After being the self-proclaimed “lowest ranked queen” in RuPaul’s Drag Race herstory, Irene The Alien arrived for All Stars 10 with a lot of prove to the fans and herself alike. By the end of the competition (when she ended up in the semi-finals), Irene had proven herself both on the runway and in numerous challenges. As All Stars 10 wrapped up, I caught up with Irene The Alien to chat abut her All Stars 10 Redemption, getting to dive into some classic Drag Race challenges, and the legacy and lore of Seattle drag that Irene is proud to come from.
Michael Cook: It was such a treat to see you not just get a Rudemption on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 10, but to make it to the semifinals and the Lip Sync Lalaparuza is quite the accomplishnent! What did it feel like for you?
Irene The Alien: I will tell you, Drag Race is a lot more fun when you do well. I definitely feel a lot a sense of “told you so” about it. I did feel like when I went on Season 15, I a lot of the feedback I got after it aired was like, “this person seems so confident” and some people even used the word “cocky”. I don’t necessarily agree that, but then went home first, so what was all that about? Well, it was because I actually am good at drag and I I am good at many of the things that Drag Race asks you to be good and I came here this time to prove it.
MC: When you were asked to come back, was there any hesitation at all?
ITA: There were two different reactions that happened simultaneously. The first one was obviously like, well, it couldn’t possibly go any worse, so I might as well take a shot. I’m literally the lowest ranked queen in the entire history of the franchise. I’m not going to do worse. Then I found out it was an eighteen queen cast and I was like, “Okay, maybe I could do worse”. The other part of me was so grateful that I had the opportunity to show that what happened on Season 15 was a fluke because I knew it was a fluke and as it was happening, I was like, “Learn something from this, don’t let this get you down. Use this to fuel you”.
I tried really, really hard after Season 15 and even while it was airing prove to the fans of the show and also to the casting directors and producers of the show that I do have more to offer. I put a lot of effort into posting my looks every week and showing up to different events, really stunting, going to the Emmys in an incredible look. When I when I got the call, it was sort of like “Great, this is the culmination of what I’ve been working for since my elimination, getting this invite back”.
MC: It probably was so surreal returning to Drag Race with queens that you yourself grew up watching on the show and competing again them right?
ITA: It was awesome! Part of of my anxiety going back was that I felt like I hadn’t gotten to do Drag Race yet in many ways. I’d never been given a maxi challenge before. I’d never watched a lip sync before. So to have people there, like Phoenix, for example, who was from so long ago, it almost felt like she had never really gotten to do Drag Race in its current form just like I hadn’t. So, you know, I was in good company.
MC: Was it a little bit more comforting to have a hometown girl like Bosco with you to go through the experience?
ITA: Absolutely, Especially whenever something would happen and I’d have no idea what was going on. I was just sort of look her. She’d say, “Oh, this is what’s happening. You’ve never experienced this”. She was my comfort animal (laughs).
MC: You mentioned never having the chance to do Snatch Game and it occurred to me that you had never gotten to do so many iconic Drag Race challenges before All Stars. What is the one challenge that you didn’t get to do that you were just itching to get to experience?
ITA: A design challenge. Part of what I think sets me apart is my looks, and not just that they’re unique, but that they’re usually very, very elevated. I put a lot of work into my looks and I wanted to get the opportunity to show how I build a look from the ground up.
MC: Whenever you won a challenge this season, the fans and the judges saw such a feeling of accomplishment on your face, which was so rewarding.
ITA: Which is so flattering to me. it’s it’s a completely different experience because when I was there on Season 15, I really did feel invisible to them. Obviously it’s because I was only there for one second and they didn’t really like what I had to show when I was there. So it is very gratifying to come back and prove to them that they didn’t make a mistake of putting me on in the first place.
MC: Once you made it to the semifinals, what is something you wanted the fans to be able to see once you had a little bit of room to breathe?
ITA: Oh, I don’t know that there was room to breathe. Bosco and I to talk about it all the time, how when we go on, we need to feel undeniable. There needs to never be a question of “are we worthy”? because we wanted it so bad, you know? I never really felt a second of breathing room either time that I was there for the original orange bracket or for the semifinals. I was always very focused and working towards the crown.
MC: You mentioned Bosco and she is yet another famed queen from Seattle. What do you think it is about that Seattle air that just gives birth to such spectacular drag?
ITA: You know, it’s part of being so tucked away. We’re in a corner of the country, you don’t really go through Seattle, you only go to Seattle. A lot of the history of Seattle’s art scene is rooted in grunge and trying to break the mold and be different and that has carried over into the drag world. Part of the local drag climate there is about being different. You are celebrated if you can do something that no one has seen before, whereas I feel like so many drag scenes expect girls to reach a certain level of polish that means that they are replicating those who came before them. Whereas in Seatle, we respect the girls who are doing something we’ve never seen before.
MC: How do you answer online criticism from people either you know, or from the fandom?
ITA: I didn’t respond to certain things then, and I don’t want to respond to them now.. Aja put it very elegantly when she said “duck if the shots don’t apply”,
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