Who are the Drag Race stars in A Star is Born?
Halleloo, bitches, guess whoās making a cameo in the upcomingĀ remake ofĀ A Star is Born?
The movie, which comes out on October 3 is packed with great acting, amazing vocals and two small but meaty cameos from Drag Race Royaltyā¢.
The film features cameos fromĀ RuPaul’s Drag Race favouriteĀ Shangela Laquifa Wadley and the controversial Willam Belli.
Two Drag queens are (re)-born
A Star is Born tells the love story of fading rockĀ star Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) and wannabe singer Ally (Lady Gaga). The two meet after Ally performs a rendition of Edith Piafās āLa Vie en Roseā at her local bar on a night typically reserved for drag acts.
In the scene in question, Maine, drunk, enters the bar by chance and is instantly charmed by Allyās vocals (and her taped-on eyebrows).
In the movie, Shangela and Willam play drag queens at Allyās local club. Shangela, the barās MC, is presented as Allyās drag mother.
āLG [Lady Gaga] would really like you to come in to audition for this role,āĀ ShangelaĀ told MetroĀ about landing the part.Ā āI guess you could say she did hand-pick me to audition for the role.ā
Shangela said she loved working with Gaga and Cooper on the movie, and had very nice words for Cooper, who also directed A Star is Born.
āHe was so warm, and he knew so much about the LGBTQ community we were creating in this scene, and he was also interested to know more, so it was really cool and super refreshing to work with him,ā said Shangela.
Willam plays Emerald, whose role is literally lustingĀ for Bradley Cooper.
In the movie, the bar is introduced as a welcoming environment for Ally, who is a cis woman.
Gaga was a guest judge on the Season 9 premiere of RuPaulās Drag Race.
“She attributes a lot of her [joie de vivre] to her life with [drag] queens in clubs,” RuPaul told ABC News in 2017.
“Sheās an amazing person and a really loving person,” he said. “And Iām always surprised when I see these people because sheās a child! You know, when you strip down the makeup, itās like, ‘Oh my God!'”
The 411 on the queens
For those not acquainted with the work of Shangela and WIllam, first of all: girl, what are you waiting for?
Shangela, whose name is D.J āShangelaā Pierce, appeared on Seasons 2 and 3 of RuPaulās Drag Race. She was also the runner up of the third All Stars season of the show. Fans of the drag competition got a chance toĀ see the performer go from drag baby to stunning diva.
ItāsĀ likely youāve seen Shangela, the ultimate professional, in popular TV shows such as Glee, 2 Broke Girls, Bones and even Toddlers and Tiaras (as a guest mentor). Sheās also made a few appearancesĀ in the pages ofĀ Vanity Fair and Glamour.
Willam appeared on Season 4 of Drag Race and was infamously kicked off the show for ābreaking the rules.ā While Drag Race contestants are meant to remain in perfect isolation during the taping of the show, it was revealed Willam was sneaking her husband in for āconjugal visits,ā although, as she said herself, āthere was not much talkingā going on.
In addition to Drag Race, WillamĀ has madeĀ TV cameos in CSI, Criminal Minds and Sex and the City to name a few.
Both queens appearedĀ inĀ Hurricane Bianca, a movie effort by Drag Race contestant and Season 6 winner BiancaĀ Del Rio.