TS Madison Gets Cozy From Beyoncé To ‘Bros’ [Interview]

The most important revelation in my interview with TS Madison wasn’t about something that occurred on the set of her new film “Bros.” It wasn’t related to her inclusion in Beyoncé’s celebrated house music album “Renaissance,” either. No, somehow, the queer community icon, reality television force, and social media star is not repped by an agent. That needs to change.

READ MORE: “Bros” Review: Billy Eichner’s witty gay rom-com works [TIFF]

In Nic Stoller‘s new comedy, Madison plays Angela, a member of the board of a new LGBTQIA+ museum that the film’s star, Bobby (Billy Eichner), is also part of. As Bobby tries to raise money to get the institution’s doors open (and pushes a controversial Abraham Lincoln love letter exhibit), Angela finds herself keeping the peace between the different factions on the board. Ironically, the outspoken Madison often finds herself playing the, er, “straight man,” comedically speaking, to Eichner’s often over-the-top character. But, Madison is simply a force, and to say the movie benefits from her natural charisma is an understatement.

During an interview earlier this month, Madison reflected on “Bros” and her massive summer that has elevated her profile to new heights. A ride, she admits, she really doesn’t want to stop.

“I feel like it is not going to stop as long as I continue to be my authentic self because I’m in these spaces because I haven’t been anybody else but TS Madison,” Madison says. “I’m occupying these spaces because I haven’t portrayed it to be anybody else but TS Madison. When I got to set, I was like, ‘Honey listen, O.K.? Now I’m going to cuss. I’m going to sing. I’m from the south so I have an accent. You going to hear a little southern accent on me and that’s just what it is now. And I’m going to read these lines and you all ain’t going to f**k with me.’ And everybody laughs or whatever. With Beyonce, I made a video about me talking about how Black I am and how I’m proud to be Black, but I’m proud to be Black and trans because I’m Black and trans at the same time. I didn’t know that she was going to use that as a part of her song or whatever. And I was being my authentic self. In every position that I’ve occupied, I have been TS Madison. And I feel like if I tried to portray myself as somebody else, I would miss all opportunities. And so I’m on this high rollercoaster, ‘Continue to be yourself, Madison. Continue to be yourself.'”

Over the course of our chat, Madison reflects on the long road to landing “Bros” (casting began before the pandemic hit), her dream roles, and much more.

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TS Madison: Hi Gregory. How are you doing?

The Playlist: Good. How are you surviving today?

Well, listen, honey, I’m like Gloria Gaynor, I will survive, okay? But I’m actually the Aretha Franklin version. [Laughs]

I know you’ve been going for a while so I still appreciate you doing this interview at the end of the day. I’m sure you’ve already been asked this many times, but how did this role even come your way?

Well, I don’t have an agent. I just have management. And I got an email from a casting company saying that there, there’s an interest in me reading for a movie that’s coming up and I think they put Billy Eichner’s name in there, “Billy Eichner movie.” And I was like, “Oh, O.K. I love Billy Eichner. I’m a fan. Okay, well what is it?” So no, it was a Nic Stoller. Nic Stoller!

So, you didn’t even know that Billy was involved?

No, not at first. As I was saying, Nic Stoller. And I was like, “O.K., well I know some work from Nicholas.” And then they came back after we responded, it was like, “It’s Nicholas Stoller and Billy Eichner?” I didn’t know that Universal was attached to it at first, I didn’t know that at all. And so they sent me over some sides and I’m reading the sides and then I’d auditioned and they sent me over some more sides. I actually received every side for each of the characters in the boardroom except for Robert, the bisexual, because honey. Yeah, I read everybody’s sides. Listen, I don’t buy sex, honey. Sex buys me. And so I just couldn’t fit in the bisexual role. Whatever, I don’t know, I could’ve played anything. But after I received that, I read and I thought I did a horrible job because I didn’t hear from anybody. And then I had my management reach out to the casting agency and they were like, “Oh no, we’re still going, sorting through auditions.” Then it got quiet again and then she reached out maybe later on down the line again and it was just like, “Oh, the pandemic.” And then it got quiet after that. After all of that stuff let up, I got a call and it was like, “Hey, we’re ready.” I said, “Oh, I got the part, honey. Which one though?” Yeah, so it was Angela and I was excited.

Obviously, Nic and Judd Apatow also produced this.

Yes.

In many of their past films, Apatow and Stoller have let their actors improv out scenes, and keep scenes going while they’re filming. Did that experience happen with you guys or was it sticking to the script the whole time?

It was definitely a mix of both. We definitely improved some. We went into with the script first because after watching it in the movie theater with 2000 people in Toronto you see how great the script was written. You’re like, “Oh O.K.,” because everybody’s getting it. And so when we were in the room, they let us do the script first, then they let us improv, and then we went back and we did the script. And they kept some and they discarded some of the other stuff. But it was a mixture of both. I personally, as I sat and watched the movie, I was like, “O.K., now I messed that lineup and they moved it around.” I said, “O.K.” But I am very pleased with what made the cut because the people enjoyed the film.

I was there in Toronto. It was a total hit in that theater. Seeing the final film together, what surprised you the most?

Well listen, as an actor, you’re supposed to read the script from front to back. Honey, me, I’m not a seasoned actor like a lot of others are. I was reading my sides. I wanted to make sure that my lines were right and so I didn’t read the whole script that its entirety. But when I saw the script in its entirety come together, I was like, “Whoa, this is what this was all about.” And there was a couple of lines that didn’t get a chance to make it in and that would fit in a certain spot. I was like, “Oh shit. Oh well, I’ll have a two.”

But hey, they could be in the deleted scenes.

Well hopefully, because listen, if you guys get an opportunity to see the deleted scenes and the bloopers and all that, that within itself is an entirely whole new movie. We had so much fun filming this movie. There’s no words that could describe it. We loved coming to work every day no matter if our call time was five o’clock in the morning or seven o’clock in the morning or whatever, we loved coming to work because we were coming to work with our family. And to walk on set and everybody there is one of us, was an amazing feeling cause I can tell a really, really bad dirty joke that could land me in HR. And I was so confident that no one in the room was going to take me down into HR honey, because we understand these jokes.

Over your career or in many ways, a pioneer, especially what you’ve done in reality television…

Yes.

When you got to the set and you were like, “Oh wow, this really is the LGDBTQ+ community making this film”? Were you surprised it just wasn’t just lip service?

Well, we had heard that it was going to be an all-LGBT, but you’ll hear people say it’s going to be an all-LGBT and it’s like three other gay people there or one other trans and you like, “Oh girl, this is not all-LGB… Okay girl, if it’s two of us, all right. O.K.” But to get there, and it was all LGBT, and me being a person that has pioneered lots of things in my community and for me to be surrounded by other people who have championed things for the community, it just felt like a tournament of champions. And I was in the room so worried about messing up my lines because I’m not like this seasoned actor like I said. I’m a person from social media, from reality TV. This stuff is not my first time acting because I’ve acted in a lot of stuff but it’s just like I’m in there with Jim Rash. I’m in there with Dot-Marie Jones. I’m in there with Billy Eichner. I’m in there with Miss Lawrence and Eve. These people have acted in things and I’ve seen them bring their character to life, so I’m over there worried like, “Girl, I got to get this stuff right because I can’t come here and let them pump me.” And everything fell into place how it was supposed to and I felt so comfortable being around my family.

I think you’re doing yourself a disservice. No one would have ever thought you were not a seasoned actor.

Well, honey, the edit is the answer, honey. The edit is in the answer. [Laughs.]

You are at a moment in your career. You are part of Beyonce’s “Renaissance” with the song “Cozy.”

Yes.

I was just at a club this weekend and it is a phenomenon. This is an album that people will listen to decades from now.

Yes

And you’re in a movie that people will watch decades from now. As someone who has worked so hard to get where you are, how are you taking all this in?

To be honest with you, it’s just like… Oh God, I shouldn’t say it. I shouldn’t even equate it to this. I’m not going to do it because I was going to say it’s like when you pop a pill and that pill has you like… When you done took that in the club, when you hear that music play, “Ah, it’s so good. It’s so good, It’s so good.” You feel so good. The world is spinning and you really don’t want it to stop because that’s the way I feel right now. I really don’t want it to stop. And I feel like it is not going to stop as long as I continue to be my authentic self because I’m in these spaces because I haven’t been anybody else but TS Madison. I’m occupying these spaces because I haven’t portrayed it to be anybody else but TS Madison. When I got to set, I was like, “Honey listen, O.K.? Now I’m going to cuss. I’m going to sing. I’m from the south so I have an accent. You going to hear a little southern accent on me and that’s just what it is now. And I’m going to read these lines and you all ain’t going to f**k with me.” And everybody laughs or whatever. With Beyonce, I made a video about me talking about how Black I am and how I’m proud to be Black, but I’m proud to be Black and trans because I’m Black and trans at the same time. I didn’t know that she was going to use that as a part of her song or whatever. And I was being my authentic self. In every position that I’ve occupied, I have been TS Madison. And I feel like if I tried to portray myself as somebody else, I would miss all opportunities. And so I’m on this high rollercoaster, “Continue to be yourself, Madison. Continue to be yourself.”

So, let’s say this movie then comes out and I hope you get an agent. You should have an agent.

I don’t have an agent though, I don’t.

That’s insane.

Well, get me one. Get me an agent honey, I’ll be your friend for life.

I’m putting it in the story. You need an agent.

I do.

But let’s say you get other offers, are you comfortable playing a character that is four steps away from TS?

Angela was maybe two steps from TS Madison because I didn’t get an opportunity to really go off like I would if I was TS Madison, so I had to pull back some and understand that I don’t have to always be the biggest [character] in the room. But if I do get a character that’s not TS Madison, it’s just going to challenge me and I like a challenge. I like a challenge and it just pushes me to say, “Are you going to take this seriously, Madison, or are you just going to play around with it?” But there is a character that I want to play. Yes, it’s my dream character. I want to play Audrey II.

O.K.!

If they ever remake “Little Shop of Horrors,” I think that I have such a distinct voice and a distinct personality that even though I’m not a plant but honey, the attitude, the fierceness, the brass, the cussing, the vulgarness that that plant needs, It’s TS Madison. And that’s like… I’ve written that on my vision board, that’s one of my dream jobs that I want to do. I want to voice that.

Tell me one other dream job that we want and we’ll put that out into the ether too.

Well, that’s definitely my dream job. That is my number one dream job. I just want to continue being in film and television. I’m actually living my dream job but I just wanted to continue to go forth. But if anything that I wanted, it’s that because I did want the part of Ursula but Melissa McCarthy has that in the upcoming Disney. And I felt like, “Oh, I’m not a big enough person yet but I really would love to do the voice of that, of Audrey II.”

Well listen, I just have to tell you, you are in “Zola,” one of the greatest independent films of the past few years.

Yes.

You are in “Cozy.“

Yes.

You are now in the critically acclaimed “Bros.” I think it’s so great that little kids are going to discover you while they’re figuring out who they are.

Yes. And they’re going to find out that it is O.K. if you’re different. It’s O.K. if you’re loud and in color, it’s O.K. if you like to cuss, it’s O.K. if you from the South, it’s O.K. if you have a Southern accent. It’s okay. You are amazing, honey. You can do anything.

Absolutely. Can’t wait to see what you do next.

Thank you, baby. Keep your eyes open, honey. Put down their telephones and get me an agent, so they can get me the Audrey II job.

“Bros” opens nationwide on Friday.