Ryan Murphy's forthcoming series Pose, about the ball scene in 1980s New York City, has a premiere date and a teaser trailer! As per a press release, the eight-episode series will debut on FX on June 3. Pose has the unique distinction of being the show on television with the most trans actors in series regular roles. The show leans on Evan Peters and Kate Mara — two Ryan Murphy regulars who have appeared in American Horror Story — as entry points for the ballroom scene, which gave birth to vogueing. Peter and Mara play a young married couple who live in New Jersey. They fall into the glamorous world of ball culture, taking the audience with them.
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"Ball culture" refers to the underground club scene that served as haven for the LGBTQ+ community. It revolved around walking — strutting, dancing, or vogueing — as competition. Pose will feature a number of LGBTQ actors, including Mj Rodriguez, Dominique Jackson, Indya Moore, Hailie Sahar (Mr. Robot) and Angelica Ross (Claws). Billy Porter, who won a Tony award for his role in the Broadway musical Kinky Boots, will also have a role, as well as Charlayne Woodard, who earned a Tony nomination for the 1978 musical Ain't Misbehavin'.
The trailer, which you can watch below, is formatted like as if Pose were a documentary series not unlike the iconic documentary Paris Is Burning. (Paris Is Burning, released in 1991, chronicled the ball scene in New York City in the '80s.)
"I didn't know if I was going to be accepted in the regular world, so I decided to go somewhere where I felt like I fit in," Blanca (Mj Rodriguez) tells the camera. "There's so much you can say about the ballroom scene, but, simply? It's just a way of life."
Ryan Murphy created Pose alongside longtime collaborator Brad Falchuk and Nina Jacobson. Brad Simpson, Alexis Martin Woodall and Sherry Marsh are also listed executive producers. Watch the first preview trailer for Pose, below.