PARTING SHOT
Illustration by BRITT SPENCER
HER BRUTALLY HONEST 2014 MEMOIR ON TRANSGENDER IDENTITY, Redefining Realness, turned Janet Mock into the voice of the trans community. Producer Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story, Feud) loved the book so much, he ushered her to TV, hiring her as a producer for his latest show, Pose. The series, set in 1987, follows five trans women of color in the ball scene—famously documented by the 1990 film Paris Is Burning. In addition to the four episodes she wrote for Season 1 (ending July 22), Murphy asked her to direct Episode 6, “Love Is the Message.” The author and activist says she has “a notebook full of secret pitches” if FX renews the well-reviewed show. Being the first trans woman of color on a TV writing staff came with the “burden of representation,” she tells Newsweek. “If I had not done it well, then that door would then be shut right behind me.” But, she adds, “sidelining my career for a year, to give myself over to this world, is the greatest decision I’ve made.”