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<\/p>\nJanet Mock on being a constant trailblazer and directing the \u2018Pose\u2019 Season Finale<\/b><\/p>\n
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Janet Mock<\/a> might just be the closest thing someone can be to a bulldozer while still being human.<\/p>\n The much-lauded transgender rights activist, journalist, podcaster, cable pundit and newscaster became the first ever transgender woman<\/a> of color to write and direct an episode for television with the first season of\u00a0Pose<\/a>,<\/em> a show she executive produced despite no prior work behind the camera<\/a>. Now she\u2019s added another plume to her hat. Last month, Mock became the first transgender producer ever nominated for the Best Dramatic series Emmy. She also just inked a lucrative deal with Netflix to create,<\/a> produce, write and direct a new series and feature films.<\/p>\n Mock brings her latest directorial outing to the world August 20, when she helms the Season 2 finale of\u00a0Pose<\/em> on FX. We managed to snag a few minutes from Mock\u2019s\u00a0very<\/em> busy schedule to chat<\/a> about the show, her rich life and her groundbreaking work.<\/p>\n So congratulations on your Emmy nomination. You\u2019ve had such a varied career, how do you feel going into the finale?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m so proud of this finale. As someone who supervised production this season from day one of Season 2 all the way to the final day, and directed and written episodes this season, I\u2019m so proud of the work we\u2019ve all done. Our finale is our more ambitious script, and it involves two acts in the ballroom which are such hard scenes to shoot. There are 300 people in a singular space. It\u2019s crowded. It\u2019s noisy. There\u2019s a lot of dancing. And so the fact that it turned out and it turned out well\u2026Ryan [Murphy<\/a>, who executive produces along with Mock and Our Lady J] says he thinks its the strongest episode we\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n Oh wow.<\/strong><\/p>\n To be trusted with a finale for any director is astounding. For me, it\u2019s astounding and it\u2019s humbling and it\u2019s great and it\u2019s astonishing. At the same time, it\u2019s also meaningful and impactful because it\u2019s a story about my community.<\/p>\n Absolutely.<\/strong><\/p>\n So it makes it that much more meaningful. So I\u2019m so excited that I\u2019ve done a finale. This whole process of working on Pose<\/i> has changed my life and emboldened me as a storyteller and an artist, and I get to keep on telling stories with my deal with Netflix and next season. So that\u2019s exciting.<\/p>\n Finales are always tricky because they need to bring everything together. I was impressed by the sheer number of story threads and character arcs you had to cap off. Are you intimidated when you go in to do something like that? How do you keep an even keel?<\/strong><\/p>\n For me it\u2019s always about the characters. When it comes to any script, specifically as a director, what\u2019s hard about the finale, as you point out, is that there are so many storylines that you are trying, not to wrap up, but to tell and to keep those threads all going. For me, it was about Blanca. She\u2019s our heroine. MJ Rodriguez<\/a>, the lead, gave the performance of a lifetime in the episode. I hope she\u2019s recognized in ways as an actress. She\u2019s grown so much as our leading lady<\/a>. Realize that no one<\/i> came before her to do this work.<\/p>\n Great observation.<\/strong><\/p>\n Every episode she\u2019s challenged. The first scene we shot for the finale was her and Billy Porter<\/a> in the House of Evangelista. We were tearing down the set the day after.<\/p>\n Oh wow.<\/strong><\/p>\n The two of them together, seeing each other for the first time [in a long time], I think the audience will feel that in the cold open. And I think everything else hangs onto there. You love Blanca, and you\u2019re here for the journey, you know?<\/p>\n Yeah.<\/strong><\/p>\n So for me it was just about the characters. The Angel storyline with her modeling and how that ties in with her romance with Lil Papi. They have a home, and it was challenging to tell that story just to make it realistic just because we\u2019ve never seen a storyline like that between a trans<\/a> woman<\/a> and a cisgender young man<\/a>. He\u2019s so unapologetic about loving her. The stakes were so high for the characters. I think it raised the stakes for me as a director to make it seem grounded and real and to anchor it in the human experience of supporting and loving one another, which is what this whole episode is. That\u2019s what we need right now in our particular culture: to feel that.<\/p>\n Related: We visited the set of \u2018Pose,\u2019 the show that might just save the world<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Absolutely. Now correct me if I\u2019m wrong, but you hadn\u2019t directed prior to Pose<\/i>.<\/strong><\/p>\n No, I hadn\u2019t. I never had ambitions to direct. I never thought that I would up until Season 1 of Pose<\/i>. I directed episode six, \u201cLove is a Message.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m curious then. You\u2019re someone who has had such a varied career, and you\u2019re not very old. What have you learned about yourself in challenging yourself in this way, creatively?<\/strong><\/p>\n For me the anchor for everything I\u2019ve done in my career is being a writer and a storyteller. I think for me, a lot of it\u2014you know I\u2019m trained as a journalist. That\u2019s where I learned the craft of storytelling. Then I became a memoirist. And I\u2019ve written a lot of profiles and interviews of celebrities. I did that for MSNBC. I\u2019ve hosted my own podcast. Now, as a writer\/director, it\u2019s easier for me to write and direct an episode because I have such a hand in telling the story. I can change words if things don\u2019t fit right. It was just natural for me. I think Ryan saw something in me long before I saw myself as a director. It\u2019s been great to be surrounded by a mentor who believes in me and also offers me resources and guidance.<\/p>\n Sure.<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s not like I do this work alone. But I think the training wheels came off when it came to the finale. It is my fourth hour of television directing. I also just did Episode 3 of The Politician<\/i>. The trailer just dropped today, and I noticed a lot of my shots and scenes are in the trailer.<\/p>\n That\u2019s wonderful.<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s great. And I also have a development deal with Netflix. But for me, what Pose<\/i> has given me is the ability to learn more about myself as an artist, and as a storyteller, to stretch my wings. To challenge myself and not be afraid of doing things I haven\u2019t\u2019 done before. I\u2019ve surprised myself and I\u2019ve been emboldened. I have a whole new career now because of the show.<\/p>\n I\u2019m excited to ask then, what can you tell us about your Netflix deal?<\/strong><\/p>\n Nothing!<\/p>\n [Laughter]<\/i><\/p>\n I had a feeling.<\/strong><\/p>\n You know, we\u2019re developing right now. So they\u2019re not ready to announce anything yet. But I promise we will circle back.<\/p>\n Please do.<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m also hopping right into the writer\u2019s room of Ryan\u2019s new series Hollywood, <\/i>and I\u2019m directing a couple<\/a> episodes of that as well as several episodes of The Politician. <\/i><\/p>\n Your Wikipedia bio describes you as an activist. That\u2019s a vast oversimplificaiton for your carer, but it\u2019s not wrong. You\u2019ve done everything.\u00a0 You\u2019re changing the world. When you go through your day, when you survey life and your work, where do you find the most gratitude? Where do you find the greatest peace of I\u2019ve done something with my life<\/i>?<\/strong><\/p>\n Wow. I think for me, the fact that I can live<\/a> my truth. I\u2019ve been able to live<\/a> my truth since I was 12 years old. That\u2019s the most gratifying for me. I don\u2019t have to live<\/a> a lie. I\u2019m anchored in my truth, and by telling my truth as a writer, as a memoirist, as a director, that I am able to offer kids growing up like I did affirmative images of themselves, affirmative stories, things that can make them puff out their chest a bit more. I am all too aware of how it feels to be a young person\u2014or just a person period\u2014aching to be yourself and be met with a shake of a head instead of a nod, to not be affirmed for who you are.<\/p>\n Indeed.<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the most aspirational things, to bring it back to Pose<\/i> and the stories we tell there. In the ballroom stage, or even when we\u2019re not there, when that person steps into the spotlight and they live<\/a> their dreams for those three minutes, they are applauded for that dream. That\u2019s what people return to over and over again with the show. I hope that long after we\u2019re gone, the show will exist. And people will go back and look and be affirmed, be seen, be celebrated. So for me, I just feel great gratitude that I get to do this work, and that I\u2019m empowered to tell more stories. To be the first trans<\/a> person empowered with this kind of a deal\u2014to greenlight your own projects and have great creative partners behind you\u2026I\u2019m grateful that I get to do this work.<\/p>\n The Season 2 finale of Pose airs on FX August 20.<\/em><\/p>\n \nwww.queerty.com\/janet-mock-constant-trailblazer-directing-pose-season-finale-20190821?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Janet Mock on being a constant trailblazer and directing the \u2018Pose\u2019 Season Finale Janet Mock might just be the closest thing someone can be to a bulldozer while still being human. The much-lauded transgender rights activist, journalist, podcaster, cable pundit and newscaster became the first ever transgender woman<\/a> of color to write and direct an … Continue reading Janet Mock on being a constant trailblazer and directing the \u2018Pose\u2019 Season Finale<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/2019\/08\/Janet-mock2-670x377.jpg\")
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