LGBT icon Billy Porter on the importance of art during Covid-19: the American Horror Story actor reflects after presenting The Fashion Awards in London – exclusive interview

Dec 1 , 2021

Billy Porter arrives at the Fashion Awards 2021 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, on November 29. Photo: EPA-EFE

The award-winning thespian – who won a Tony for musical Kinky Boots and an Emmy for Pose – quoted Toni Morrison on the importance of art during times of crises

Porter’s interest in fashion began at a young age when he’d get new suits for Easter and Christmas, and is closely tied to his identity as a black man

The world may be suffering through numerous crises at present, but that doesn’t make fashion and the arts any less relevant or any less worthy of our attention. In fact, some would say that in times like these, the work of artists is more important than ever.

So says Billy Porter, the multitalented stage and screen actor, director, singer, composer, playwright and style icon, who presented the British Fashion Council’s The Fashion Awards in London on November 29.

Billy Porter arrives at the 2021 American Music Awards in Los Angeles on November 21. Photo: AP

In a Zoom interview, Porter, a Tony winner for Kinky Boots and an Emmy winner for Pose, scoffs at the suggestion that we’ve got bigger things to think about at the moment than creative pursuits. “There’s a quote from Toni Morrison that goes, ‘This is precisely the time when artists go to work.’ This, right now, is precisely the time when artists go to work! ‘There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilisations heal.’ I will add: we sing, we dance, we create.”

Porter has also appeared in American Horror Story and was included in Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020 list. An openly gay man, Porter married his husband Adam Smith in 2017 and frequently grabs attention on the red carpet with his striking, gender-bending looks.

During moments in history like the one we’re living through, artists respond to what is going on and hold a mirror up to the state of the world. “That is our place. Our place is art,” Porter says. “So don’t negate my contribution to the world, because you don’t find the value. You say art is not important? But you go home tonight and watch a movie, created by artists? You’re not walking around the world naked, are you? No, you’re wearing something created by an artist. Stop. Stop that.”

Billy Porter at the 2019 Academy Awards, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Photo: Los Angeles Times/TNS

Despite his many other means of self-expression, Porter says fashion has always been among his key creative outlets. “For me, fashion was first about church – black church is a fashion show, in case you didn’t know.” Growing up, Porter says, “My favourite time of year was Easter and Christmas, because I got a new suit every Easter and every Christmas. For me, fashion is in my DNA, it’s in my family’s DNA.”

But for Porter, dressing well isn’t merely a matter of showing off. It has deeper resonance. “I am first generation post-Civil Rights Movement,” Porter explains. “I was taught by my family that we showed our pride and we were a credit to our race, from the first impression of what we looked like, how we presented.”