'Port Authority' star Leyna Bloom on trans love story, how she celebrates Pride Month daily

The hustle and bustle of New York City's grimy Port Authority Bus Terminal might not inspire thoughts of love in the average person schlepping through the station and into the hectic energy of Times Square.

And yet it makes the perfect opening backdrop for coming-of-age romance "Port Authority" (on VOD), with newcomers Fionn Whitehead ("Dunkirk") and Leyna Bloom ("Pose") leading the love story as Paul and Wye, two star-crossed lovers from different backgrounds. Paul, a white guy from Pennsylvania on probation trying to restart his life, catches the eye of Wye, a trans woman of color he sees voguing on the steps of the transportation hub with friends.

It’s a clash of worlds, with Paul trying to hide his problematic friends and that he lives in a homeless shelter. The nuanced film also puts the LBGTQ subculture of the New York underground ballroom scene (and subsequently, the people of color like Wye and her friends who perform and compete at the events) at its center.

Survival and forgiveness are interlocking themes for the young couple throughout the film, as Paul comes to terms with falling in love with a trans woman.

"People of color, trans people, queer people, we are just always trying to forgive people for the pain" caused to the community, says Bloom, as she Zooms in from New York City.

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The film made history at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019 with a trans woman of color as its lead actress. The movie, backed by he Martin Scorsese, marked Bloom’s first major acting role. She's continued to make headlines since: In addition to her work on the final season of Ryan Murphy’s trailblazing FX series “Pose” as Pretentia Khan, Bloom, whose rep declined to share her age, is the first Black and Asian trans woman to be featured in 2021's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Her drama thriller "Asking For It" premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival this month.

Bloom details how she relates to her character, what she hopes viewers walk away with from the movie, how she's celebrating Pride Month and more.

Question: What made you want to take on the portrayal of a trans woman falling in love with an out-of-towner amid New York's ballroom scene?

Leyna Bloom: It was so much like the stories I grew up hearing through the grapevine of the ballroom community. Here is a story that is not about trauma of a trans woman not being able. It was a movie about a trans woman being the center of a love story, of being something so beautiful that it could potentially change some ideas in the world.

(Wye) was just like the combination of like the coolest girl that I've always wanted to be, and always wanted to see in the world.

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Q: How did you tap into your own experiences in ballroom to bring this to life?

Bloom: For me, it was my responsibility. Honestly, that's what it always comes down to: my responsibility to the person that I was in ballroom, and still (am) in ballroom. Seeing so many beautiful, talented people of color thrive in their uniqueness and in their imagination and in their ability to create something with just being exactly who they want to be – that's something that always captivated me about the culture.

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Q: I read that you wanted to be an astronaut when you were a kid. In the movie's ball scene where Paul finds out that Wye is trans, there's a space theme. What was it like to film that?

Bloom: It's honestly the universe in a full circle moment for me. I wanted to be an astronaut, I wanted to go infinity and beyond. To be in a scene of astro-space odyssey, and when (Wye) walks she has this dress on with all these stars, it's a message in a message.

As humans, we are very nervous and afraid of what's different in the world. I know making this film there's three different groups of people in society. There's people that will love me and support me and be there for people like me. There's people that just don't want to have that conversation, don't want to be a part of that experience, don't want to explore those options. And there's people that just don't know what to think, they don't know how to respond. That's the audience that I'm trying to speak to. I'm trying to speak to people that are willing to (take) a chance to give people a chance.

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Q: What does Pride Month mean to you at this moment in your life?

Bloom: Pride is not just this time when we can explore things that are in us that we're raised to suppress and now we're taught to express it in the sun and in the streets and the world just for one month. It's something that I have to do every single day of my life. I have to wake up and be proud that I'm alive and (ask) "Why am I here? And what am I doing here, and am I going to be able to help people?"

Through all the most traumatic experiences in my life and in the world, seeds are being planted everywhere I go. And this summer 2021, everything is blooming at the same time: Sports Illustrated, movies, TV shows. It is really a moment to be Black, be queer, be trans, be Asian, so I'm just honestly going to celebrate every single day that I'm allowed to be alive to have those moments. So I'm really excited to see what else I can do and how we can elevate our community to unite.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Leyna Bloom: Sports Illustrated model on 'Port Authority,' 'Pose'