Billy Porter & Eva Reign on trans joy and making Anything’s Possible

Anything’s Possible, the directorial debut from Billy Porter, almost wasn’t called that at all – the American coming-of-age romantic comedy film from Amazon Original is based on a screenplay by Ximena García Lecuona called ‘What If?’.

While the change of title might, one suspects, have been simply to avoid confusion with the 2013 Daniel Radcliffe/Zoe Kazan film of the same name, the replacement is equally apt; for if “what if” is the question posed by this cinematic Gen Z celebration of trans joy, then “anything’s possible” is the message that viewers take away. From the moment trans actor Eva Reign walks on screen as lead character Kelsa, refreshingly confident and comfortable in her skin after transitioning, we witness a hopeful story that paves the way for greater trans acceptance on and off screen. 

Tony Rivetti

The narrative, from Ximena (who, like her protagonist, transitioned from male to female) is a tender love story between Kelsa and Khal, the latter a cisgender male student who develops a crush on her, even though he fears judgement from other students. Yet, rather than a story of struggle and obstacles, the narrative is relatively drama-free (save for, for instance, the moment where Kelsa’s friend accuses Khal of fancying her for “woke points”). Instead, it’s a triumphant, music, dancing and romance-filled expression of two people finding each other. “When I read this script, I was like, oh my God, there’s like a Black trans girl at the centre of this and she’s happy and she’s falling in love. That’s the sort of thing that I always wanted to see growing up, that I’ve always searched for,” says Eva. The joy is underscored by an original soundtrack, which features several songs from Billy Porter alongside the likes of Kiana Lede, DNCE, Joy Oladokun, MIKA and Jessie J.

The film also represents possibilities for the trio at the heart of its creation: it is Ximena García Lecuona’s first screenplay to be made into a film, Eva Reign’s first major role and, of course, the first time Billy Porter (most famous for his work as an actor, performer and musician) to direct a film. Yet they all recognise this film goes beyond their own personal successes – Eva says, touchingly: “[With this role] I was like, I really, really want this part, but even if I don’t get it, I wanna be so happy that this just exists in and on the world”. Meanwhile, Billy tells me he has a “unique and distinct voice” [he does – and it’s refreshing to hear someone owning that about themselves] – which “needs to continue to be used as a “catalyst for healing”.

Is the film idealistic – at a time when there are terse discussions in the US (and the UK) about trans rights in schools – a time where there are pending legal debates around how gender identity is taught in school – a time where, for instance, a bill in Oklahoma earlier this year banned public schools from having books that make the study of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender issues their primary focus. It is absolutely idealistic, says Billy, acknowledging the wider environment: “Well, we know what’s happening to the trans community with legislation and laws. We see what’s happening in the rollbacks of civil rights of people’s personal freedoms and rights. We see what that is. And so this tale is about saying, no.’ The film, he hopes, will ‘change the molecular structure’ of our present environment.

In our longer interview, presented Q&A style below, I chat to both Anything’s Possible’s lead actor Eva Reign and its director Billy Porter about the making of the film; greater representation across film and social media; and the radical power of trans joy.

Eva Reign

Congratulations on this film, it is so full of joy, and you are brilliant in it. It’s no secret that trans history is full of difficulty and trauma – I wonder, do you think there’s the value of telling stories that are the opposite: joyful, hopeful ones?

That’s actually what made me gravitate toward this project. When I read this script, I was like, oh my God, there’s a Black trans girl at the centre of this and she’s happy and she’s falling in love. That’s the sort of thing that I always wanted to see growing up, um, that I’ve always searched for. And I don’t think we see enough of [on screen]. So when I saw the breakdown for this role, I was like, I really, really want this part, but even if I don’t get it, I’m so happy that this just exists in and is in the world. We’ve been asking for fresh takes on these stories for a long, long time, and we haven’t really seen enough trans joy, especially Black trans joy, Black trans girl joy. I think that this is going to be the start of so much more. I hope we get to see more diverse stories. There’s definitely a place for the trauma we’ve seen when it comes to the trans experience. That’s something that definitely needs to keep being talked about because the violence keeps on rising. But with that, for the trans people who might be living in fear of violence happening, we all deserve to see happiness. We all deserve to see joy. We all deserve to see that that’s possible for all of us. It doesn’t matter what background you’re coming from. Everyone deserves to be in a more loving world. And, if you don’t see it, you may not believe that it’s possible. So I think this film is going to touch a lot of hearts and souls.

One of the most immediate and memorable attributes of your character, Kelsa, is her joy and confidence, moving through the world. Do you share this quality?