Billy Porter to Play Writer James Baldwin in Upcoming Biopic: 'I Intend to Expand His Legacy'

Billy Porter notably quoted James Baldwin at the 2019 Emmy Awards after he won best actor for his performance in Pose

Billy Porter is taking on the role of a lifetime.

On Wednesday, Allen Media Group Motion Pictures announced that Porter, 53, is set to play celebrated author and civil rights activist James Baldwin in an upcoming biopic, according to multiple outlets.

In addition to starring in the film, Porter will cowrite a script with screenwriter Dan McCabe based on the 1994 biography James Baldwin: A Biography, written by author David Leeming.

"As a Black queer man on this planet with relative consciousness, I find myself, like James Baldwin said, 'in a rage all the time,' " Porter said in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter Wednesday.

"I am because James was. I stand on James Baldwin's shoulders, and I intend to expand his legacy for generations to come," the actor added the statement.

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Porter stands one Oscar away from achieving EGOT status; he won a Tony Award in 2013 for his performance in Kinky Boots and received a Grammy Award for the production's album the same year. In 2019, the actor was the first openly gay Black man to be nominated and subsequently win an Emmy Award, which he won for his performance as Pray Tell in FX's Pose.

The actor notably quoted Baldwin at the top of his acceptance speech at the 71st Emmys, saying: "James Baldwin said, '[it] took many year of vomiting up all the filth that I had been taught about myself and halfway believed before I could walk around this earth like I had the right to be here.' "

"I have the right, you have the right, we all have the right," Porter added at the time.

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Baldwin died from stomach cancer in 1987 at age 63, according to The New York Times' obituary. The celebrated author is remembered for works such as Notes of a Native Son, The Fire Next Time, Go Tell it on the Mountain and If Beale Street Could Talk, which Barry Jenkins adapted into the 2018 Oscar-winning movie of the same name.

A 2017 documentary titled I Am Not Your Negro, based on Baldwin's writings, received a nomination for Best Documentary Feature at the 89th Oscars.

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"We at Allen Media Group Motion Pictures are extremely passionate about sharing James Baldwin's phenomenal story with the world," producer Byron Allen said in a statement about the upcoming project obtained by Variety.

"Billy Porter and Dan McCabe's talent and commitment to amplifying James Baldwin's legacy and contributions are invaluable and unmatched for this unique and epic story," the producer added in a statement.

Porter most recently appeared on the big screen in February's sports comedy release 80 for Brady.

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