Billy Porter makes his feature film directorial debut with the groundbreaking new romantic comedy "Anything's Possible," out Friday on Prime Video.
The film follows confident teen Kelsa, a transgender girl, as she navigates her senior year and her crush on an artsy classmate.
Porter says that his film hearkens back to coming-of-age classics while also trying something completely new.
"When I grew up, I was obsessed with the John Hughes genre," he said in an interview with ABC Audio.
"I had to superimpose myself onto all those white people. When I read this script, I knew instantly that this was a genre that needed to be revisited for the modern era, and that's what we set out to do," Porter said.
He wasn't alone in searching for himself on screen. Actress Eva Reign, who plays Kelsa in the film, recalled the time she spent looking for a movie just like this one.
"I spent so much time scrolling through Tumblr and Instagram trying to find some movie or show, and I just wasn't seeing myself anywhere," she said.
"This film is literally what me and a lot of my friends talked about wanting to see," she added.
At the end of the day, Porter said he didn't feel any pressure in making the movie.
"When you're simply living inside of your truth and walking that path, the pressure is released. There was more pressure on me when I was trying to be straight," he said. "There is no pressure now, because all I've got to do is show up and be myself."
The film is already receiving praise. Anthony Allen Ramos, vice president of communications and talent at the LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD, said in a statement Friday that both Porter and Reign had made history, simply by "celebrating trans joy instead of Hollywood's reliance [on] trans stories rooted in trauma."
"Stories like this are desperately needed to uplift and inspire the community, especially in wake of the recent attacks and anti-LGTBQ legislation against the community at large," he said. "This script was an original selection of The GLAAD List, a curated list of the most promising unmade LGBTQ-inclusive scripts, and this film marks an important moment for LGBTQ representation in media and what reminds us what is possible when queer people create queer stories."
