Billy Porter shares James Baldwin biopic update on writer’s 100th birthday

Actor and Brighton Pride headliner Billy Porter has provided an update on his biopic of James Baldwin, on what would have been the US writer and queer civil rights activist’s 100th birthday.

It was announced last year that singer Porter, who is currently only an Oscar away from becoming an EGOT, would co-write and star in a film based on David Adams Leeming’s James Baldwin: A Biography.

Speaking exclusively to PinkNews ahead of his performance at Brighton Pride on Saturday (3 August), Porter revealed that the script is now ready to move on to the next stage of production, following the Hollywood strikes.

“My writing partner [Dan McCabe] and I turned in the script a couple of months ago, the third draft, and it’s in good shape to start shopping for financing,” he said.

However, he hinted that getting the film off the ground won’t be easy.

“The industry is really, really bad right now, you know, post-strike. There’s not a lot of stuff being greenlit. I read an article where just 40 per cent [of the industry is] back. It’s horrible. That’s a failing grade.”

In Britain, more than half the country’s TV and film workforce remain jobless in the wake of the fallout from the strike, according to a new survey by the broadcasting and entertainment trade union Bectu. Only one in 20 UK-based workers in the industry said they have seen a full recovery since the industrial action.

And this week, it was revealed that Disney’s TV division would be axing around 140 jobs – roughly two per cent of its staff.

Despite the industry’s rough patch, Porter remained steadfast in his commitment to seeing the biopic make it to the screen.

“We’re gonna sell it, and we’ll get it made. I don’t have a real timeline on that right now but the script is good, if I say so myself. And that’s where it starts,” he said. 

He acknowledged that not enough members of the public are aware of Baldwin’s story, adding: “And they should be, and I’m delighted to be able to share it with the world.”

Baldwin was born on 2 August 1924 in Harlem, New York, and began gaining notoriety in his twenties for his literary work, which included the 1950s novels Go Tell It on the Mountain, Notes of a Native Son, and Giovanni’s Room.

His bibliography also included short stories, essay collections, plays and poems.

It was through his writing that Baldwin became known as a prominent voice for social equality and a key figure in the 1960s civil rights movement. Notes of a Native Son and Giovanni’s Room in particular became recognised both for depictions of fractured race relations in the US and Europe, and for how they focused on gay and bisexual men, despite being published before the birth of the modern gay liberation movement.

Baldwin died from stomach cancer in 1987 at the age of 63. Today, he is remembered as one of the most revolutionary writers of the 20th century. Although he was in France at the time of his death – working on an unfinished manuscript – he is buried in New York.

Porter has long expressed an interest in adapting Baldwin’s life into a biopic, having quoted the writer at the Emmy Awards in 2019, where he made history as the first Black, gay actor to win in a lead acting role for his turn as emcee Pray Tell in Pose.

The announcement that Porter would be starring as the activist was met with a mixed response online, with some Baldwin fans believing that the Broken Hearts Club actor wasn’t the right fit.

The star was quick to dismiss the criticism, saying on the Tamron Hall Show: “I’m going to focus on the work, that’s all I can do. People have been doubting me my whole life. This ain’t nothing new. None of it is new.”

Porter will perform songs from his album The Black Mona Lisa at Brighton Pride from 7.10pm on Saturday (2 August).

He will take his Black Mona Lisa tour across the UK in October.

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