[And] it has been backed byMartin Scorsese, this Megatron of film iconicness?
So we could not just say, “Oh, let’s just make a film.”
So that’s why I signed up.
Leyna Bloom in ‘Port Authority’.courtesy Momentum Pictures
That’s why I did this.
And that’s why I believe in the film.
We were not in anywhere of importance within society, on respectable levels.
Leyna Bloom and Fionn Whitehead in ‘Port Authority’.courtesy Momentum Pictures
So I just think that it was a moment to be seen.
The idea that it was making history, that’s profound for me.
When I found out I was like, “Wow, why is it taking so long?”
Leyna Bloom in ‘Port Authority’.courtesy cannes
And I think we found out around March of 2019, and we went to Cannes that May.
So it just happened so fast, you know.
There’s just so much power in that.
You’ve said before that Paul’s story is similar to yours.
That sense of self-advocacy, or self-protection?
Everyone does things differently.
Let’s really let me hear you.
So how can I express this in a way that they can also see the humanity in it?
So they can also see the mirror of themselves in it?
It was very unique in a lot of ways, but also very real.
Were you not expecting that scene?
No, I was, but again, it’s
Why were you expecting that scene?
Why was I expecting a sex scene?
Were you expecting that to happen?
And so I wanted to know how you all approached that scene.
Because the film shows that there was communication to be had before they actually made love.
Emotions and feelings are a universal language.
It was just nonexistent.
You are just nonexistent to anything of human connection.
I think that moment really exemplifies their humanity.
Just skin-to-skin contact, and the communication of bodies coming together to create poetry.
I think it’s just something that people needed to see.
They didn’t need to see a love scene or a sex scene.
They needed to see two people that just made this experience so real that it was mind-blowing.
So for me, it was just about how I can make my experience to be loved normalized.
And it was through just exactly what we did.
To be beautiful, and to make love, that’s just so powerful.
The movie has a bit of an open ending.
Do you want Wye and Paul to continue their romance?
I don’t know.
And I think where they left off was Paul was just finally seeing things clearly.
Who knows what may happen for them?
Did working with them feel full-circle?
Me and Indya knew each other like three years beforePose.
Me and her have so much in common.
She’s one of my soul sisters, one of my soulmates on this earth.
I’m so inspired by her and everything she does, and she’s been inspired by me.
We celebrate each other.
I’m actually supposed to be going to see her very soon in the Dominican Republic.
She’s been inviting me since everything, but I’m doing this press stuff.
But we got to doPosetogether.
We will be intertwining together, because we’re making history in a lot of the same ways together.
And I can’t wait to see what she does.
I want to continue to work with her.
And I know my manager is trying to get us to do a film together.
I think people would really love to see us both in a film together.
Maybe we might do a remake ofThelma and Louiseor something.
I don’t know.
Oh, that’d be amazing.
I would love that.
We’ll see what happens.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
