RuPaul’s Drag Race is known for bringing drag performers from all corners of the globe to the Drag Race main stage, but Lucky Starzzz is like no other performer we had seen before. Working with unconventional materials is their specialty, and crafting everything from a crab to the now iconic-“Lucky Lemonade” talent show performance, Starzzz makes it clear that working outside of the box is their passion. I sat down for a chat with Lucky to catch up on their Drag Race experience, what it was like changing up their aesthetic for that “Monopulence” runway, and why it is absolutely crucial to stay true to yourself!
Michael Cook: Personally, I have been a fan since seeing you live in Miami many years ago and we have followed each other on Instagram for several years now. It’s such a treat to see you on RuPaul’s Drag Race!
Lucky Starzzz:Oh I love that! I love when people actually see me before the show and they really see my journey, I love that. Thank you so much, it means a lot! You saw me in Miami? I was probably wearing the basketball.
MC: I wondered what the reception for you on and off screen would be for you when I saw you cast on RuPaul’s Drag Race, and the fandom and your sisters alike seem to have fallen in love with you. How was the experience from your perspective?
LS: I would say that it has been full circle. It was beautiful, it was colorful, it was just monumental. It was all that.
MC: A lot of people don’t speak as openly about the financial impact that RuPaul’s Drag Race could and would have on your life. You however, came into the competition and spoke openly about your financial situation and the struggles your family was currently facing. Has the experience been richly rewarding as of yet for you and your family?
LS: Well right now, I am still starting with the rewards and hopefully it gets bigger. This was my Golden Ticket, this was my “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”. To me, Drag Race was my Chocolate Factory.
MC: What has your family’s reaction been to your Drag Race journey so far?
LS: They are really proud. They don’t really understand what Drag Race is to be honest. They are very Latino and they don’t know anything about American culture like that. For them, it’s like I’m on tv. For them, they just want me to be able to have money and to survive.
MC: If you had to pick your rose and your thorn of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17, what would it be?
LS: My rose would be my talent show moment, that was my high. Also entering the Werk Room for the first time. Actually everything was my high except the last episode.
MC: In that last episode, you could tell that the materials were not what you were used to working with, but then all out war broke out in the Werk Room between Onya Nurve and Jewels Sparkles. It probably made a very chaotic atmosphere as everyone prepared to hit the runway.
LS: Yeah I am used to working with my materials and I have my own medium of drag. I have my own medium of ways of working and creating. It is a high pressure environment of course, so the environment itself is already chaotic. Now imagine having to work with materials that you don’t work with in that environment, and then you have to change your whole aesthetic because that is how you feel that you are going to please them..it’s a lot.
MC: That is the quandary that so many queens face on Drag Race; they are trying to please the judges, but they are also trying to please and stay true to themselves at the same time.
LS: But I wasn’t true to myself-and that’s the thing. I knew that I wasn’t being true to myself but I still did it because I had to showcase “this” right now; that is what is being asked for. So do it.
MC: What is the most unconventional that you have ever worked with for any performance?
LS: Glass. I created a whole disco ball piece, it looks like a museum piece to me, it looks like it could be in a museum just hanging there. It is a whole disco ball skirt, it is so hard to pack. I don’t know how I would ever pack it, but it is a whole giant disco ball mesh glass skirt. I made a corset that goes with it, a disco ball bra, and I created a whole disco ball head with glass and disco ball pieces. I feel like that is the most unconventional piece that I have ever created because I am working with a material like glass. Who works with glass?!
MC: Have you always worked with unconventional materials from the moment you started drag and have you always been an unconventional and out of the box performer?
LS: I have always been like that. Even when I started doing makeup years ago, I would always do crazy looks with my face. I never wanted to be normal, I never wanted to be conventional. I am inspired by the unconventional, I am inspired by the stuff that people don’t normally really find beautiful, I make “beautiful”, but have always been a werido when it comes to my craft. I have always struggled with being conventional, I have always struggled with the traditional. So it is interesting that went on Drag Race and that is what sent me home (laughs)
MC: What do you see for the future for Lucky Starzzz?
LS: I want to make money, I want to survive, I want to help out my loved ones and help myself; that is my main priority right now. I am still looking for a place right now, still kind of trying to get out of that financial hurdle a little bit. Dream wise, I want to be in magazines, on runways, I want to do it all. I want to travel and I want to enjoy life.
MC: We talked about how you don’t think you got to stay true to yourself in your final episode of Drag Race this season. How important do you think it is for drag performers to stay true to themselves at all times?
LS: Yes. To me it is. I think you should always stay true to yourself. If there is one thing that you should learn from my downfall on that episode, it is girl, just be yourself. Just be yourself. And stay weird as hell!
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