Ryan Murphy’s upcoming series Pose is going to make TV history for assembling the largest cast of transgender actors in a scripted series, Deadline reports:
The five transgender actors were cast after a six-month nationwide search led by casting director Alexa Fogel. They are MJ Rodriguez (pictured, above), Indya Moore, Dominique Jackson, Hailie Sahar, and Angelica Ross. All will be playing transgender characters. Also cast in the series are Ryan Jamaal Swain, Billy Porterand Dyllon Burnside.
Set in the 1980s, Pose looks at the juxtaposition of several segments of life and society in New York: the rise of the luxury Trump-era universe, the downtown social and literary scene and the ball culture world.
Murphy co-created the drama with Brad Falchuk and Steven Canals, who will executive produce with Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, and Alexis Martin Woodall. Canalis has been writing scripts with Our Lady J and Janet Mock. Michael Roberson and Twiggy Pucci Garcon are serving as consultants to the series on ball culture, an LGBTQ subculture rooted in 19080s nightclubs. Hector Xtravaganza, Skylar King, and Sol Williams will also serve as consultants. Trans activist director Silas Howard will serve as a co-exec producer on the show, which will work with Ryan Murphy’s Half Initiative to bring in trans directors for mentorship opportunities.
Leiomy Maldonado and Danielle Polanco will choreograph ball scenes for the show.
“We are thrilled that POSE pushes the narrative forward by centering on the unique and under-told experiences of trans women and gay people of color,” says Canals.
