Already one of the most eclectic performers to come out of Drag Race UK, fans were thrilled to see Le Fil be a part of the cast on Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs. The World Season 2. While she has departed the competition, we got to see some of the quintessential looks and talent that fans came to love during Le Fil’s first Drag Race appearance. I sat down to chat with this wonderfully talented queen to discuss their run on Canada vs. The World Season 2, the queens she was most excited to work with, and what artist’s they gain the most inspiration from.
Michael Cook: It was spectacular to see you return to RuPaul’s Drag Race, this time on Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs The World 2! What was this experience like?
Le Fil: You know what, I always wanted to go international and I did it! I always said that if I got a call, I wanted to do it, because it’s Brooke Lynne that’s judging, RuPaul is like the CEO of the whole company and its very stressful (laughs)! I wanted to go somewhere else that is just a bit more relaxing and I can have fun and Canada was the place! When I got the call I was like “Sure why not”; I was very excited!
MC: Seeing you on Canada vs. The World Season 2 was such a treat and it was truly an elevated and brand new Le Fit, do you think that’s fair to say?
LF: I think whenever you do something for the first time, it’s always pretty daunting. Popping your cherry is nerve-wracking, they don’t tell you that when you’re a teenager (laughs)! When you get to do something for the second time, you know the ropes, you know what they might do, you know all the stuff behind the scenes that will impact your performance. Coming into this it was a whole different experience and I really enjoyed working with the Canadian team.
I was able to have fun and I felt comfortable on set, especially this cast as well. When you’re watching it, you think that there are always going to be people that will always talk over you, it didn’t happen here. Whereas with the Drag Race UK group, every time I spoke every time spoke, someone would cut me off or talk over me and I didn’t feel comfortable. This time, the whole cast was really nice and everyone had different energies, but I felt like I had a valid place there, which was really good.
MC: This season’s cast was so diverse and packed with dynamic talent. When you finally looked around at the fully assembled cast, who were you most excited to compete against?
LF: Alexis (Mateo); literally :”BAM”! When I saw her during the entrance, I could not believe that she was there. It was literally like Madame Tussaud’s, when you go in and see all of the wax works and you see all of the legendary people; and I’m not talking about the Botox either (laughs)! It was intense, I remember watching her when was watching Drag Race myself, and seeing her on the cast with me…now that was amazing. I was very humbled and very excited to be there.
MC: During your UK season, your lip sync against Black Peppa to Spice Girls “Stop” is legendary and post Drag Race it must be wonderful to have worked with Spice Girls like Mel C. For a kid growing up in the UK, having the Spice Girls be so integral to your career in such an intimate way must be surreal.
LF: Completely, and I am so glad that you even noticed that. They were the thing that set me up into being a confident nine year old, the first time that listened to the Spice Girls. I think working with Mel C, playing Posh Spice, and then getting the chance to perform “Stop” for Mel B was really a full circle moment and I loved it. That’s why when everyone says that they are upset about that lip sync, I really loved that lip sync, apart from leaving. No one else could have done that! The whole concept of that as well, because obviously I was wearing a tent. We had heard rumors of Spice Girls perfoming at Glastonbury, and I went with that. It was like, it was in my tent, I’m dancing and I’m having a great time!
MC: The Spice Girls were such an influence to you, who has been influencing you currently?
LF: In the past ten years, I have really been loving (Lady) Gaga. Her control of pop culture in the way that I view work. I often have called my art work “pop sculpture” as in “pop culture” as a work of art. I really like how she works with different mediums and how she operates. I learned how she uses technology and fashion to convey messages and concepts and that is what my work has always been about. The way that I think about work is through concepts and messages, even down to my final lip sync on Canada vs. The World 2. I wanted to be the lip sync robot that gets wheeled out. Everything has a concept and a reason and I really love that she has had that.
Also Beyoncé is that. Her stage work is like an installation, her fashion is couture, and her music is thoughtful, interesting and provoking. There might have been the time when she worked with Gaga on “Videophone” and “Telephone” and maybe some of that type of work and development exploration rubbed off on her and maybe she liked being able to think wider than just write a song. It is about a whole message and universe.
MC: You’ve worked with a galaxy of queens from other franchises on Canada vs. The World Season 2. What is something that you took from one of those queens that you think you will apply in your career going forward?
LF: Generally with working with some queens that are just so American and so (Las) Vegas, it really strengthened me into going “I’m not that, that’s not what I want to be doing, that’s not the route I want to go down”, that type of pageantry-style. In a funny way-even though I left-it really made me strengthen my own lane. I love doing the stuff that I do and I am never going to be “that”, what they are doing over there. In that sense, I felt a bit at ease really. I think watching them and working with them in the same room really highlighted that for me. I really respect their work and I think they’re amazing, it’s just not something that I want to do for myself. I love the fact that I can continue my type of gender-fuckery artistry. I consider myself an artist using drag; I love that as a lesson.
MC: Everything you do is strongly cerebral and very well thought out, right ups to the execution. Have you always been that type of person?
LF: I think that when you are working with different things and in different moments, you follow intuition or you follow concept and I really only learned that at art college; I would not have learned that otherwise. I think I have for years, I tried and failed at lots of different things during my degree, I tried and failed at different things. I would not be doing my music and think “Oh I have to go do that”. All of those moments give me endorphins and when I am making work, it’s about how happy I feel, what do I resonate with, what endorphins do I get from this, does this make me feel good? Whether it’s an intuition thing or a concept thing, it has to have that spark and I have to feel happy doing it. That is the thing that underpins all of the stuff that I do. I am only really happy when I can justify a piece of work existing and that is with a concept or a message.
MC: Now that you’ve gone through the Canada vs. The World 2 experience, what is the next challenge that you want to take on?
LF: I feel like of all the queens in the cast, I think in terms of the exposure that my work gets, it’s a lot smaller. What I was really thankful for with the current season was that it was a magnifying glass that was moved to my work and that more people embraced it. Reading all of the comments online have been so lovely because it has been really well received. That is gorgeous, I have been doing this work for so many years and it is nice that more people are tuning in and seeing and accessing it. I feel like I am going to keep progressing myself and keep growing, and hopefully a rolling stone gathers moss!
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