The last 12 months have been dramatic for most of the world, but no more so than for RuPaul Charles.
Like many in the gay community, RuPaul experienced the horror of the Orlando Pulse nightclub tragedy from a distance, an attack that occurred right after a “Drag Race” alumni, Kenya Michaels, had performed that night. That was followed by the highs of his first Emmy nomination and a long deserved win for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program. “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 2” arrived at the end of August with massive critical and audience acclaim. Then, the election happened, and RuPaul, who has never been shy about his political views, became more vocal than ever using his social media to urge his followers to resist and pay attention to the events unfolding before their eyes.
At the same time, for it’s ninth season “RuPaul’s Drag Race” made a surprise move to VH1 from longtime home Logo. There was concern about leaving the show’s longtime Monday night perch, but the result has been the highest ratings in the show’s history and a domination of Twitter trends every Friday night.
But, wait. There’s more.
Charles landed a coveted spot on TIME Magazine’s 100 list and saw “Drag Race” win best Reality Program at the 2017 MTV Movie and TV Awards over some fierce competition. In April the third edition of RuPaul’s DragCon smashed expectations with over 40,000 attendees and a New York edition of the convention will take place for the first time on Sept. 9 and 10. And somehow through it all, RuPaul found a way to shoot a supporting role on Netflix’s “Girlboss” series and a guest appearance on the upcoming season of Comedy Central’s “Broad City.” Oh, and release three different albums (yes, three) of music in six months. It goes without saying that RuPaul ain’t sashaying away anytime soon.
The still reigning drag Supermodel of the World took some time this week to chat about the Emmy-worthy seasons of “Drag Race,” the growth of DragCon, why Gay Pride is so important and why Donald Trump is the most pitiful drag queen ever, among other topics.
Gregory Ellwood: I know it’s a few days before the finale taping. How are you feeling about season 9? This is the 6th live crowning you’ve done for the show. Do you still get nervous? Are you excited about it?
RuPaul: I don’t get nervous. I’m excited for the audience to put a lid on this pot. You know? I’m excited for everyone who’s involved with the show and all the girls, because it’s like a graduation. They’re about to start their lives as world-famous drag queens. You know?
Absolutely, Looking back on this season has the audience reaction to some of the queens been what you thought it would be? Or are you constantly surprised by who they like, who they don’t?
Actually, no, I’m not surprised. I knew that they would lose their minds over Nina Bo’Nina Brown. I knew that they would fall in love with Valentina, because during the audition process, I fall in love with these gorgeous courageous characters the same way. I mean, I am a fan of, not just only drag, I’m a fan of the show, so I have an idea of who they’re going to fall in love with.
This season you had Lady Gaga as a massive guest star in the premiere episode. At the time of shooting Gaga was in the middle of prepping Joanne, and there was a documentary crew following her. She had a lot of stuff going on. Did you guys actually have a lot of notice that she was going to be able to do the premiere? How did that all sort of come about?
I think we knew a month before. But with the guest judges and the guest stars who are on our show, it’s always in flux. The hardest part of doing our show is coordinating the schedules for our guest judges and the guest stars on the show. That is definitely the hardest part. Because we shoot in summer or later summer and usually people are either on tour or they’re doing something else. She tweeted me many years ago and said, “I have to be on the show. It harkens back to my New York club experience” and her coming up in clubs with all the queens. It just took probably three years to get the schedules together for her to do the show. But I’m happy she did it. In fact, I did her Christmas special, I think two years before she was able to do our show.
Are there any other big names who are sort of waiting in the wings and you guys are just like, “Okay, fingers crossed. Either this season or next season we’ll make it work”?
Yeah, definitely. Always. There are lots of people who, in the press, have said how much they love the show and that they want to do the show. But again, it’s usually when there’s filming or something. Like, Scarlett Johansson or Michael Sheen, or Miley Cyrus is a big fan of the show; tons of people. But again, it gets down to the schedule.
What I find amazing as the show keeps growing is how many celebrities you wouldn’t expect turn out to be huge fans of the show. Like, the “Oh, Hello” guys. John Mulaney and-
Nick Kroll?
Are you surprised who in the business comes up to you and tells you they are big fans?
Actually, you know, I’m not, because I’ve been in show business so long, and all people who do something, like even sports people, they understand very well that the person they present themselves as on stage, or on the football field, is very different from the person who has to take out the garbage, or who has to call up the cable company to say, “My cable’s out” or the person who has to go get their dry cleaning. It’s very clear that that duality is the exact same as a drag queen. So, when they come on our show or they love the show, it’s because they relate to the exact same experience as the drag queens. They see themselves also with that same duality as a drag queen would.
All hail Bob the Drag Queen @thatonequeen. A @RuPaul Drag Race champion and the foil of a tuna prahnk. Huzzah! pic.twitter.com/SIBPEjlutw
— John Mulaney (@mulaney) October 26, 2016
