Drag superstar and A Star Is Born scene-stealer Willam reveals all

Drag superstar Willam opens up about Drag Race, her scene-stealing cameo in A Star Is Born and her upcoming Australian tour.

Some of the biggest laughs in last year’s smash hit Lady Gaga vehicle A Star Is Born came courtesy of a pair of bona fide drag superstars.

RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni Willam and Shangela played queens at the drag club Gaga’s character Ally performed at early in the film, with Willam’s character Emerald in particular stealing the show as she flirted up a storm with visiting rock god Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper).

The duo’s scene-stealing appearance in an Oscar-nominated movie marked a big step into the mainstream for drag. It also marked a welcome career break for Willam, who has more than paid her Hollywood dues, appearing in dozens of TV shows and movies since the early noughties.

Willam (right) with Bradley Cooper in her scene-stealing turn as Emerald.

It was 2012 that Willam first became known internationally, with a controversial stint as a contestant on the fourth season of reality show RuPaul’s Drag Race.

She became the first contestant to be disqualified from the competition, after breaking the rules and sneaking “conjugal visits” with her husband — thus beginning a rocky relationship with the hit show that’s helped push drag into the mainstream.

Post-A Star Is Born, Willam has another hit on her hands: Race Chaser, a hilarious podcast in which she and fellow Drag Race star Alaska dissect episodes of the very show that made them famous.

Ahead of her visit Down Under this August as part of the Comedy Queens tour, we spoke to Willam via email and found the acid-tongued drag diva in fine form.

Willam, let’s start with A Star Is Born — what can you tell us about filming those scenes in the drag bar? Was it as fun as it looked on screen?

It was the best few days of my life. Once we rehearsed the scene and Bradley told the queens to just be ourselves, I realised, “Oh this is all going be improv” and I didn’t end up saying one word from the script. Shangela and I were told, at the end of day one, that they wanted to add another scene for us and that became the guitar hand-off / bus driver wig scene. Gaga was the one that told me to switch around two jokes I told in the blocking and both made it into the film. I can’t say enough good things about the movie and everyone involved.

There’s been chatter about the ‘connection’ between Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga ever since the film, and again after his split from his girlfriend — what was their chemistry like on set?

I didn’t know your name was Tryiesha. You are clearly trying it. The weather on set was lovely.

Did you seek any advice from Lady Gaga?

Ha. No. I didn’t seek advice. This was not career day on set. She was cool and collaborative and knew everyone’s name.

You’ve had a whole lot of guest roles in TV shows through your career — were you always treated well, or were there any horror stories?

Ryan Murphy ran one of the best sets I was ever on. I started as an extra in season two of Nip/Tuck and by season three, I had a guest spot and recurred on five episodes before season four was up. Not only does he notice talent and push boundaries, but he approves everything on his sets.

I remember wardrobe wanted me in high heel fringe moccasin boots for a scene in the show and the ones they got me were not cute so I shopped for three days all over Los Angeles until I found a cuter pair for me AND my stunt double.

The worst experience was when I was fired from a cop show called Women’s Murder Club because I complained about a dress they wanted me to wear. It was some old rental house dress and the sequins were slicing my armpits. I grovelled and got my job back long enough to see (RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars winner) Chad Michaels drowned in a toilet on that episode.

Willam’s had a guest role on just about every Hollywood TV show in the past 15 years.

It seems you have a love / hate relationship with RuPaul’s Drag Race …

I’m not trying to reheat old drama. When I speak up for (RuPaul’sformer make-up artist) Mathu Andersen or how (the show’s production company) World of Wonder has sh*t protocols, I always turn out looking bitter, even when it’s true. So I’ve learned to focus on the good and where that can take me …

And here’s the thing: You wouldn’t be talking to me if I weren’t on the show and my gratitude for the program is never wavering. RuPaul’s Drag Race being on the airwaves is far more important for the greater good than the handful of gripes and the handful of people the production company may have f***ed over.

Do you think a lot of the queens are afraid to be critical of RuPaul or of their Drag Race experience? And by the same token — why are you so outspoken?

I speak for me. I’m outspoken because I have a mouth and one life to live. If I see an injustice, I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut.

Drag queen Willam is visiting Australia.

It’s interesting to hear you and Alaska dissect and disseminate these early seasons of the show — is there anything that’s really surprised you rewatching after all this time?

I know this is a question about Race Chaser and thereby references Drag Race (which was eight years ago for me), but I’d rather talk about rewatching my episode of House Hunters on the HGTV app or the HBO documentary WIG that just came out, which is all about Lady Bunny’s Wigstock festival and the history and evolution and rebirth of that.

Do you feel as a drag queen you can get away with more when it comes to comedy? Is there anything you wouldn’t joke about?

I don’t joke about teeth, weight, age or skin condition, usually. All of those are things are factors that if people could change (usually requiring money), they would, so social status comes into play. I try to be sensitive about my privilege as cis caucasian cross-dresser.

Do you have a message for your Australian fans ahead of the Comedy Queens tour … particularly the single eligible men?

I’m on PrEP and the queue forms to the right.

Follow Willam on Twitter,Facebook and Instagram.