These days, every channel has its reality competition workhorse that pays the bills. Fox has American Idol, Lifetime has Project Runway and after last year's breakout season, Logo now has RuPaul's Drag Race. Tonight, RuPaul kicks off the show's second iteration by honoring one of her favorite films, Gone With the Wind, in a challenge that requires the dozen accomplished drag queens to craft fierce looks out of curtains, and as usual, the bottom two will lip-sync for their lives in front of an esteemed guest judge (in tonight's episode, Kathy Griffin). But this is only one of the latest ventures for the cultural force, whose new book Workin' It!: RuPaul's Guide to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Style hits bookshelves tomorrow. In June, Ru will give straight women the confidence to use "all of the colors in their crayon box" with a new show called Drag University.
Movieline caught up with RuPaul to discuss expanding her reality empire, owning your power, and how everyone could benefit from a little drag.
May I call you Ru?
You sure can.
Okay Ru. One of the reasons Drag Race stands out so much to me is because the contestants are so emotionally available, especially compared to other reality shows like Project Runway or America's Next Top Model, whose contestants can seem stiff. How much of a hand do you have in casting?
I am very much a part of the casting process. We have hundreds of applicants. We're looking for kids who are showgirls, who work in clubs around the country, who make their living doing it. Another element to why I think they are so interesting is that little boys who grow up to be drag queens a lot of times spend their early years being sort of ostracized and outside of the clique. They've had an opportunity to look in and deconstruct it, observe it and really pick out the things that make certain cultures and social circles tick. It takes a strong character to be able to then say, 'You know what, I'm going to put on a pussycat wig, and a pair of high heels and I am fabulous.' It takes a lot of chutzpah and it takes a strong personality to be able to do that.
Other reality shows seem to go out of their way to handpick a few contestants that are a little crazy and will reliably cause conflict. How extensive are your background checks?
With all shows there is a background check and a psych check, but for the most part, our kids are professionals who work in the industry and there's always a lot of courage and a lot of strength coming from these kids because we live in a male-dominated society where boys playing with "girls' things" is so taboo. For someone to be able to do that and to make a living at it, they have to be strong, and have strength of character.
This season, you have two castmates who knew each other from college. Did you have concerns that there would be certain risks in casting contestants who have a history together?
Actually, we didn't know that they were friends from college until they were on the set. In fact, none of the girls knew that the other girls had been chosen until they met on the set. There were actually three sets of kids who knew each other from outside of our show. Two who knew each other from Atlanta and then two who knew each other from Los Angeles.
Did they form cliques?
Some of them did form a bond where they would work against the other kids but for the most part everybody is on their own and, you know, sometimes those bonds have to be broken because in the end, they are in competition with each other.
For the first time in Drag Race history, you have two contestants with children. How did that affect the show?
Right. Tyra has a kid and Paige Brooks has a kid. And you know, they became very sad they were away from their kids for so long. But hey, you know what, that's show business. Welcome to the life of Judy Garland.
How long did it take to shoot the whole season?
We do it in about five weeks.
I watched the premiere and loved the Gone With the Wind theme. Do you have any other classic film themes this season?
I don't think there are any classic film themes. We have a rock episode where the kids have to sing with a rock band and give their best Debbie Harry rock-chic look. Then there is a wedding episode where the kids have to create a wedding dress look for themselves as a bride and also create a look for themselves as a groom and they are photographed with themselves as a bride and a groom.
Another one of my favorite challenges involved setting up the contestants with their drag mothers. We grabbed a bunch of older gay men who had never done drag before -- and we're talking men in their sixties and seventies -- and the kids were assigned their drag mother and they had to make them over in their own image. We thought it would be a good idea to have the revolutionary gay rights liberation generation meet the new crop of kids.
How did you pair the drag mothers with their contestants? Was it random?
There was a mini-challenge that sort of paired the two. I think that whoever won the mini-challenge chose who everyone else was with.
You have some great judges this season but I'm curious if your friend Cher would ever consider coming on the show?
I don't think so. Doing a reality show is so not her thing, but she is probably mentioned in every episode. She really embodies what drag is all about and she would tell you the exact same thing. The wigs, the costumes, the personas. She's like a history book herself. She knows the history of show business and knows the history of presenting yourself in a superficial reality. But I don't think she'd do the show. I could only wish, I could only wish.
Speaking of presenting yourself in reality, you've spoken about how you had been pitched a bunch of reality shows but it took you a while to pin down Drag Race because you felt strongly about presenting all of the contestants in a positive light. How hard is it to maintain that standard? Do you ever get pressure from someone in the editing room about including a clip that would be funny, but is not necessarily flattering to a contestant?
Well, the production company I am with [World of Wonder] has been my family for the past 25 years. These are the guys that produced my talk show on VH1 and actually produced my album in 1986, Starrbooty. We've been friends forever. We have the same aesthetic, the same reverence for drag and for people who dance to the beat of a different drummer. There are no worries in that regard, but I would definitely worry with another production company, because you have to really love the courageousness and not everybody does.
Would you consider expanding your reality empire?
We do have another show coming up. It's called RuPaul's Drag University which starts filming in March. The show invites real women to the Drag University -- Drag U. -- and they are not made over, but they undergo a psychological evaluation to determine when they gave up on themselves. Drag U. teaches them how to own their power and to stop playing small. Ultimately, they graduate at the end of the show with their newly empowered, made-over self. The professors at Drag U. are some of the kids from Drag Race and also some of the drag legends. I think everybody could learn from the kind of self-reinvention that drag teaches. Everyone could reemerge and reinvent themselves through the process, but once it's done, you have to maintain it. It's something I maintain everyday. I've got to keep mindful of my thoughts and how I see myself in this world.
Your new book offers advice about beauty and confidence to people of all gender and sexual orientations. You're developing a show targeting straight women. A lot of people identify you as being a role model for just the gay community, but when did you realize that you were a model for straight men and women too?
I think with my website, when people would email me for for advice. A lot of women have big feet and want to know where they can get sexy shoes. A lot of women would write to me and say they just had chemotherapy and they were looking for the kind of wigs that I wear -- where it looks like the hair is coming out of my scalp. People would write to me and let me know that they were watching and they would like to know some of these secrets.
Role model territory is a tricky thing to navigate though. I've never conducted my career with the idea that I am a role model. I think if people are inspired by the things I do, I think that's rocking, but it's not my goal to be a role model because the truth is that people find inspiration from all over. I'm human and I would never want to thwart my creativity because I think it offends someone. I'm always going to do what inspires me first. If somebody else gets off on it, right on. And if they don't, right on.
Will Drag University be on Logo too?
It will be on Logo and I think it comes on in June. We start filming it in March.
And it's for both straight and gay women?
We will probably have some gay women on there but it's primarily for women from Middle America. There are different themes. There will be a show with different groups or types of women who have been through similar struggles in their lives. But for the most part, it's straight women.
Is there a counseling component to it?
Yes, there will be. I am, of course, the Dean of the University and each of the contestants will have a consultation with me and we'll have a heart-to-heart to figure out when and why they gave up on themselves and why it feels like such a tall order to own their power. Most people find it easier to play small than to own their power and I understand because there is a lot of responsibility in playing big.
Do you think confidence is a nature vs. nurture issue at heart? Do you think certain people are just born with confidence?
I think some people are, but it's something you can learn once you have the processing tools. I talk about this in my book, but I remember when I was a kid and I went down to the beach. When I'd come back, all the kids in my neighborhood would say, "Oh, you think you're white or something? You think you're better than us?" There is a huge component to this that is really other people's fear and other people feeling threatened by your power or your ability to move about seemingly unchallenged. The truth is that it's a big challenge because you have to deal all of these other people and their shortcomings or their fears or their feeling threatened by your beauty. I am not just talking physical beauty but the part of you that is your God-self, you know.
How do you think Drag Race has affected the public's perception of drag?
I don't know yet. It's still early on but I think we will know after this second season because the first season was a runaway hit and we didn't have any advertising, really. I think this time around, with a bigger audience and with the advertising, we'll get a good idea of what the general public is feeling about the show.
Do you think there will be a time when America is ready for a reality show about drag on network TV?
I think so, I really do. I think that it could be our show. It really could be. But again, network TV is not the holy grail anymore.
What would you like people to take away from the show?
I think the story of drag really has to do with not taking life so seriously. It's about remembering that you are a spiritual being having a human experience and that this human experience part is to be savored. To have fun and to laugh and to use all your colors in the crayon box.
Don't let people or society or your idea of yourself keep you from living this life and enjoying all this life has to offer. We live in this world where it's boys go here, girls here, blacks there, Jews here. You know: You can't do that, you can't do this. That's bullshit. It's important to do whatever you want to do as long as you don't hurt anybody else. That's what I would want people to walk away with.