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Movies

Billy Porter to Direct Trans Teen Rom-Com What If?

The Emmy-winning Pose star is gearing up for his directorial debut!

Taylor Henderson

Taylor Henderson is a PRIDE.com contributor. This proud Texas Bama studied Media Production/Studies and Sociology at The University of Texas at Austin, where he developed his passions for pop culture, writing, and videography. He's absolutely obsessed with Beyoncé, mangoes, and cheesy YA novels that allow him to vicariously experience the teen years he spent in the closet. He's also writing one!

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Taylor Henderson

cornbreadsays

November 19 2020 3:48 PM EST

December 09 2022 9:12 AM EST

Pose star and Emmy winner Billy Porter is set to make his directorial debut with What If?, a high-school romantic comedy featuring a transgender main character!

Likened to other LGBTQ-inclusive coming-of-age films like Love, Simon and Booksmart, the movie follows a 17-year-old high school student named Khal who makes a post on Reddit about his crush on a classmate Kelsa, who is trans. "The internet encourages him to go for it and the two navigate a high school senior year relationship that neither could have expected."

"I’m thrilled to be part of this new space in Hollywood for telling all types of stories from all types of people," Porter said in the statement about the announcement. "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 Christine Vachon and Alana Mayo have entrusted and empowered me in this insane time we all find ourselves in."

Penned by bisexual, bigender writer Alvaro García Lecuona, the script for What If? was on GLAAD's first annual list of promising, then-unmade LGBTQ-inclusive scripts. Killer Films and Orion Pictures will produce the film, with the latter exclusively dedicated to underrepresented voices and authentic storytelling in film.