Billy Porter On Consciousness, Cabaret & The Dress That Changed His Career

Billy Porter loves London’s sex positivity and escaping to the beach in Sitges, finds Lucinda Baring.

Interview: Billy Porter

What’s bringing you joy at the moment?

Cabaret. I absolutely love doing this show. And I have a new man, after a divorce, so I’m very joyful.

Advice you’d give to your 15-year-old self?

Keep going, no matter what. Be your authentic self, always, and don’t let anybody change that. People will say it can be a liability – and it was for me, until it wasn’t.

A moment that changed everything? I have had many. The Oscars dress in 2019 changed my career. That snowballed into so many other things, not just fashion, and it put me on the radar internationally.

Where do you go to escape?

The beach. Any beach where the sun is out. I will go to a pebble beach with the right shoes, but I prefer a sandy one.

What’s the best way to put a smile on your face?

True kindness. You wouldn’t know it but… I’m an introvert. I know how to be an extrovert because my job requires it. But if you want to know the real me, I’m a home boy, I want to be with my friends. It’s something that has shifted over the years; I think I started out as an extrovert as a young person.

What does sustainability mean to you?

Being conscious enough to understand we are destroying the planet and to be aware of the little things we can do as individuals to make a difference. None of us can do it alone. We have to engage in possible solutions.

How can we save the world?

I don’t know; no one knows. All we can do is keep showing up. It’s a collective choice and requires collective action.

Your greatest failure?

I don’t think in terms of failure. Everything happens for a reason and our perceived failures are always the greatest life lessons.

Your greatest triumph?

The need for us to always rate and rank drives me crazy. But if I had to give one, it would be the relationship with my mother, which has shifted from something that was distanced and separate because of queerness and religion to a togetherness.

Your epitaph would read… ‘He loved unconditionally and was loved’.

What does a life in balance mean to you?

I wish I knew. I’m actively in the process of finding out and it is fun and joyful because I’m finding space where there was no space before.

Best thing that has ever happened to you?

My whole life is the greatest thing that ever happened. As a black gay man on this earth in this time.

What’s so great about London?

I love the people, the architecture. I love how art is still for everyone, even though I know you guys are holding onto that concept by a thread. I love the fashion here, it is open and fun and not muted by masculine tropes. I also love the sex positivity in London – it is very healing to me.

Tell us something few people know?

I like to cook and I can cook for real. I make everything. Give me a dish and I’ll make it.

Billy Porter’s Quick Fire Favourites

• SCENT: Tom Ford Café Rose
• SONG: Audacity (live)
• BOX SET: Sex and the City
• CHOCOLATE: Twix
• DISH: A piece of fried chicken
• GADGET: Phone
• RESTAURANT: Café Murano or Rita’s in Soho
• HOLIDAY: Sitges in Spain

Billy Porter is playing the emcee in Cabaret until 24 May (kitkat.club) and is directing This Bitter Earth at Soho Theatre from 18 June to 26 July (sohotheatre.com).