On July 22, the coming-of-age romance Anything’s Possible is set to debut on Prime Video. The release of the move marks some big moments for the LGBTQ entertainment community as it marks the feature directorial debut for Emmy winner Billy Porter as well as the feature acting debut for Eva Reign. It also marks one of the first major releases of a project included on the inaugural GLAAD List in 2019 and the Black List in 2020.
Written by Ximena García Lecuona and based on the script titled What If?, Anything’s Possible is a modern Gen Z story that follows Kelsa (Reign), a confident young trans woman who is navigating her senior year of high school. When her classmate Khal (Abubakr Al) gets a crush on her, he musters up the courage to ask her out despite the drama he knows it could cause. The result is a YA romance that showcases the joy, tenderness, and pain of young love.
Having been included on two of the most prestigious lists that spotlight Hollywood’s best unproduced scripts – specifically the GLAAD List – Anything’s Possible marks a big moment for LGBTQ representation in media and what is possible when queer people create queer stories.
Porter is aware that GLAAD has been instrumental in making sure that the needle gets pushed forward in terms of authenticity and the truth in queer, art, film, and TV for decades. “I just know that they’ve gotten in the trenches and have made such a difference in the kinds of queer stories that we see,” Porter said. “I don’t think that anything would be possible without the decades of work that GLAAD has done to infuse the market with stories that continue to deepen and widen and become more authentic and all of those things.”
The story for Anything’s Possible is blazing a trail when it comes to narratives in the mainstream that celebrate trans joy and don’t involve an enormous amount of trauma. Hopefully, the movie will make room for more opportunities for the diverse array of stories from the LGBTQ community. And with the recent attacks and anti-LGTBQ legislation against the community across the country, stories like this are needed to uplift and inspire when it comes to queer identity.
“I would say you are who you are because you’re you – not because of what some paper says or some law says,” said Reign. “[Trans people] have always existed and we have gotten so far throughout every country. We have really persevered, stayed resilient and we didn’t need the government to make us valid. We just needed to know who we are.”
She continued, “So to every trans kid out there – you know who you are. Other people might be trying to tell you otherwise. They’re trying to stop you from playing sports. They’re trying to stop you from using the bathroom. Just know that you will get through this because there have been so many other generations of trans people who have gotten through so much worse. I really just think about how far we’ve come and think about how much more beautiful the world is… because you’re here beautiful.”
Reign’s co-star Ali added to the sentiment saying that there is a huge amount of importance when it comes to being an ally to the LGBTQ community. It’s not just about saying – it’s about doing. “You have support from people around you and it’s on us who are there to support,” said Ali. “[We have] to garner more support through our allyship and really see how much we can create space for you and how we can uplift you and your voices, and you know allow the change that needs to be happening.”
The representation of a trans actor like Reign continues to bolster LGBTQ storytelling with her own journey. Porter said, “What’s beautiful about this is that she’s already out. She already has the support of her community. What I love about her is that she says, ‘I want to know what else I’m capable of.’ You’re trans, now what? Those are the stories that we’re telling, that’s where we are in the space. That’s where we have to be.”
Porter continued, “It’s thrilling for me because it doesn’t let our audience off the hook. It requires them to be present in the moment that we’re in, no matter what the government says, no matter what the religious right says. The reason why the pushback is so strong is because the progress has already been made. We’re already here and we’re not going nowhere. [Anything’s Possible] gets to be that it gets to do that.”
Anything’s Possible premieres July 22 on Amazon Prime Video.
Watch GLAAD at Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival’s Opening Night Gala Presents Anything’s Possible: