Culture

What If?, Billy Porter’s Directorial Debut, Just Found Its Lead


 

Billy Porter’s directorial debut What If? is moving forward with the swiftness. Last week, Deadline announced that the trans British TikTok star Yasmin Finney snagged the leading role in Porter’s forthcoming high school drama.

Porter’s film follows two high school seniors, Khal, a straight cis boy, and Kelsa, a trans girl, as they navigate their relationship and try to figure out what is possible for them as they prepare to enter adulthood.

The script from first-time screenwriter Alvaro García Lecuona has already being compared to Love, Simon, a crossover hit that showed audiences that gay teen romance films aren’t as narrow a genre as they once were.

Casting Finney is a shrewd move: the 17-year-old TikTok star has been making viral content about growing up trans in Manchester, England since 2019. With nearly 300,000 followers, her account has featured make-up tutorials, viral challenges, and rebuttals to the toxic, transphobic culture that often plagues trans creators.

Finney went on TikTok yesterday to flex about her new role. In a post titled “She went from being a tiktok queen to the red carpet,” Finney screenshotted the Deadline announcement about What If, with the text: “Yes…IM GONNA BE IN A FRICKIN MOVIE.”

So suffice it to say, she’s hyped.

Porter, for his part, is just as excited to see the film come together. “I’m thrilled to be a part of this new space in Hollywood for telling all types of stories from all types of people,” Porter said in a previous statement about the film. “I am grateful to be in a position to usher some of these stories into the mainstream and I am humbled that heavy hitters like [Producer] Christine Vachon and Alana Mayo have entrusted and empowered me in this insane time we all find ourselves in.”

Billy Porter attends London Fashion Week

The next few years may give trans viewers even more representation onscreen. There isn’t just What If? to look forward to, but Julie Kalceff’s First Day, an Australian series about a young trans girl entering high school, starring Evie Macdonald, the first trans girl to ever lead an Australian show. Of course, new seasons of Pose, Euphoria, and other shows centering trans narratives are on the way, too.

Hollywood has also begun fighting back against transphobic bills being spearheaded by states like Alabama and South Dakota. At the end of March, 465 women in Hollywood signed a letter of support for trans folks in the business, timed to come out on Trans Day of Visibility.

“We have more language and understanding than ever before to describe how our unique experiences are threaded in the larger tapestry of womanhood,” the letter explains. “We all must fight against the unnecessary and unethical barriers placed on trans women and girls by lawmakers and those who co-opt the feminist label in the name of division and hatred.”

Hopefully, Finney’s casting in What If? can play a part in continuing this mission.

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