There is something to say about having a clean uncluttered living space to give us peace of mind. Cleaning, organizing, and getting things in order is always on our to-do lists, but what could often be viewed as an overwhelming, daunting chore should be considered more of a form of self-care. That’s how singer and actor Billy Porter is viewing it. Porter said his recent partnership with Clorox Scentiva is to help the world reimagine their cleaning routine. HOLA! USA had the honor of chatting with Porter about self-care and his exciting upcoming projects.
HOLA! USA: Can you tell us about your partnership with Clorox Scentiva and why keeping a tidy space is so important?
Billy Porter: I’m partnering with Clorox Scentiva to help the world understand how to reimagine your clean routine. Reimagine it in the spirit of self care, as opposed to it being a chore. I think we can think about it as taking care of ourselves. You know there’s a lot of decluttering shows and organizing shows in the world, this is in the spirit of that. What you declutter and what you organize - you have to wipe it down and disinfect with the Clorox Scentiva scents, get your stuff smelling good!
That’s such a smart way to view cleaning - making it more about self-care. Tell us about the #YasClean Sweepstakes that is about paying it forward.
Clorox Scentiva and I are helping to turn homes across the country from drab to fab in a sweepstakes competition for a chance to win $5,000 for your dream home makeover and that is matched with $5,000 for the charity of one’s choice. Good luck everybody!
Aside from this partnership, you are one busy bee with a lot of upcoming projects, one of them being the new season of POSE coming out. What can you tell us about this new season?
I could tell you that this season of POSE goes even deeper into the truth and authenticity, joy and sorrows, choosing life anyway in spite of the world we’ve been in from the very start. I’m so proud of it. This is the final season. These character’s stories are coming to an end. But they get to live on forever and we get to be representatives of a time in our history that has been muted for so very long. I feel very blessed to be a part of that.
There’s also a new rendition of ‘Cinderella’ coming out this summer with yourself and a lot of other big name cast members. What was the experience like making a newer version of the film?
This is ‘Cinderella’ for a new generation. This is a Cinderella that speaks to the moment, that speaks to the time. Very often our classic stories and fairytales are very problematic in a lot of ways as far as how we live now and what we’ve learned by living so long and being around for so long. So I am playing the fairy Godmother, the Fab G, and I get to speak to the gender conversation. My tagline is “magic has no gender, magic is all about love.” I would encourage everyone to come to this piece of art with that understanding.
You’re making your directorial debut with the drama film, ‘What If?.’ Why was this story so important to you?
It’s a film about a young black transgender singer in high school who gets a boyfriend and is just trying to move through life in a “normal way.” It’s a really intimate special romantic comedy. People populated with what the world looks like today and I am really, really proud to be a part of something like this because I am a 51-year-old queer man, there was nothing that existed for me in the mainstream space when I was a youngster like that. It’s really inspiring and encouraging and it makes me happy.
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