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Ryan Murphy’s Pose will feature ‘the most trans series regular actors ever’ on American TV

Ryan Murphy’s Pose will feature ‘the most trans series regular actors ever’ on American TV

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The new musical series focuses on ball culture in ‘80s New York City

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FX

Ryan Murphy will add to his roster of television shows at FX with a musical drama called Pose, Variety reports. The network ordered a pilot in October and announced a series order on Wednesday afternoon.

Set in New York City on the cusp of the AIDS crisis and Reagan-era culture wars, Pose will reportedly contrast the rise of the Trump family’s culture of luxury and excess with the downtown literary and social scene — emphasizing ball culture and the LGBTQ community. Pose will star Charlayne Woodard, a Broadway actress and playwright who is also set to star in the final installment of M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable trilogy (her best known TV roles were over two decades ago, on Roseanne and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air). The cast also includes James Van Der Beek, Evan Peters, and Kate Mara.

Murphy told Variety that Pose will feature “the most trans series regular actors ever in an American television production,” as well as “50-plus LGBTQ characters — a record in American television history.” The Huffington Post reports that FX will hire transgender directors for the series through Murphy’s Half Foundation — a mentorship program and hiring initiative founded last year to fill key creative roles in film and television with people of color, women, and LGBTQ people.

Murphy, who created and produced the anthology series American Horror Story, American Crime Story, and Feud for FX, will direct the first two episodes of the show. (The latest season of American Horror Story dabbled in Trump commentary as well.) He created Pose with longtime collaborator Brad Falchuk and Dead of Summer writer Steven Canals, who will both executive produce. Transgender rights activist Janet Mock is also set to produce, alongside Transparent writer and producer Our Lady J.

Pose is set to debut on FX sometime in the summer of 2018.