Being cast on RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under was definitely a thrill for Sydney queen Amyl, and she is now poised to (in her brilliant words) make the world her oyster and “shuck it”! While her time on the show was brief, this Down Under doll made a definite strong impression and now has plans for globe-trotting and even a trip to DragCon! I sat down with Amyl where we discussed the Sydney drag scene as well as the first (& thoroughly delightful) drag queen she ever met.
Michael Cook: What your entire RuPaul’s Drag Race experience like?
Amyl: I had a ball! It was also the most exhausting thing that I have ever done, the most emotionally tolling thing that I have ever done, but it was also completely delightful. I am so happy that I got the chance.
MC: When you walked into the Drag Race Down Under werkroom, what as your first thought?
A: Honestly, I remember thinking that it was the same as last year. Famously, people are sometimes down about how Down Under looks so I thought “well this is it”! Honestly, I was terrified. I remember looking around and seeing who was there and taking in how beautiful everyone was and trying to remember what my entrance line was. Honestly, there were just so many things going through my mind at that moment. I felt like I was feeling the entire spectrum of human emotion.
MC: Obviously, your name was something that immediately caught so many people’s eye. Is that by design?
A: It actually used to be Amyl Clooney, but no one got it. I feel like I overestimated with that (laughs)!
MC: You and Hollywood Jade seemed to automatically gravitate towards each other. We know that race and within the drag world is a consistent topic in the States; is it the same Down Under?
A: Certainly, I mean in Sydney especially where Holly(would) and I are both from there are not a lot of black queens, we are almost the only two, certainly the only two working ones. She obviously not been doing drag that long, so for ages it was just me. There was this period of time where I just felt like week after week after week, there was a racism scandal. Someone calling me the “n” word, someone wearing really really dark tights and when I suggested that they maybe not do that “racism”!
I feel like it has kind of died down now, and I think that is probably by virtue of people like me and Holly being political, which is great. It is something that we feel and it is definitely something we are going to have to deal with as the show airs. People are going to feel some type of way.
MC: What was your highest high and your lowest low from your Drag Race Down Under experience?
A: One of the things that I really wanted to do with my time there was to write a verse for a song. I am so happy that I got to do that during my brief time there and I was so proud of my verse, if I do say so myself. My lowest low I think was having to go up against Ivory (Glaze), that was horrible. She and I are really close and being in the bottom is bad enough; being in the bottom against your best friend in the competition is really trying ; I think that was my lowest low. I was so ready for it to be Ashley (Madison) (laughs)!
MC: How did you first enter into the world of drag?
A: I think it probably started, as it does for many people, with Drag Race. I think the first season of Drag Race that I watched in real time is Season 5. I fell in love with Alaska, so it sort of just have been watching it since then. The first drag queen I saw in real life was Maxi Shields from Drag Race Down Under Season 1. I thought “what the hell is going on”, but I was completely enamored. From then, it sort of just became what it is now and I blinked and the time passed; now I’m here. Maxi is just so thoroughly delightful.
MC: It has been such a treat for fans get to experience such a variety of Down Under drag season after season on Drag Race Down Under. What is the kind of drag that you find yourself gravitating towards the most?
A: I think the drag that I enjoy watching and the drag that I do are sometimes two different things. My favorite type of drag to watch is the Gabriella Labucci, complete and utter stupidity. I live for that, it makes me so happy and brings me so much joy; and I do do a bit of that actually. I also think that I float around in a more chic fashion area as well. In my mind, that is where I want to go; the marriage between the stupidity and the complete and utter gorgeousness as well.
MC: What do you think you want to do with the platform the you have now?
A: Yes, the world is my oyster and I am going to eat! Or, the world is my oyster and I am going to shuck it (laughs)! I am just really excited to do more. I feel like this opens the door for more opportunities in Sydney which I am really excited for. I also hope I get to do some things more consistently, but I also think that it opens the door for things like fashion shows for example. I want to jet around the world, and I hope that I get to go to DragCon! I am just taking it as it comes and now matter what happens, its going to be a ball. It has already been a fabulous ride, and I am just seeing where it takes me.
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