'The Prom' Stars Discuss That Heartbreaking Coming Out Moment

In Ryan Murphy's film adaption of Broadway musical The Prom, Jo Ellen Pellman and Ariana DeBose play high school girlfriends, Emma and Alyssa, fighting against all odds to be together in their small Indiana town.

PRIDE sat down with the two actors who open up about what the film means to them as LGBTQ+ women, the power in finding your own chosen family, and their favorite memories of working with Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, James Corden, Kerry Washington, Keegan Michael Key, Andrew Rannels, and more in this star-studded cast.

Emma (Pellman) goes toe-to-toe with her high school's PTA board when they prohibit her from bringing her girlfriend to the prom. In reality, many LGBTQ+ folks, both past and present, didn't get to go to many high school dances with who they truly wanted to.

For younger audiences, Pellman hopes this film encourages and uplifts viewers to live out loud, and that they walk away with "this feeling that their chosen family, whether it is by blood or by the friendships they create, that their chosen family is out there too." For Pellman, "that is how Emma is able to find the courage to speak her truth in a way that's authentic to her."

DeBose also shared thoughts on an emotional zenith of the film, Alyssa coming out to her homophobic mother. Mrs. Greene is the conservative head of the high school's PTA and viciously fights to prevent Emma from attending prom with her girlfriend.

She's obviously shook when she finds out the girlfriend Emma wants to take is her own closeted daughter. After a tense moment of reflection, Mrs. Greene almost whispers to Alyssa her fears about her being a lesbian.

"I don't want you to have a hard life," she tells her. 

"It's already hard," Alyssa replies.

"For such a short line, it's such a heavy, weighted one," DeBose points out. "It is already hard. It's already hard being a Black woman, but that doesn't change who you are. If you are gay, queer, lesbian, questioning, any of it, no matter where you fall on the spectrum, you are who you are. And that deserves to be celebrated."

At the end of the day, "standing in your authentic power is always worth it."

The Prom premieres December 11 on Netflix! Watch the trailer below!