NEED TO KNOW
RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni open up about working with RuPaul on the franchise’s first movie
Brooke Lynn Hytes praised RuPaul’s presence on set and revealed she was slapped by RuPaul about 20 times for a scene
Symone called working with RuPaul and director Adam Shankman on the film “a dream come true”
RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni get to share the screen with RuPaul herself in the Drag Race universe’s first major movie, Stop! That! Train!
Starring RuPaul’s Drag Race favorites Ginger Minj, Jujubee, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Marcia Marcia Marcia, Symone and more, the hilarious comedy follows two stewardesses racing to save a high-speed train when a catastrophic storm threatens to send it off the rails.
For Marcia, landing a role in Stop! That! Train! felt very different from auditioning for Drag Race.
“I wouldn’t say it was the same thing as Drag Race because Drag Race is really like a shot in the dark,” Marcia said in a May 27 panel conversation moderated by PEOPLE Senior Movies News Editor Nigel Smith at People Inc. in New York City, hosted by OUTspoken. “This was like, ‘Hi, we know you, we trust you, put yourself on tape, see what happens.’ At least that’s how it was for me.”
Marcia, who competed in season 15, said they were also thrilled to see who they’d be sharing the screen with, calling the cast “the most incredible panel of queens.”
Marcia Marcia Marcia, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Symone, Director Adam Shankman, Ginger Minj, and Jujubee attend a preview screening of ‘Stop! That! Train!’
Credit: Astrid Stawiarz
For Symone, joining Stop! That! Train! was “a dream come true.”
“[Director] Adam [Shankman] called me personally and told me that I got the part,” the Drag Race season 13 winner said. “I didn’t cry, but I was very emotional about it because [I knew] that Adam was directing us and then, of course, being [in] a movie with RuPaul, who I love.”
Brooke Lynn Hytes got some especially memorable one-on-one time with RuPaul. In the film, her character, Amber, gets viciously slapped by RuPaul’s U.S. President Judy Gagwell repeatedly.
“I got slapped by Ru on season 11, and I won that challenge. I was like, ‘Oh great. So they know I can do this,’” she said.
According to director Adam Shankman (Hairspray), Brooke nailed the scene on the first take, despite RuPaul having to slap her “about 20 times.”
Adam Shankman, Ginger Minj, Jujubee, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Symone, Marcia Marcia Marcia and Nigel Smith
Credit: Astrid Stawiarz
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Even after all those hits, Brooke said working with RuPaul was one of the highlights of the experience.
“Nobody has a presence like him. So when he walks on set, when he walks in a room, when he walks anywhere, the energy literally just shifts and everyone just goes, ‘Ah.’ And she’s like 20 feet tall,” she laughs. “It was amazing to get to work with her. She’s such a consummate professional, but she also has so much fun with it. Like, she says her lines, but every take is a little bit different. She’ll try little things here and there and she gets to do whatever the f— she wants.”
Brooke added that after filming the scene, which occurred on her final day of filming, RuPaul “congratulated me and hugged me and kissed me.” “It was awesome working with him,” Brooke said.
Stop! That! Train! is in theaters June 12.
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