On Sunday night, the season finale of Pose airs on FX. I can’t believe it’s already over. It’s such a great show, as I’ve already told you. Fortunately, Ryan Murphy’s critically-acclaimed has been picked up for a second season, set to air in 2019.
Part of the success of the show is due to breakout star Indya Moore, who plays Angel, a sex worker who finds herself having an affair with one of her clients, a married man played by Murphy regular Evan Peters. Before Pose the gorgeous, Bronx-born 23-year-old did some modeling, appeared in the independent film Saturday Church, and appeared alongside RuPaul’s Drag Race alums Vivacious and Yuhua Hamasaki (and the backpack kid) when Katy Perry performed “Swish Swish” on SNL.
Entertainment Tonight spoke with Indya about her role on the show and her part in increasing the visibility of the trans community, with the help of Pose writers Our Lady J and Janet Mock. (Mock directed the amazing sixth episode of the series, which left me ugly crying on the treadmill at the gym.)
On Janet Mock’s work and telling the story of trans women and their relationships:
“She touched on the issues that trans women experience around desirability. She really touched on the reality of how affected we are by people who are afraid of being ostracized just by being in proximity to us.”“This is something that I felt recently through Angel and it was an experience I also had. Learning to want more myself is something that Janet, Our Lady J and I experienced growing up to who we are as adults.”
“We deserve the same things that cis women do, the same things that other humans do, from our social lives to our families to love.”
On working with Evan Peters, who last played an evil cult leader on American Horror Story:
“Just knowing I would be playing opposite of him, I had fears my character was going to be killed. I just felt like, ‘Wow, it wouldn’t be far off at all. It would actually be very parallel to the reality of what life is like for Angel.’”Fortunately for Indya:
“His comfort level was really affirming for me and helped me to perform better.”
Indya and her Pose co-stars Mj Rodriguez (Blanca) and Dominique Jackson (Elektra) were interviewed by Janet for the latest issue of Out magazine, where she talked about using her role in on the show to further help increase visibility for trans people, stating:
I definitely want to use my platform as a microphone for so many voices that have been silenced for so long. That is exactly what I was looking for when I was in foster care. I always remember wanting just to know that there was someone out there who was like me and who could also help me to think of myself in a different way as a young, gender variant person. I always wanted someone to speak out against what was happening to me and what I was going through because of it. There’s a lot of unlearning and relearning and I want to be a part of that process. I think empathy is the gap that is missing. We don’t see a lot of people who are not trans taking the initiative to speak up for trans people. For so long we have been our own mothers. For so long we have been our own fighters and fighters for other people.
I obviously love Pose and Angel’s story line continues to be one of the most moving on the show. I also think Indya is beautiful and I hope this is the start of a long career for her as an actress. She’s currently working on a sci-fi anthology series called Magic Hour. She’s not only acting in it, she’s serving as an executive producer. She told W Magazine, “It’s a really dope, awesome project because I’ve always wanted to be involved in action; action and sci-fi are my favorite genres. That’s where I feel like I fit in as a performer the most. And comedy too!” I, personally, can’t wait to see what’s next for her…and season 2 of Pose, of course.
Photos: Instagram, Getty
Ok I just reread it to be sure, is she trans cause the article never actually says it, she plays a trans character and she does not identify as a cis woman but is she actually trans? Just curious. She is beautiful and I definitely need to start watching Pose.
Yeah i was wondering that too
Indya is trans.
You know, if trans people don’t want to be called trannies they need to quit calling me “cis.”
I’m straight and you can refer to me that way but I don’t care for “cis.”
Oh, and I expect you to know all my other preferences, too.
And be respectful of my wishes.
Cis isn’t the same thing as straight.
Cis isn’t pejorative. It’s a descriptor. That’s like saying you take issue with someone referring to you as white or a woman or straight or American. The word you chose to use in reference to trans people though IS a pejorative term. Your whole comment reads as insane privilege and transmisogyny. It’s akin to saying “if black people don’t want to be called the N word, they need to stop calling me white”. Not only is it a false equivalence, it also perfectly encapsulates the fact that your identity/descriptors are considered the default and that it can be uncomfortable to have to be defined against something else as opposed to being allowed to simply exist. You are offended that you are being described in the same way as anyone who falls outside of the assumed default identity is every moment of their lives.
Cis is not a slur. It’s the opposite of trans. Are you trans? No? Then you are cis.
Ryan Murphy better not touch a hair on Angel’s head!!! She is a queen and needs to be protected at all costs.
Things thing I love about the show (so far, until RM decides to torpedo his own show in his usual style) is that even though the characters are going through a lot of heartbreak and pain, at the center of it is just so much love. For each other, for the community. The idea that family isn’t just something you’re born into – sometimes it is something you create. So lovely.
I love it even though I ugly cry every week.
I missed the first article on CB about Pose…but let me tell you I was AMAZED, and incredibly moved by this show.
Everything is spectacular : the acting, the storylines, the clothes, …
IMO, the best show of 2018…maybe of the decade !!!!
It’s great. The acting can be a bit wobbly (first timer nerves I imagine), but everything is delivered with such heart and purpose that I don’t care. Love it.
I love Pose so much and I love Indya as Angel. I read an interview where she said she originally wanted to play Blanca because she thought Blanca had more agency, but I can’t imgaine anyone but her playing Angel. The sweetness and vulnerability she brings to the role is so spot on and beautiful. In fact, they all have a certain vulnerability to their performances that is so raw and rare and necessary for the story they’re telling. Strength and vulnerability are not mutually exclusive!
I only have ONE thing to say…POSE IS MY CHURCH!!!!
As a woman living in the age of Trump, worrying about others not finding me sexually desirable enough is the last thing on my mind. Involuntary celibacy is not an actual oppression no matter how hard the male rights activists try to paint it as such.
I don’t think that Indya is talking about involuntary celibacy when she talks about deserving the same things a women from “social lives to our families to love”. I think she is talking about belonging and inclusion in society. Up here in Toronto this summer there was a tragic van attack motivated by the misogynist fallacy of involuntary celibacy. Hikaru, I feel a sense of empathy with you, because I also think there is so much we women need to fight against, and it can seem overwhelming to me a times. Perhaps one way to improve women’s lives is to try to broaden our communities and our movements? Perhaps that cis and trans women and everyone can better work against oppression when we work together?
@ hikaru: THIS.
“She touched on the issues that trans women experience around desirability.”
As a woman, of course I understand and have sympathy for the fact that every human has been socialized to think that, if we are not found sexually desirable, we are not worthy as people. But I think the right answer is to tackle this belief culturally (aka patriarchy). 🙂
I agree that trans women deserve the same rights as cis women. I’m all for equality and inclusion. People are people. I, unfortunately, also have an additional perspective. My best friend was dating a trans woman who wanted to obtain that inclusion through deception. She didn’t tell him that she was trans until they were finally ready to be intimate (they got engaged, he’s fairly devout in his religious beliefs). He felt betrayed because there’s the whole a) keeping secrets and b) they won’t be able to have biological children, which is what he wants. I was heartsick for him because he loves her but part of their relationship was built on a lie, he says. I’m telling this story for a couple reasons. 1. I think demonizing and excluding people who evolve into their ideal self is wrong. It makes them want to hide and then we get situations like the one with my friend. 2. We need to acknowledge, however painful it might be, that some men might not want to pursue a relationship with a woman who can’t biologically have children. It sucks, I believe it sucks (lots of kids out there who they can adopt and love, kids who need that love and stability). But, there’s some parts of relationship “goals” that might not translate for trans women (and cis women who are also infertile). I’m in a high risk group for pregnancy, I’ve been told I may never be able to carry and I’ve had men leave me because of that revelation. It is what it is.
I agree trans women deserve all the same things as cis women. Support, love and protect our trans people.
Does anyone have information on how we can support not only trans women’s rights but also trans men?
is trans included in the “cannot discriminate on the basis of gender, legally.
I do feel trans men will also be natural feminist allies to trans women and cis women and I want to support the inclusion of nonbinary and trans people into as many traditionally defined as “male” or “female” spaces as possible because I think we as a society have a lot to learn about gender as a spectrum.
It would be by a state by state basis, but yes gender expression is considered a protected category.
My belief is the best way to protect the rights of trans men is to support organizations like Planned Parenthood because they still need female reproductive care.
There was a really interesting article about a trans guy in Australia who said that he only became a feminist AFTER he transitioned, because he was horrified at the difference in how he was treated once he was no longer female. (i.e. He was listened to more, wasn’t talked over or belittled, and suddenly found that people regarded him as having more authority and a right to his opinions etc. as a male). Apologies – can’t remember the dude’s name, but it was a really interesting perspective.
She is absolutely stunning!
Love this show. As someone born and raised in NYC during the time the show is set, they did great work to make it feel soooo authentic. Although I’m not LGBT myself, and a bit too young at the time to actually be at the clubs, I had plenty of friends/relatives who would tell their stories about places like Escuelita, the ball scene, and the birth of the Vogueing movement. The music also brings me back. And I love the accurate portrayal of the urban Black and Latino NYC club kids of the generation.
I saw the first episode and didn’t love the show. (It was good, but just didn’t do it for me the way it is for many) But Indya Moore was really, really good. Her scenes were amazing. I am going to watch a few more eps, maybe it will win me over.
Damn…she’s gorgeous. That is all.
This is interesting. On the one hand I’m kind of like trans women were not born with female sex organs so logically they should understand that that will impact how most straight men deal with them. So I’m kind of like boo boo life isn’t fair, get over it. You can’t force people to desire you. But I also feel empathy cause I know what it’s like to not feel desired.
Thank you for having posted about this show. Just seen the pilot and wow it’s amazing! So glad it’s been renewed.