. Season two will focus on American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor Truman Capote and his feud with several of his female friends when they learned that he mined their personal lives for the source material of his 1986 book Answered Prayers. Feud: Capote’s Women is set to premiere next year, while it has not yet been announced when Porter’s feature on Baldwin will be released. 

In this battle of the Baldwins, we hope everyone is a winner x

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