When you\u2019re a drag queen, an essential part of the job is doing your own makeup. The queens who compete on \u201cRuPaul\u2019s Drag Race<\/a>\u201d spend hours each episode, layering their faces with foundation, eyeshadow, and blush to perfect their signature drag looks. It was \u201cjarring,\u201d then, for former \u201cRuPaul\u2019s Drag Race<\/a>\u201d contestant Brooke Lynn Hytes to arrive on a movie set where makeup artists were being paid to put her in drag.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did none of that,\u201d said Hytes about doing her hair and makeup on the set of \u201cStop! That! Train!,\u201d a comedy starring RuPaul that hits theaters on June 12. \u201cWe got to sit in the chair and get pampered.\u201d<\/p>\n While Hytes certainly enjoyed the R&R, she felt trepidatious about director Adam Shankman\u2019s plans for her face. \u201cAdam had a very specific vision for the makeup, as in he didn\u2019t want a lot of it, because we were supposed to be women,\u201d Hytes, who plays Amber, a glamorous train stewardess in the film, said. \u201cThat was a jarring experience when it first happened, because as drag queens, we are self-made beings, and we have created our own personas, so to be put into this environment where they were telling us what to do and how to do it, and sometimes were actually doing it for us, was hard.\u201d<\/p>\n Hytes, who nearly won Season 11 of \u201cRuPaul\u2019s Drag Race\u201d before going on to host \u201cCanada\u2019s Drag Race,\u201d is not one to be pushed around, though. \u201cI definitely went back into my trailer and put on just a little more after [the makeup artists] were done,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd apparently [the producers] were too scared of me to say anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Hytes is just one of many drag queens who appear (in minimal makeup) in \u201cStop! That! Train!,\u201d the first film from the \u201cRuPaul\u2019s Drag Race\u201d universe. Hytes, Season 13\u2019s winner Symone, and Season 15\u2019s Marcia Marcia Marcia, who is credited in the film by her real name Marty Lauter, play a trio of snobbish train attendants on the luxurious Glamazonian Hyper Speed Rail. Due to two last-minute callouts, Tess (\u201cAll Stars 10\u201d winner Ginger Minj) and DeeDee (Season 2\u2019s Jujubee), employees from the budget line, Stank Rail, nab shifts on Glamazonian as well. When a superstorm (or \u201cstormaganza\u201d as it\u2019s called in this slapstick drag world) threatens to derail the train, the queens must band together to save the passengers.<\/p>\n While these five queens landed the lead roles, Shankman and producers asked \u201c35 Drag Race\u201d queens to audition for \u201cStop! That! Train!,\u201d with each sending in tapes for multiple roles. Lauter, a trained actor who performed in \u201cKinky Boots\u201d on Broadway and the national tour of \u201cHello, Dolly!\u201d before competing on \u201cDrag Race,\u201d felt she deserved a spot.<\/p>\n \u201cI was bugging [the producers],\u201d she said, chatting on the morning of the film\u2019s New York premiere at NewFest. \u201cI was in \u2018Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club\u2019 on Broadway at the time, and I could see that we were gonna close soon. So I was like, \u2018Am I doing this?\u2019 I am one of the only queens that\u2019s an actor, so I was like, \u2018I think I could handle this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI had to audition twice,\u201d said Jujubee about the casting process, joking, \u201cMy first audition was so good, they wanted to see it again.\u201d The fan favorite, who has competed four times across the franchise, was asked to audition for both her role of DeeDee, but also Hytes\u2019 role, Amber.<\/p>\n \u2018Stop! That! Train!\u2019Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n \u201cI had a FaceTime meeting with Adam,\u201d she said, \u201cand I looked at him and said, \u2018I don\u2019t know why you\u2019re having me read for Amber, because I am DeeDee. That is my role.\u2019 Adam said, \u2018Oh, you think so?\u2019 and I said, \u2018No, I know so. I just need you to approve this.\u2019 Sometimes you have to show up for yourself and tell them what you need.\u201d<\/p>\n The only queen, aside from RuPaul, of course, who was offered a part sans audition was Ginger Minj, who had previously worked with Shankman on \u201cHocus Pocus 2.\u201d Minj, however, didn\u2019t even realize what she was signing up for when she said yes.<\/p>\n Minj and Hytes had both previously worked on the VH1 TV movie \u201cThe B*tch Who Stole Christmas,\u201d which Hytes shadily describes as \u201ctechnically a film\u201d in comparison to \u201cStop! That! Train!\u201d \u201cWith \u2018The B*itch Who Stole Christmas,\u2019 we were in Skid Row for two weeks in an abandoned hotel, and then in the middle of the desert doing a night shoot,\u201d she remembers, \u201cSo it was a very different experience.\u201d<\/p>\n The writers of \u201cThe B*tch Who Stole Christmas,\u201d Christina Friel and Connor Wright, also penned \u201cStop! That! Train!,\u201d and so Minj assumed this would also be a low-budget TV movie.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t until a couple months after accepting the part that I heard Adam Shankman was directing it,\u201d Minj said. \u201cSo I talked to the producers again. I was like, \u2018I know I\u2019ve already agreed to do this, but can you explain a little bit more?\u2019 They\u2019re like, \u2018It\u2019s a theatrical release.\u2019 I went, \u2018Oh, sh*t. I\u2019m glad I said yes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n While \u201cDrag Race\u201d queens have popped up briefly in films like \u201cA Star Is Born,\u201d \u201cHappiest Season,\u201d and \u201cDumplin\u2019,\u201d this is the first wide release to be helmed by \u201cRu Girls,\u201d a fact that\u2019s not lost on the cast, especially given the recent surge in anti-LGBTQ legislation in America.<\/p>\n \u201cThe movie itself, without us saying a word about it, is a form of protest,\u201d said Hytes. \u201cIt\u2019s a queer-led, drag queen-led mainstream, hopefully blockbuster movie that\u2019s going to be in theaters. It says, \u2018We are here, we are queer, and we are funny, talented artists.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Symone, who grew up in central Arkansas, found it especially moving that the film will play in her home state. \u201cI love TV. Growing up, that was my escape, the way out of my surroundings,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m just so happy that whoever is queer like me has an opportunity to see themselves and know you can do whatever you want.\u201d<\/p>\n Even as massive as \u201cRuPaul\u2019s Drag Race\u201d has become, a movie starring drag queens will always be a bit of an underdog, something that producers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato certainly understand. The whole film was shot in only 19 days, with the cast and crew putting in long hours to create a final product worthy of the fans.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was incredibly intense and focused work,\u201d said Barbato, \u201cbecause normally a film of this size would take twice the amount of time we had to shoot. It was like a military operation, and Adam ran a tight ship and a smart ship, getting all the coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOn \u2018Hocus Pocus 2,\u2019 I had two weeks to film one line,\u201d said Minj for context. \u201cWhereas here, we had 19 days to film the whole thing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Stop! That! Train!\u2019Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not like there\u2019s a lot of money,\u201d added Bailey, \u201cbut there\u2019s a lot of camaraderie and heart.\u201d<\/p>\n While the \u201cStop! That! Train!\u201d set may have been pared down when compared to \u201cHocus Pocus 2,\u201d it was certainly a step up from the average drag show.<\/p>\n \u201cYou get treated like a princess in film,\u201d said Lauter. \u201cThey\u2019re like, \u2018Do you need anything? Are you comfortable? Do you want food from the crafty table?\u2019\u201d That\u2019s quite the upgrade from quick changes in the back closet of a Hell\u2019s Kitchen gay bar and snatching soggy dollar bills while lip syncing to Whitney Houston at 1 a.m.<\/p>\n Ginger Minj has Jujubee to thank for plucking her from gay bar obscurity and setting her up on a national stage. The two met over a decade ago on a rainy night in Hoboken, where they were both performing at a charity event in a church. Jujubee was so impressed by Minj that she told her to audition for \u201cDrag Race\u201d and personally sent her tape to casting.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was a very big cheerleader for me,\u201d said Minj, to which Jujubee immediately replies, \u201cBig?\u201d<\/p>\n Now the pair are headlining \u201cStop! That! Train!,\u201d a \u201cHocus Pocus\u201d Live tour this fall, and a \u201cWicked\u201d parody residency, titled \u201cLicked: For Gay,\u201d in Atlanta and Provincetown this summer.<\/p>\n Of course, the highlight for all the \u201cDrag Race\u201d queens in \u201cStop! That! Train!\u201d was acting opposite RuPaul, herself, who plays President of the United States Judy Gagwell in the film. While RuPaul presides over the queens on \u201cDrag Race,\u201d they don\u2019t interact with her much on the TV show aside from during the judges\u2019 critiques.<\/p>\n \u201cUsually when we see RuPaul, she\u2019s at the desk far away and sitting down,\u201d said Hytes, who gets fake-slapped by RuPaul in the movie. \u201c[Filming \u2018Stop! That! Train!\u2019], I was three feet from her face; she was in drag and just staring at me. It was such a surreal out-of-body experience.\u201d<\/p>\n The thought of acting opposite RuPaul was \u201cterrifying\u201d to Jujubee and \u201cintimidated\u201d Ginger Minj, but the trio ultimately ended up having fun chatting on set.<\/p>\n \u201cRuPaul is just a big nerd, and I don\u2019t think people realize that,\u201d said Jujubee.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s such a pop culture junkie,\u201d adds Ginger Minj, \u201cShe just wants to sit and talk about sh*t that happened 30 years ago, like \u2018Did you see this Diane Sawyer interview from 1983?\u2019 I\u2019m like, \u2018No, but I\u2019ll go look it up tonight.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Ginger Minj and Jujubee agree that their favorite day on set was spent filming in the train\u2019s cockpit with RuPaul.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were in there all day, and Adam was just like, \u2018All right, now we\u2019re underwater, now we\u2019re this. Just play,’\u201d said Ginger Minj. \u201cSo Jujubee starts making whale noises, so then I start making whale noises, and then the curtain behind us opens, and RuPaul comes out making whale noises.\u201d<\/p>\n Unfortunately, cameras weren\u2019t running during RuPaul\u2019s whale noise symphony.<\/p>\n \u201cThat makes it more special,\u201d said Ginger Minj, \u201cBecause that means she was just playing to play.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStop! That! Train!\u201d opens from Bleecker Street starting Friday, June 12.<\/p>\n Sign up for Indiewire’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When you\u2019re a drag queen, an essential part of the job is doing your own makeup. The queens who compete on \u201cRuPaul\u2019s Drag Race\u201d spend hours each episode, layering their faces with foundation, eyeshadow, and blush to perfect their signature drag looks. It was \u201cjarring,\u201d then, for former \u201cRuPaul\u2019s Drag Race\u201d contestant Brooke Lynn Hytes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2450694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[362404,455578,379546,352451,362792,481399,448435,25456],"class_list":["post-2450693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-adam-shankman","tag-brooke-lynn-hytes","tag-drag-queen","tag-drag-race","tag-ginger-minj","tag-hytes","tag-marcia-marcia-marcia","tag-rupauls-drag-race"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/The-Stars-of-\u2018Stop-That-Train-Open-Up-About-the.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2450693"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2450695,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2450693\/revisions\/2450695"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2450694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2450693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2450693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2450693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/span><\/div>\n
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