Celebrated writer, TV host and trans activist Janet Mock can now add 'director' to her CV, making her directorial debut earlier this week with 'Love is the message' - an episode of groundbreaking FX series Pose.
The episode's screening marked the first time in US history that a trans woman of colour had directed mainstream television.
Mock has previously opened up about the episode and why it was so important for the show's collection of directors to reflect those depicted on the series, which explores the New York City ballroom culture made famous in the classic documentary Paris Is Burning.
"Steven [Canals] and I were having intense conversations with Ryan [Murphy] about making sure that the people directing the episodes represented, in some capacity, an intersection of the identities that were onscreen," she said in an interview with
"[Ryan] directed episodes one and two, which he usually does for every single one of his shows [to] set the tone for the series."
She continued: “We wanted to make sure that women of color, women, queer people, and trans folk are actually directors, because directors set the tone for everything!”
Mock added that the ballroom is a "black and brown space before it's a trans and queer space", something that had to be represented in the show's characters.
"You can’t just say we have this great trans and queer show, you have to add in the layer of the race stuff… had to be very clear that a white trans girl’s experience is very different than a black trans girl’s experience — especially a black trans girl that’s struggling with economic resources in 1980’s New York City.”
She added: “So we gave Elektra (Dominique Jackson’s character) more pointed lines about whiteness, or Angel (Indya Moore) started calling Stan (Evan Peters) a white suburban boy.
"We had to put that stuff in there.”
The show's creator Ryan Murphy has previously spoken up about working with Mock, saying how important her directorial voice was to the show's success.
“I said, 'No, Janet, you have to direct. You have to!' And she wasn’t sure, and I pushed her and pushed her. She did it… And I’m so honored and thrilled to say that it [her episode] is perhaps the best hour of television in my entire career that I have been associated with.”
“And I say, to Janet, thank you and I’m in awe of you.”
