let your whole body talk

RuPaul on the Legacy of Drag Race and How Judge Judy Explains Trump’s Election

The supermodel of the world talks auditioning for pilots, Lady Gaga, and why Trump is like a sneaky car salesman.
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From The Evening Standard/Eyevine/Redux.

RuPaul is an icon. That word gets flung around with ease these days, long removed from its religious etymology. But in the modern sense—the one that connotes cultural importance—the drag superstar with a decades-long career as a pop-culture provocateur more than fits the bill. On March 24 at 8 p.m. on VH1, RuPaul’s Drag Race, his flagship drag-queen competition series, will kick off its ninth season, which promises to be the splashiest one yet—complete with a premiere episode appearance from Lady Gaga.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, the mononymous star discussed the Gaga appearance, as well as the words he’s tired of hearing in audition tapes, and why Donald Trump is basically a used car salesman.

Vanity Fair: You’ve seen so many audition tapes now. What does it take at this point for a queen to really stick out to you?

RuPaul: That’s a great question, because what happens is when you audition enough people, you realize everyone does the exact same thing . . . they behave in a way that they think I want them to behave. But the people who stick out are the ones who are authentic and are really just being themselves. It’s really funny, because, you know, I still go out on auditions for things, and it’s taught me so much about how to audition, which is just be yourself and don’t be nervous. The person behind the table is really looking to see different notes of your own personality and how it could fit into whatever it is they’re doing, whatever it is you’re auditioning for. So it eases you up. The truth is, just be yourself. Be yourself. There’s nothing more boring than someone who's putting on a facade that isn’t authentic.

Nine out of 10 of the people who audition for our show, they'll say these words—and it’s funny ‘cause we all laugh every time we hear it—they say, ‘Honey, I will cut a bitch!’ [laughs] Nine out of 10! ‘I will cut a bitch!’

What’s one of the wildest things you’ve seen from queens trying to impress you?

Well, honestly, the wildest thing is the authenticity. Whenever someone can really, really shine through. Like, Alaska [Thunderfuck, Season 5 contestant and All Stars winner] auditioned five times before she got on, and each time she auditioned, it was really great. It’s just, I knew the audience was not ready for it then. She was very esoteric. It would go over people’s heads, what she did before . . . it wasn't right until Season 5, but I loved it every single time. And we had these debates at the casting thing every single time, ‘When should we put her on?’ But in terms of the other kids, I have to say the authenticity and people who are smart enough to know to be authentic.

You mentioned that you still audition for things. May I ask if it’s for other reality shows? Are you thinking about getting back into acting?Yeah, acting things for movies and sitcoms and stuff. Yeah, just finished pilot season.

I can’t imagine you having to audition.
Part of the secret of my success in all these 35 years has been being adaptable, and that’s true for people who are drag queens or people in show business. That is true for everyone. In fact, what we're witnessing politically and what the current administration in Washington has preyed on is people’s inability to change and adapt. They promise them that they’ll get their old jobs back. Well, madam, we do not do those jobs anymore, and anyone who tells you that we can get your old job back is conning you. They're preying on your weaknesses.

And, I’ll just go back to [auditioning]—you never know where that next big idea is coming from. So, I went and auditioned for stuff for this current pilot season. Who knows what will come of it. It’s just important for the casting people to see me out there, to show them and my agency that I’m willing to play the game. I’m willing to get out there. And that’s the bigger story here. It doesn’t even matter whether I get the job or not. I do well on my own. I’ve created my own success. But it’s important to the universe and to this town to let them know you're willing to play the game.

You mentioned politics . . . we saw the other day that the government is threatening to strip rights from trans kids. What would you say to those kids who feel as if the government is against them, and what would you want to say to the administration regarding this particular issue?

I believe that what you defend against actually becomes stronger. This movement of people who want it to go back to the way it was before . . . time does not go back. Time goes forward. Time is actually right now. So those people, they’ve all been hoodwinked, and we all knew it. We know this trick. That’s why education is so important in our culture, because you don't have to look far back in history to know who’s used these same tactics before. That’s why it’s so dangerous. And the fact that people would fall for them again? You think, ‘Wait a minute, you don’t remember the last time this happened?’ [laughs] My thing is, I think that this whole administration will actually accelerate what they’re trying to defend against. What you defend against persists, and I think it’s a call to action for all of the like-minded people like ourselves to get involved.

Ultimately—and I’ve gotta think this way—it’s probably the best thing that could have happened, because it shapes us up. Now, I’ve always been on the front lines of this stuff. I never drank the Kool-Aid. Never drank the Kool-Aid ever. But a lot of people had become complacent. A lot of the kids grew up in an age of Obama: they didn’t know any better. So I guess this is what had to happen. There will be a lot of blood before we turn this around, unfortunately.

What is step one for people who want to see the world the way Ru sees the world?
The No. 1 rule is: Don’t. Take. Life. Too. Fucking. Seriously. That is the No. 1 rule. I learned it early on and, initially, I was really heartbroken because I was taking life seriously. I couldn’t believe that my parents and people could be so cruel and so heartless. For a sweet, sensitive soul, there are stages of the evolution . . . once you uncover life’s cruel hoax, you become angry and you become mad as hell and then you become bitter. And then you become very cynical. Unfortunately, most sweet, sensitive souls stay in the bitterness and the cynicism. But the next level beyond that—if you can go beyond that—is laughter and irreverence . . . you can laugh, you can dance, you can seek out the places where you can blossom and expand, because you won’t get tied down to what other people have to say about what you’re doing.

Most people are still tied to their family, you know? They won't leave Fairfax, Virginia, [this writer’s hometown], or they won’t leave their hometown because 'Oh my god, my family’s here!’ It’s like fuuuck your family! [laughs] They aren’t your family! Go and find your family!

“He said as he laughed devilishly.”
I love my sisters. They’re great, but the people on my path, like the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion, they’re the ones who I have forged this life with, this real bond. They’ve allowed me to be who I am in a way that my first family really couldn’t. They did initially, but I moved on.

You have to find the new members of the tribe.
Yes.

I want to jump back to the show, because Twitter exploded when everyone found out Lady Gaga was on the first episode.
She’s gonna be there the whole episode. I can’t tell much more than that. I can just say that she’s there the whole episode. You're getting a lot of Lady Gaga.

Did she reach out to you guys?
Initially, several years ago, she said, ‘Why haven’t you asked me to be on this show?’ And I said ‘We’ve asked every single year.’ But that was several years ago, and the truth is that with our show, everybody wants to do it. The problem is scheduling. She’s either on tour, she’s out of the country. This time we finally got her and couldn’t be happier.

You won your first Emmy last year. Where do you keep your Emmy now?
It’s on my desk in the office. I was really happy for all the people I work with—Logo and the production company who I’ve worked with for over 30 years, World of Wonder—I was happy for them. But for me, you know, snatching trophies has never been what I’m doing this for. I’ve always created my own story line and created my own path. If I had waited for the status quo, the industry to recognize me, I would’ve been waiting a long time. I would probably not even be still doing it if I was waiting on their validation. I say right on, thank you, but if I hadn’t gotten it, it’s completely fine too. It’s not what I'm here for.

You’ve said your legacy is bringing in these queens and helping their careers flourish.
Right, and not only that—I do it for my own entertainment. I love drag. I love drag queens. I love the people who have the chutzpah to do drag. They’re the most interesting people who buck against the status quo. And the most concentrated place you can find those people are in a drag dressing room. [laughs]

I know that you are a huge fan of Judge Judy for many, many reasons. Can you distill the greatest thing you’ve learned from Judge Judy?
Trust your instinct. You have to listen to what the person is saying to be able to understand who they are and what their intention is. And I think that’s something for everyone. When you think about this past election and you see the people who were involved, you can see right through them. You can see, especially him. You can see. I think I bought a car from that guy, a used car, and it was a lemon!

One of the things [I see] on Judge Judy every single week: A woman comes on and is suing her ex-boyfriend for the $2,000 that she loaned to him after he got out of prison so that he could pay his child support. Now, all of the clues are there . . . Judge Judy says this, she says, ‘You, lady, had a postcard picture in your head of what a nesting situation would be like, what a home life would be like, and you were so desperate to get that Polaroid picture that you chose this guy who’s got all of this shit, all of this baggage. But you’re so married to this picture.’ And I think that’s what America did with this election. We were able to overlook all this other stuff so that we could have this fairy tale of factory jobs coming back. Well, bitch, you know what? We don’t do factories anymore. We got machines for that. And I think you’ll see America in Judge Judy’s court probably sooner rather than later, trying to sue, trying to get that money back. And it’s like uh uh, honey, you ain’t gettin’ nothin’ back, because how could you loan somebody money when they don’t even have a job? So I’ve learned from Judge Judy to get real. Get real with what your intention is. Figure out what the other person’s real intention is and then—you can proceed.

This interview has been edited and condensed.