“Disclosure Day” may have topped the box office this past weekend, but did you know that there were two other movies that opened in theaters that still have a better Rotten Tomatoes score than the lauded Steven Spielberg opus? The first is Kenji Tanigaki’s Hong Kong action flick “The Furious.“ The second may surprise you. it’s Adam Shankman’s drag-infused comedy spoof, “Stop! That! Train!” A Bleeker Street release that had a solid $2 million opening in just 1100 theaters.
READ MORE ABOUT “STOP! THAT! TRAIN!”: Jujubee Has Her SAG Card, Wants More Stunts And That ‘Hocus Pocus’ Inspiration [Interview]
Last week we caught up with three of the stars of “Stop! That! Train!,” who just happen to be iconic veterans of the “RuPaul’s Drag Race” franchise. Brooke Lynn Hytes, a former Miss Continental winner and now the longtime Canadian Screen Awards-winning host of “Canada’s Drag Race.” Symone, the winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 13. And, last but not least, Marcia Marcia Marcia, a “Drag Race” season 15 veteran who recently starred in the Tony Award-nominated revival of “Cabaret” on Broadway. The trio spoke about their surprise audition process, how quickly they had to learn the movie’s original songs, those guest stars, and Marcia reveals her pitch for a sequel.
You can also watch this interview embedded in the post below.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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The Playlist: In all sincerity, congrats on the movie. I laughed out loud. It was a delight.
Symone: It was a treat, huh?
The Playlist: Yes. I’m being absolutely genuine. For all three of you, how did this project come your way? And were you skeptical at first? Were you wondering what’s going on while trying to make a movie? What were your initial thoughts?
Symone: My initial thought was like, “Oh my God, thank you for asking.” You listen, it’s a pleasure to be asked, darling. And then RuPaul’s going to be in it, Adam Shankman’s directing. And so it just kind of spiraled into excitement and hoping I get the part and we do. But I don’t know, it was just exciting to have this opportunity, and then I kind of knew earlier on that it was going to be in theaters. That was kind of told to me. And so I was just a ball of just excitement and giddy and being like, “Alright, let’s do this thing. Let’s have some fun.” And it was a great script. It was a funny script. We were the forefront of it. We weren’t the butt of the joke. We were making the jokes. We were having fun. So, it was just perfect for my time and that time in my life as well.
The Playlist: What about you, Brooke?
Brooke Lynn Hytes: Yeah, we were asked to audition for this, and I think I auditioned this time last year during Pride Month, and I it was crazy busy. So, I was like, “Yeah, yeah, sure.” And I just threw in my tap really quickly. I really didn’t think any more of it. I didn’t realize it was going to be this big thing that it was- obviously a theatrical release and all this other stuff. And then it just happened, and it was the most amazing magical experience getting to work with Adam and getting to work with these two ladies as well as all the other drag queens on the set was just so much fun. And I think my favorite part of it was just getting to spend time with my “Drag Race” sisters, which we get to do, and just getting to hang out and build relationships because we spend a lot of our time alone on the road, and it’s very rare we get to work together as a group and especially work together in this kind of environment.
The Playlist: Marcia, what did you think? Because you were still on Broadway when people were auditioning, correct?
Marcia Marcia Marcia: Yes. I mean, it’s a thing with theater actors. You want to get that next job lined up as fast as you can. So yeah, they asked me to audition. I submitted my tape. I was texting them, I think maybe once a week, until I heard. I was like, “So, any update on this, any update on this, any update on this? ” Because I wanted to do it so badly because yeah, I mean, I think I knew pretty early on that it was a theatrical release and that Adam Shankman was attached. So, it was a job that I was really passionate about. It really excited me and inspired me. So, my thingies were crossed, and I guess I was crossed on them tight enough because I got to do it.
The Playlist: When you initially auditioned, were there musical numbers in the script? I’ve not spoken to Adam yet, so I don’t know if that had happened. Did you know you would have to sing?
Marcia Marcia Marcia: No.
Brooke Lynn Hytes: No.
Marcia Marcia Marcia: I mean, it was very vague. Most of us auditioned for multiple roles. I think it was still kind of being formulated as it was happening. I auditioned for Jujube and Ginger’s parts and Brook Lynn’s part. And then I ended up at Alli, and I said, “O.K., great. Work for me.”
Symone: Yeah, same. We didn’t know really at that point. We only got the certain sides that they wanted us to read for. So, when we got the script and saw it all, we were like, “Oh, so we’re actresses, but we still got some drag in there. O.K., I see you girl.”
Brooke Lynn Hytes: We all auditioned for multiple parts. Funny story, I auditioned for Ginger and Jujube at the same time. It was like the scene that they asked for was them talking to each other, and I was like, “This is awkward. I’m by myself, so I’m just going to do this.”
Symone: Oh my God. I wouldn’t see that. Send that book later.
The Playlist: Wait, if you have a copy of that still, you might need to post that.
Symone: I think I might actually put it out. You should have it for promo when it comes out. That is so funny.
Brooke Lynn Hytes: They texted me. They were like, “We really enjoyed that. That was funny.” And I was like, “Good, I’m glad you had a good time.” [Laughs.]
The Playlist: For the songs itself, and especially the main song all three of you guys are in, did you have more time to learn this than, say, on a “Drag Race” challenge?
Symone: No, no.
Marcia Marcia Marcia: Significantly less, actually.
The Playlist: Less?
Symone: About the same time. Yeah, because we recorded vocals in one day, learned one number a day. That Saturday, that Sunday, and then we shot a number of days. So, it was a total, what, five, six days of preparation of that? So I mean, it went really fast.
Marcia Marcia Marcia: We were in Leland’s home studio, and he would be like, ‘O.K., the line is, ‘Bring your drugs. It’s time to play.’ O.K., go!” And that was how we learned it and recorded it. It was very, very fast.
Symone: Very fast. Which I mean, ultimately, go us. How fabulous is that? We did great.
The Playlist: But it’s got to be less stressful when you’re hanging out and doing it in Leland’s home.
Symone: Oh, my god. No, it wasn’t when you’re being judged by it. We knew we were going to sound great. We knew that we were going to get the best versions of everything. So, it is just fast, but it was also very fun. Leland’s a joy to work with. He made it so light and just like we know we’re taken care of. It was just very fast.
The Playlist: So you know Jamal is your choreographer. You know that Adam Shankman is a choreographer before he ever became a director, but you also know you’re doing a musical number in the aisle of a train or a train set, and obviously all three of you have performed on the craziest stages in the craziest venues trying to make magic happen. Harder than you thought it would be, easier than you thought it would be. How was the actual doing the number in context?
Symone: I think for me personally, I performed stuff. I always could say I’m more of a mover than a dancer, and so they are dancers. [Laughs.] So for me, I wasn’t as much worried about where we were. It was just how we were going to do it and doing it correctly. That was more of my worry because I knew that they would figure out the blocking and such for camera, and that I wasn’t necessarily worried about that. I just wanted to make sure I did it right for us and so we wouldn’t have to be doing it, keep doing it because of me. So, that was more of my worry.
The Playlist: How about you two?
Marcia Marcia Marcia: I mean, the small space I think really contributed to just the nature and the comedy of the number because part of what made it funny, I think, was that we were trying to work in this teeny space. So, I think if anything, it just adds to the environment that we are acting in.
Brooke Lynn Hytes: Yeah, it was really fun for me because I mean, as an ex- dancer now, I haven’t been a professional dancer since I was, gosh, 25. So, it’s been 15 years since I did that. So anytime I get to do anything back in the choreography realm and do a choreographed number and have everything kind of be set, it’s just a really fun experience to do it again. So, I really, really enjoyed it. And yeah, it was kind of nice doing it in a limited space. First of all, it’s wider than an actual train, just so you’re all aware. We did have more space than we thought we did, but it was nice having those kind of parameters and learning how to work around everything, and you almost had props and things you could lean on and play with a little nice.
The Playlist: I’m assuming you guys got a call sheet like a traditional film or television show.
Yes, yes.
The Playlist: When you saw the call sheet and saw who the guest stars were, who surprised you the most or had you weeks before been told this is who’s going to be on the show?
Symone: We didn’t know because in the script, there’s no names. It’s just archetypes of people. So, we didn’t know who was filling that said role at the time. So, even if we did see the call sheet, sometimes we’d be like, “Oh wait, what are they doing? What are they playing with today?” So, it was fun to see who’s going to be on set today, honestly, because every day was for the most part different. So that way it was fun. It was a game of who’s who.
The Playlist: Brooke and Marsha, who surprised you the most? Who showed up?
Brooke Lynn Hytes: Oh my gosh. Marcia, I have to think about that. Who surprised you the most?
Marcia Marcia Marcia: I mean, definitely seeing Raven [Symone]’s name on that list was really wild. But I mean, I remember getting to the studio for my first costume fitting and walking into that space and seeing all the headshots on the wall and I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is a lot of people.”
Symone: A lot of people.
Marcia Marcia Marcia: There’s a lot of people. And they’re all doing this. That’s so wild. But yeah, Raven for me was really exciting.
Brooke Lynn Hytes: Yeah, mine was Nicole Richie. I mean, I was excited by so many of them, but she’s just like ever since I was a little gay boy, I loved “The Simple Life.” and I’ve always just thought she was hysterical. So, it was really cool. It was a full circle moment for me, remembering being 18, 19 years old and watching that and then 20 years later sitting on a film set with her and pushing her down a slide. It just goes so short. You really, really never know.
Symone: That’s the fun thing about drag is it’s taking us so many different avenues, and you just simply never know where you’re going to end up. It’s really cool. It’s really fun.
Brooke Lynn Hytes: You never know.
The Playlist: Marcia, I am guessing you never thought you would be pushing Sarah Michelle Geller out of the way or onto the ground. I sort of gasped when I saw that scene because I don’t think if I was an actor, I could even do that. Were you nervous?
Marcia Marcia Marcia: No, because I think that was one of the last days that we had with Sarah on set, and she had been so lovely to us the whole time. And she’s a professional. I’m a professional. It was all good, no hurt feelings. But a funny thing you said about the list, she was the only one on the call sheet whose full name was written out. It was just like “SMG.” I was like, “Who is this? ” And then I was like, “Oh, it’s Sarah.”
The Playlist: I also wanted to know that there are so many great one-liners that you may not catch unless you see the movie, I’m assuming multiple times.
Symone: And you must. And you must watch it multiple times.
The Playlist: I’m curious, is there one that you were going to break every time you said it or that when you heard someone else say it, it was just hard not to break
Brooke Lynn Hytes: “Doors.”
Symone: “Doors, Am I right?” I don’t know why, but every time I think it’s the way she said it, and she would say it different every time. And so we would just laugh. And even when we were on set, we would just say it to each other out of nowhere. If we just needed something to say, we’d be like, “Doors. Am I right?”
Marcia Marcia Marcia: And I remember reading the line, “You’re like the Tate McCrae of railroads.” And I’m like, “I’m blessed with this piece.” I’m so thrilled that this belongs to me.
Symone: You got that.
Brooke Lynn Hytes: I think my favorite line that I did not see while we were filming that I only saw when I saw the premiere was, “She fun.” It was great watching the movie because there’s so much we didn’t see. And then it all comes together, and just seeing all those different parts was really fun.
Symone: I think that whole scene and that whole first scene of them in the White House, in the Oval Office, is so good.
The Playlist: There are so many great improv actors in this. You guys are all great improvers when you need to be. Was there room for that? Would Adam let you guys play with the line, and did any of that make it in?
Brooke Lynn Hytes: Oh yeah, he let us improv lots. Well, he was very direct in the way he wanted things done and how we wanted it done. So, once we gave him that, if we had time, we’d be like, “Can I try this? Can I try?” And he would..
Symone: And he’d be like, “Yeah.”
Brooke Lynn Hytes: Very open to letting us do it. And Marcia, what did I improv again?
Marcia Marcia Marcia: Oh, “Buy the Birkenstocks and the Canberra already.” [Laughs.]
Brooke Lynn Hytes: Oh yeah, that was improv. I don’t remember the improv of that. And I will say, Adam actually said in press last week that you said there were so many great improv actors in this and the script was so amazing that a lot of them were just like, “We just want to do it how it’s written.”
The Playlist: That’s actually super impressive. That’s a compliment to the screenwriters too.
Symone: Absolutely. They really turned it.
The Playlist: I have to ask you, if there was a sequel, what should not be…stopped? If that’s the right question.
Marcia Marcia Marcia: I have a full plot line.
Symone: Yep. Hit it.
Marcia Marcia Marcia: So the hostesses of Glamazonian railways, or the Glamazonian Express rather, have retired after the trauma of the near-fatal train crash. They all pivot to work on a cruise ship, and then there’s a virus outbreak on the cruise ship. “Stop that cruise.”
Symone: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
The Playlist: I’m all for it except one of the biggest bombs in film history was the sequel to “Speed” called “Speed 2: Cruise Control.” I might make it a plane. Listen, it’s just bad karma. That’s just my unsolicited advice.
Marcia Marcia Marcia: I think that’s all the better because we can do it because drag queens make everything better.
Symone: They do.
Marcia Marcia Marcia: And we want to go on a cruise. Yes.
The Playlist: You know what? Make it happen.
Symone: Let’s make it!
“Stop! That! Train!” is playing nationwide
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