Billy Porter Quotes

I wouldn't be caught dead in red.

For me, I really feel like if there's not a real, true connection to the material, I don't need to sing it. I don't need to sing songs just because I like them anymore. I've done that.

Just by the nature of making the choice to be true to who I am, I'm political. Sometimes that's all you need to do: Show up and be black, gay and Christian in America and actually say it out loud. And refuse to let anything or anybody take that away from you.

For years I tried to put myself in a box, and it frustrated me, so I had to let go and let the universe take its course.

I'm not one of those actors who gets so taken by a role that I can't live my life. I'm the type of actor who goes to work, transforms into a character, takes you on a journey, and then comes back home to be Billy. When I'm in it, I'm in it, but I know how to get out of it. When you can't shut it off, you're a crazy person. I'm not crazy.

I always said if I played a drag queen, I'd want to create a template with the realness they talk about in 'Paris Is Burning.'

Seeing Jennifer Holliday from 'Dreamgirls' perform on the Tony Awards telecast and later discovering Barbra Streisand by listening to her albums at the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh really changed everything for me.

People don't see me in traditional roles; I'm not getting cast in the revival of 'Company' as Bobby.

I want to do work that means something to me so that when I go to work at the theater eight times a week, I want to be there.

I'm in love with what a high heel does to a leg: how it makes a woman or a man feel. It's empowering.

Many movie stars or American Idol contestants sort of fall into theater ... and say, 'Oh, yeah, I would love to do theater.' And then they get here and say, 'Oh, wait a minute, this actually is a craft!' It's not just show up one day and do it. It's show up eight times a week, twice on Wednesdays and twice on Saturdays.

Just because you're working does not mean you're making money. That's two very different things in show business.

I do 'sissy with a heart of gold' really well.

I was so beat down as a young person - being black, being gay, being unable to assimilate because I could never, ever pull off being butch.

How can you be of service to something other than your own ego and bank account, in a business that's inherently narcissistic?

I've worked with a lot of gay and lesbian organizations. I sit on the board of the Empire State Pride Agenda. I've also done a lot of work for Broadway Care/Equity Fights AIDS. I think it's important because, when we can be of service to others, it only enhances our lives. I've been helped a lot in my life.

My truth is I am gay and out, and if I can't do that in my music, then I don't need it. Fortunately, I do feel like there is a movement against homophobia, and I hope to be part of that.

I had to come out to my mother three times over a twelve-year period, but I first came out to her when I was sixteen. It didn't go over so well, because I grew up in the Pentecostal Church. It was a very strict environment. She has since done a lot of work and has really blown my mind. She has learned about my life and has changed her mind.

If you gauge how you're doing on whether somebody is responding vocally or not, you're up a creek. You can't do that; you kind of have to be inside of your work and play the scene. And tell the story every day. Tell the story. Tell the story. Regardless of how people are responding, I'm going to tell the story.

I took 'Grease' to play my trump card, my voice, and get attention that would lead to auditions for serious work like 'Angels in America.' But I backed myself into a corner with 'Grease,' and it took me 17 years to get out.

Broadway! Broad-way! I don't aspire to the middle. I aspire to the tip-tip-top of it all.

When you're at the beginning of your career, there are a lot of, "I don't care about this," jobs that you take because it's about building your resume and building connections. There are so many factors that don't have anything to do with choosing for the material.

I'm trying to embrace social media because it gives artists a little more power than we've had in the past.

There's this misconception that I've been turning down roles. It's just not true. The reality is, there was nothing for me to do, nobody was calling, the phone wasn't ringing.

When you grow up in the church, the only translation in that insular world that people understand is preaching. You're supposed to be a minister. So I was going down that path, and then I saw the Tonys.

When I was younger, I did what I now call 'extreme singing.' I could do this thing where I would sing really high. I can't really do that anymore, at my age. My voice has shifted. It's changed.

I want to keep changing the world. It's possible. The black gay lead is ready. It's time.