Hi there!
As much as it sometimes seems like drag performers just fall from the sky, it unfortunately doesn't happen so easily. There is a LOT of work that goes into the creation of the character that a drag performer (as with any performer) undertakes. Beyond the costumes, the heels, the wigs and the cake-level makeup, a drag performer is first and foremost an actor and, as with any actor, a drag performer needs inspiration to create and perform their character!
Much like drag performers themselves, my decision to become one did not fall from the sky. After a year of watching them perform and talking to them about their experiences and their inspirations, I became so inspired, I just HAD to try it for myself!
Of course, it was not just through other drag performers that I became inspired to create the character that I am now determined to create. As well as an aspiring faux queen, I am also an aspiring filmmaker and that has had a GREAT impact on the type of character I wish to portray.
To give you an idea of my biggest inspirations, I'll start with my favourite films. I have always been fascinated by films that manage to capture the contrast between reality and fantasy in a way that is confronting and beautiful and that is why a lot of my favourite films are European. Films like Pan's Labyrinth and Melancholia manage to evoke intense emotions, whilst still maintaining a natural beauty that is VERY difficult to capture. It is exactly this contrast between pain and beauty that I aspire to evoke through my performance as my character. That said, true to my conflicting nature, I have a conflicting inspiration: musicals.
Now, what drag performer is not inspired to some extent by musicals! They're fun, hilarious and easily capture the essence of drag! Musicals like Rocky Horror and Chicago have inspired me not only to ensure the presence of comedy and eccentricity in my performance, but they have also inspired my style.
That brings me to my final biggest form of inspiration: the 20s, 30s and 50s. Watching films that were made and set in earlier eras, I've always admired the glamour, strength and intrigue of the female protagonists. Actresses like Marilyn Monroe, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford (much like ONE of my favourite drag queens, Jinkx Monsoon) are so beautiful, intense and simply fascinating to watch; how could I not be inspired to imitate them!?
Also, Madonna (because we're all material girls on the inside).So, with such varied and conflicting seeds of inspiration, my character will either be a hit or a MISS!
More on that later.
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