Sources of serotonin in 2020 are still depleting. No longer will we see Timothée Chalamet on the big screen this year. The Harry Styles tour is postponed. Filming for Euphoria has been pushed back. Is there anything that can help us restore faith in the hellfire that is Planet Earth? Well, here’s something: Pose is back for season three, and the cast have given us an update from the set in New York!
Yep, with the series scheduled to return for filming this month, the team behind the FX-produced show have managed the impossible and stuck to something in the year of ever-shifting dates! The cast and crew, including Indya Moore and Billy Porter, are back on set, and they’ve all been teasing the show’s return on social media.
First up, screenwriter and director Janet Mock — who famously made history as television’s first Black transgender screenwriter for a primetime show — posted her selfie from the set with the show’s executive producer.
“POSE PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE) on our stages in the Bronx,” she assured everybody, saying that she “couldn’t wait to share this very special season with you all!”. Season three of the show is set to flash forward three years into 1994. Things we know so far? Mj Rodriguez’s Blanca will get her first love interest, played by Hollywood’s Jeremy Pope. And her house of Evangelista will be growing, with more children joining the group.
In another first, Billy Porter is expected to make his directorial debut this season too. The actor, who won an Emmy for his performance as Pray Tell, laid it out clearly for those who were keen to know when the show would be back. Wearing a full visor, he updated his fans via Instagram, encouraging them to share masks and shield selfies with the hashtag #PoseForBilly: “The show must go on but we must protect ourselves darlings,” he said. “As we adjust to the new protocols, I’m wondering how y’all are staying safe while living your best life.” The category is, he says, “SAFETY FIRST”.
The big issue for the season ahead is those big, boisterous ballroom moments. With up to 150 extras per scene, how will they manage to capture that same freeing energy the queer kids back then experienced? Well, Pose is famously a show that has overcome obstacles. A global pandemic is a minor hitch for this resilient group.