In this episode of Pop Culture Weekly, join Kyle McMahon for a riveting chat with the dazzling stars of Tubi's "Slay," Heidi N Closet and Crystal Methyd, as we explore their venture into the world of horror. Our conversation peels back the curtain on the film's innovative mix of camp, humor, and horror, while delving into its poignant social commentary about acceptance and the universal battle against adversity. Listen in as Heidi and Crystal share their heartfelt experiences of finding community through drag in their conservative upbringings, and how these personal journeys resonate with the film's narrative.
Step into the glittery shoes of a drag queen with us as we discuss the thrills and challenges of transitioning from the live stage to the film set. Heidi and Crystal reveal the highs of embodying their characters without the immediate applause, their astonishment at seeing themselves on the big screen, and their hopes for the film's impact on audiences. Get your dose of fabulousness and empowerment as we encourage you to watch "Slay" on Tubi and join the conversation about this unique cinematic experience that champions the idea of conquering life's metaphorical vampires.
Kyle McMahon's Death, Grief & Other Sh*t We Don't Discuss is now streaming: https://www.deathandgrief.show/Chapter-One-The-Diagnosis-AKA-WTF/
---------------
Get all the Pop Culture Weekly podcast info you could want including extra content, uncut interviews, photos, videos & transcripts at: https://podcast.popcultureweekly.com
Watch celebrity interviews at: https://www.facebook.com/realkylemcmahon/videos
or Pop Culture Weekly YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/@popcultureweekly
Read the latest at http://www.PopCultureWeekly.com
Follow Kyle on:
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmacmusic
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/realkylemcmahon
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Website: http://www.kylemcmahon.me
Pop Culture Weekly twitter: http://www.twitter.com/popculturepodca
Step into the glittery shoes of a drag queen with us as we discuss the thrills and challenges of transitioning from the live stage to the film set. Heidi and Crystal reveal the highs of embodying their characters without the immediate applause, their astonishment at seeing themselves on the big screen, and their hopes for the film's impact on audiences. Get your dose of fabulousness and empowerment as we encourage you to watch "Slay" on Tubi and join the conversation about this unique cinematic experience that champions the idea of conquering life's metaphorical vampires.
Kyle McMahon's Death, Grief & Other Sh*t We Don't Discuss is now streaming: https://www.deathandgrief.show/Chapter-One-The-Diagnosis-AKA-WTF/
---------------
Get all the Pop Culture Weekly podcast info you could want including extra content, uncut interviews, photos, videos & transcripts at: https://podcast.popcultureweekly.com
Watch celebrity interviews at: https://www.facebook.com/realkylemcmahon/videos
or Pop Culture Weekly YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/@popcultureweekly
Read the latest at http://www.PopCultureWeekly.com
Follow Kyle on:
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmacmusic
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/realkylemcmahon
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/kmacmusic
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/officialkylemcmahon
Website: http://www.kylemcmahon.me
Pop Culture Weekly twitter: http://www.twitter.com/popculturepodca
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
In this episode of Pop Culture Weekly, I talk to the queens from the
brand new horror film Sleigh on twoB. Let's go Welcome to pop Culture
Weekly with Kyle McMahon from my HeartRadio your pop culture news, views,
reviews and celebrity interviews on all themovies, TV, music and pop culture
u CRABE Weekly. Here's Kyle McMahon. Na, Na, Hello, and
(00:27):
welcome to pop Culture Weekly with KyleMcMahon. I of course am Kyle McMahon,
and I am excited that you're hangingout with me once again for all
things pop culture. This episode isa fun one because it is all about
the brand new horror film Sleigh onto B. What's interesting and unique about
(00:50):
this horror film is it stars somereal queens. And when I say that,
I mean, of course, dragqueens. And so today I talk
with Heidi Closet and Crystal Method,who star in the film. The log
line for Sleigh says, for dragqueens booked at the wrong venue managed to
(01:11):
win over an unfriendly crowd when theybecome the Dive Bars defenders against a vampire
attack. It is a really fun, funny horror movie. You know,
I love horror I love my horror. I love my bad hearror, love
my good horror, I love amazinghorror. I love all kinds of horror
for you know reasons. This isvery campy, very funny, It's got
(01:36):
some incredible kills. It is alsovery smart, and there's a social commentary
going on there too that I reallyenjoy. I sometimes like some social commentary
in my horror, and Sleigh doesn'tdisappoint. In fact, you know,
it's really really great. You know, I highly recommend you see it.
(01:57):
I can't wait till you hear myinterviews with two of the queens of Sleigh
and then let me know what youthink when you watch it. On to
be so, without further ado,let's just hop right into it, all
right, here's my interview with Heidiand Closet and Crystal Method. Thank you
both for joining me. I reallyappreciate it. Okay, thank you for
(02:21):
having us. How are you I'mdoing well? Thank you? How are
you blessed and holly favored and amovie star stars? You're ready for midnight?
How exciting? How excited are you? I would say about a twenty
out of ten for sure, likejust bubbling over, like ecstatic like,
(02:42):
oh, we were just talking tosomeone else and they said they'd seen the
movie already and we were like,what, We're like done for this?
Yes, yes, I saw ascreener of it and it is amazing as
I expected it to be. Ican't wait for everybody to see it.
For both of you, you know, well, first of all, I
got to ask I heard that therewas a funny drag moment earlier today.
(03:07):
Yes, we both showed up notin drag today. Yes, I just
got turned to a vampire and we'rewaiting to do Heide's naka yeah later,
So that's what's going on. That'swhat's happening today. After someone, a
great late person once told me we'reall born naked and the rest is drag.
(03:29):
So technically I'm in drag. Technically. I love that. I love
that. What I what I findreally interesting about this film on a deeper
level, actually is that traditionally,you know, and I'm kind of stereotyping
here, but the who your charactersare kind of forced to defend yourselves with
(03:59):
are people that what you would thinkstereotypically not be accepting of the culture.
And I thought that that was verypoignant because it's almost like, well,
when you're in survival mode, doyou care about you know, how somebody
dresses or whatever. Is that somethingthat spoke to both of you, you
(04:21):
know when when making the film.When thinking about doing the film, for
me, it really hit home.I am a black gay man from the
South, so I've grew up beingin that kind of like I'm the different
person. I get treated differently andthis, that and the third. So
being able to be a part ofsomething that shows us though we're different in
(04:44):
a positive light and manner in helpingpeople, it really hit home for me.
I was like, this is great, this is beautiful. Yeah,
we're both from Red States and likesame for me. And that's one of
my favorite things about Dragging the firstplace is I was always like really active
in my community because I feel likeonce people just get to see you and
know you and like kind of havean understanding of it, even though it's
(05:05):
like very creepy in the beginning,they just are able to see you more
as a person. So that's likeexactly what happens in the film. You're
totally right, like in survival mode, we all doesn't matter where we're coming
from, what we look like whatwe're doing. It's all about coming together
and making things work, making itwork. I love that. And you
(05:30):
know, watching the film another thingthat I think, and this again is
on kind of a deeper level inmy opinion. I was talking to Dewanda
Wise recently, who stars in Imaginary, a strong black woman, incredible actor,
and I talked to Elvira pretty muchevery October for the show Who's you
(05:51):
know, the Queen of Halloween,and with Dewanda and with Elvira. With
Elvira, her and I were talkingabout how for a long time it was
like, just like Oscar so white, it was horror so white. And
especially in the last ten years orso, there's been a marked shift in
(06:14):
in that. You know, nowyou see all sorts of people represented in
horror. And for me, youknow, I'm a huge horror buff and
I think that horror is an excellentplace. It's almost like a safe place
for anybody, come as you are, and and audiences don't care, you
know, we just want a greathorror film or a can't be horror film,
(06:38):
or a bad horror film, likeit doesn't matter. We just love
horror, and so it's an awesomeplace in my opinion for people to be
represented, and then you go seeit on a big, big on the
big screen, or you go seeyou know, see the streaming exclusive film
or whatever it is, where youknow that hasn't always historically happened, and
(07:03):
horror in a lot of ways hasallowed that. Do you think that there
is a correlation there with horror andunderrepresentative communities for you, like, are
you seeing that shift as people inunderrepresented communities? Traditionally? I would say
so yeah. Growing up definitely,I saw it was very, very very
(07:26):
why is for sure? And seeingsuch the thing is the world doesn't care
if you're black, if you're wifif you're gay, if you're not.
The world is going that things aregoing to happen in the world. We
all going to go through stripes andstruggles and stuff, and I think Horror
exemplifies that to the max really,And it's now that it's shifting to showing
(07:47):
that everyone goes through these same struggles. People can see like, hey,
we're all not that different because weall go through these same struggles. And
I think that like queer people havethis really this love of horror, and
so it's cool to have this moviethat kind of highlights queer people. But
(08:07):
for everyone it's very like Tu WongFoblea, like it's really can't be still,
but there's still all of those likeshocking, like all the fun stuff
you still want in a good horrormovie. So yeah, it's just like
horror so unifying. Chris is crazybecause it scares me so much. I'm
(08:30):
a big scaredy cat myself, soI'm really thrilled about it. Are you
a horror fan? I am.I'm more the type like I have to
have people to protect me to watchhorror very that, but I will watch.
I'm very much the person I'm thankyou. I'm the person that talks
in the theater to the thing don'tgo very brenda from us scary, but
we don't go through that. That'sme terrified by them as well. And
(08:54):
then you have creators like I meanJordan Peele, who is one of my
absolute faith favorites, who is empoweringuh traditionally underrepresented people to you know,
besides his own incredible work uh andto me he's he's already a legend with
with the films that he's done,but he's empowering and giving a voice to
(09:16):
other underrepresented people, uh in hisspace too. And it's like if Jordan
Peele is, you know, endorsing, you like, the industry is gonna
pay attention. And I think it'sso important. And I also think a
film like Slay where it is universalin so many ways, you know,
(09:37):
and you can go and watch itand laugh and be scared, and but
it also has some social commentary,like it's very smart, and I love
that about Sleigh, you know,self aware. Yeah, we love intellectual
we love we might not be veryintellectual, but we love intellectual humor for
sure. Yes. And when Iwhen I when I'm with Intel actuals and
(10:00):
they're joking, I just laugh becauseeven if I don't know what they're saying,
you know, I'm just like,oh ha, and then I google
it later. You know. Howfun was it to make this? I
mean, because you know your performers, you know, by trade anyway,
but this is like, in myopinion, you know, is like a
(10:22):
different kind of performance. I wouldthink where you know you're playing, you're
not playing to an audience that's necessarilythere in front of you. You are
not you know, I would assumemost of it was scripted, if not
all of it, uh, andit seems like it's just a different avenue.
So how how was that for youto do like a feature film like
(10:45):
this? It was like that isthe biggest difference is like normally when we're
performing, there's people right there tobe like, wow, good job,
whereas like when you're acting to thed there's no one there to tell you
that was good and tell you're likeand then you've already done. So I'm
like, well, I hope itwas. It was so great because our
director Jim, like, I feellike, you know, they wrote the
(11:07):
script, they had a really goodhandle on everything. They like guided us
and told us exactly how they wantedthings to be. And so I also
feel like we could kind of feelthe energy. It's almost like an energy
in the room like things were goingwell. It's like, oh, this
is going great. And then whenwe're just like you know, hot boo
boo messing and can't get through thelines because we're laughing too much, you
know, we knew. So wasthere a lot of fun on set?
(11:33):
So honestly, I had some ofthe best times. I'll say, like
our lunch, our lunch breaks,my conversation. Yes, I just it
was just really fun to have,you know, for drag queens highlighted as
the stars of the show, youknow, number one on the trailer,
you know, like just to betreated like superstars into like just have fun
(11:54):
with the crew. And I thinkif everyone was so kind and everyone was
so like uh, I think itwas that we were all there to make
magic, and I think we allunderstood that, and I think that's why
we all had such a great timedoing it, because we're like, we're
all here just having a good timeand making something incredible, so let's just
do it to the best and havea good time while doing it. Yeah,
(12:15):
I think some I think some ofthe people were expecting the queens to
be like divas, which sometimes maybewe were. I feel like for the
most part, it was like verychill, and for sure it was.
It was very good energy and veryjust a fun environment to be in.
How different is it for you?You know, And again I'm I'm assuming
(12:37):
I've never done drag, but Iyou know, vendor shows and all,
and so I'm assuming like when you'reperforming on a stage like you you have
to be on and you know thereis a live audience there and you're feeding,
feeding off of their energy and andI'm sure that drives you even more.
And all, how is it whenyou know you are having to do
(13:00):
like cuts and and that sort ofthing, you know, to or do
another take or whatever. Is ithard to kind of uh put out that
performance when you're used to getting thatdirect feedback, like immediate feedback. I
mean, I feel like it wasfor me, but not for Heidi,
(13:20):
because Heidi is a star exacting.She was like crying a single tear,
like only like real actresses can do. I was feeling, honestly, when
we were filming, I was feelingmy whole fantasy onset. It was because
I feel like when you're performing infront of people, there is like that
instant gratification and instant like you feelthe energy, you can bounce it back
(13:41):
and you're very like you got tobe on it. And when we're filming,
you have to be within that characterand you have to feel what that
character would feel, and you haveto you have to react in a way
that that person would react, andhow to be okay with jumping into the
character and that out in and out. Yes, So yeah, that was
a difficult part for me. Itwas fun being able to just like,
(14:03):
Okay, I have to cry.Now, let's let's do it. Let's
cry. Did you ever in yourearly lives did you ever imagine, you
know that one day you would beand you know, not just on TV,
but now on in a feature film, Like did that ever? Was
that ever like, yeah, I'mgoing to do that or did you just
(14:26):
kind of go for the ride andand here we are in a big horror
movie? Well? Yes, ofcourse. Honestly for me personally, I
did. Growing up. I waslike, I feel like I'm meant to
do something bigger then because I livedin a very small town. So I
was like, there has to bemore to the the world than this.
(14:48):
And I was like I meant todo something. I didn't know what it
was. It definitely did. Ididn't think it was going to be did
you cross dressing for Jesus? Allthese many years? But here we are
and it took me to a horrorfilm and all these other great things.
I think that, Yeah, likeas a drag queen, you have to
be delusional enough to think that likeyou're a star and that you're like we're
met for something. It's like baserequirements. So I always did want to
(15:11):
be I don't think I ever sawmyself in a horror movie. I just
saw myself in like a rom com. But you did have some romance.
I did have a little bit ofromance. But no, yeah, this
is like I didn't realize I waswanted to be an actress until it We
were done with this movie and Iwas like, oh, I want to
do that again. I would havedone it again too. I was like,
(15:33):
oh my god, I have somuch fun. This is like incredible.
I love that. And you know, as you're filming, you know,
now obviously it's raps getting ready topremiere. When you saw the final
cut, what like, what wereyou thinking, Like, were you like,
holy crap, Like that's me.We haven't we have a Yeah,
(15:54):
we're gonna see it with our twoV accounts. We are so stream we
were gonna watch it tonight. Sowow, Okay, that's super, that's
awesome. So you have no idea. We're just going off the trailer.
We're just going off the trailer lookslike we looked really good. So I
thought the trailer was lovely. Thetrailer is I do, and the film
(16:15):
is I'm telling you, I reallyloved it. And so do you have
any special plans for tonight You're gettingpopcorn or vodka or what's going on?
Probably I might see if a coupleof my friends want to come over and
just like watch us hamper down andwatch a scary movie together, popping that
popcorn. I'm going to Vegas's goingI'm gonna take a break from gambling and
(16:41):
tipping the strippers to watch my newfilm of course streaming where on TV.
I cannot believe that, Like,you're so nonchalant about this. You're like,
I might, you know, I'lltake a break from tipping the strippers
and watch my film. Or oh, she's kind of a legend, she's
kind of an icon. But andeven and even you heardi like, you
(17:04):
know, oh, I'll probably callsome friends Like what like you weren't like
like a month ago, Like okay, on this day, you are not
doing anything because we're watching my freakingmovie that's premiering, Like how are you
so nonchalant? I should have beenlike that? Probably, Like maybe drag
queens aren't very good planners. Wehave to have people plan for us,
(17:25):
and then we're more executors than planners. We you know, Okay, all
right, what what was the mostfun moment for both of you on set?
My fight scene, I would saywas probably my favorite time all set.
I really got to get in therebecause I wanted it to look real.
I was like, look, Italked to the people who we were
(17:48):
fighting. I was like, look, throw me, let's we're gonna do
it. Let's do it go andwe did. I was living well.
I I really didn't like get tobe behind the camera to like watch that
much. And so there's one daywhen I got to just watch some of
Trinity's scenes and I was just like, I can't believe this is real.
(18:11):
Like I was like, I'm soglad that I was one of the first
people that got to see this,right. I still have some footage on
my phone from getting a couple ofrecords and stuff. I'm like, ah,
so that's why I'm so excited tosee the final product, because like
I remember all the all the magicin my mouth, the bar. I
just want to see it all cometogether. Because we also film out of
(18:32):
order too, so it's like wedon't feel from start to finish. So
it was like one day we're atthe end of the movie and the next
day we're back to the top,and I'm like, okay, well,
we don't even know where these go, right, It's gonna be nice to
see them. It's gonna be niceto see them flow from one to the
other. So are I mean,uh, and this is sort of tongue
(18:52):
in cheek, but like you areofficially screen queens now? Yes? Yeah,
we are just like ever Robert,Oh, Like are we? I
mean you are the stars of ahorror film. You know that that automatically
makes you scream queens? And thenI think I think technically now you could
(19:15):
be the queens of the screen queen. Yeah, oh my god. That
is going in my little bio onall my platforms. What was the wrap
like for you? Like, whenyou were done, were you like exhausted,
exhilarated, all of the above?Were you like, you know,
(19:40):
I just shot a freaking horror movie. It was really just getting right back
to work. Honestly, we hadI had to go do some shows back
in the States, and so Ithink it's the actual rap party. It
was nice stunt double Yeah, weshut down without Crystal. She left just
a couple of days early. WhenI wrapped, it was it was just
(20:02):
a lot of emotions. It wasa lot of all. It was.
It was very much like because wekind of became really close knit because you're
you're surrounded by these people for likethe amount of time that you're filming,
and that's all the people really you'reseeing for that most amount of time.
So it's like, yeah, youbecome close and you and all of a
sudden it's over. It's like,oh, it's kind of sad. I
remember I was crying on my finalnight. I was like, on my
(20:22):
last day on set, my heelbroke, right, it was a sign
I remember that. WHOA. Iwas like, it knew you were perfect
time you were uh for And I'mbeing spoiler free. Traditionally in so many
horror films there it always, youknow, ultimately ends up becoming a franchise,
(20:47):
whether it's you know, a prequelor a sequel or reimagining or you
know, set in the same universe. Is there possibilities for Sleigh to or
Sleigh Harder or whatever. We fullywere on set being like, come up
with ideas for the name of thesequel. We're like, so we're getting
(21:08):
a sequel, right, So wewere convinced the entire you couldn't tell us
we weren't get a sequel already,so we're like, we're definitely getting one
Zombies where we thought of it all, we got storyline, plot lines.
The name of the is was SlayAnother another day, Another day, Another
Sleigh. That's where we came to. I absolutely love it. Thank you
(21:36):
both for speaking with me. Ican't wait for everybody to see Sleigh exclusively
on to be what. What canwe expect next from both of you?
Oh goodness. Well, my podcastjust came back today with Jadison's Hall hauling
Clauses, so check us out anywherewhere you listen to podcasts. You can
(21:56):
catch me doing the super commercial myElphiel with Judge. Judy and I got
a couple other projects in the fireright now I can't totally talk about,
but you will see me real sooneverywhere. Oh yeah, and I posted
a new TikTok today, so makesure you go watch my sick talk.
But yeah, otherwise, just theinternet. I'm traveling around all the time
(22:19):
working out Honey, she got business. Thank you, Heidi, Crystal.
I really appreciate your time. Ilove Sleigh and I can't wait for everybody
to see it. Ah yay,thank you, making, thank you,
thank you, congrats Hidie and Closetand Crystal Method. Hi. Those they
(22:41):
are hysterically funny, super creative.I'm so glad I got the chance to
talk to them, and I amso glad that I was able to watch
Sleigh. You I'm telling you,horror fans, comedy fans, drag fans,
it's a great film that you canwatch exclusively on to Be. And
(23:02):
by the way, let's not forgetthat end. There's always an opportunity to
slay again, and I really hopethat they do do that because you know,
it's just a great team, greatcast, very smart, very funny,
and it's so enjoyable. So hitme up, go see Sleigh,
(23:26):
watch slayh on to be. Letme know what you think about it.
I want to discuss it. Iwant to know what you think, and
let's talk sligh in pop culture.All right, that is our show for
this week. Short and sweet.You know it's been my nickname a time
or two. But in any event, that's all for this week. Hit
(23:48):
me up. I'll see you nextweek. I love you. Well.
Yeah, thank you for listening toPop Culture Weekly. Here all the latest
at pop Cultureweekly dot Com Slay QueenSlay Slay Queens. Allow you, queens,
(24:10):
it can be so mean to thevampires. Slave queen slay slay slayer
slay slur slur slur
In this episode of Pop Culture Weekly, I talk to the queens from the
brand new horror film Sleigh on twoB. Let's go Welcome to pop Culture
Weekly with Kyle McMahon from my HeartRadio your pop culture news, views,
reviews and celebrity interviews on all themovies, TV, music and pop culture
u CRABE Weekly. Here's Kyle McMahon. Na, Na, Hello, and
(00:27):
welcome to pop Culture Weekly with KyleMcMahon. I of course am Kyle McMahon,
and I am excited that you're hangingout with me once again for all
things pop culture. This episode isa fun one because it is all about
the brand new horror film Sleigh onto B. What's interesting and unique about
(00:50):
this horror film is it stars somereal queens. And when I say that,
I mean, of course, dragqueens. And so today I talk
with Heidi Closet and Crystal Method,who star in the film. The log
line for Sleigh says, for dragqueens booked at the wrong venue managed to
(01:11):
win over an unfriendly crowd when theybecome the Dive Bars defenders against a vampire
attack. It is a really fun, funny horror movie. You know,
I love horror I love my horror. I love my bad hearror, love
my good horror, I love amazinghorror. I love all kinds of horror
for you know reasons. This isvery campy, very funny, It's got
(01:36):
some incredible kills. It is alsovery smart, and there's a social commentary
going on there too that I reallyenjoy. I sometimes like some social commentary
in my horror, and Sleigh doesn'tdisappoint. In fact, you know,
it's really really great. You know, I highly recommend you see it.
(01:57):
I can't wait till you hear myinterviews with two of the queens of Sleigh
and then let me know what youthink when you watch it. On to
be so, without further ado,let's just hop right into it, all
right, here's my interview with Heidiand Closet and Crystal Method. Thank you
both for joining me. I reallyappreciate it. Okay, thank you for
(02:21):
having us. How are you I'mdoing well? Thank you? How are
you blessed and holly favored and amovie star stars? You're ready for midnight?
How exciting? How excited are you? I would say about a twenty
out of ten for sure, likejust bubbling over, like ecstatic like,
(02:42):
oh, we were just talking tosomeone else and they said they'd seen the
movie already and we were like,what, We're like done for this?
Yes, yes, I saw ascreener of it and it is amazing as
I expected it to be. Ican't wait for everybody to see it.
For both of you, you know, well, first of all, I
got to ask I heard that therewas a funny drag moment earlier today.
(03:07):
Yes, we both showed up notin drag today. Yes, I just
got turned to a vampire and we'rewaiting to do Heide's naka yeah later,
So that's what's going on. That'swhat's happening today. After someone, a
great late person once told me we'reall born naked and the rest is drag.
(03:29):
So technically I'm in drag. Technically. I love that. I love
that. What I what I findreally interesting about this film on a deeper
level, actually is that traditionally,you know, and I'm kind of stereotyping
here, but the who your charactersare kind of forced to defend yourselves with
(03:59):
are people that what you would thinkstereotypically not be accepting of the culture.
And I thought that that was verypoignant because it's almost like, well,
when you're in survival mode, doyou care about you know, how somebody
dresses or whatever. Is that somethingthat spoke to both of you, you
(04:21):
know when when making the film.When thinking about doing the film, for
me, it really hit home.I am a black gay man from the
South, so I've grew up beingin that kind of like I'm the different
person. I get treated differently andthis, that and the third. So
being able to be a part ofsomething that shows us though we're different in
(04:44):
a positive light and manner in helpingpeople, it really hit home for me.
I was like, this is great, this is beautiful. Yeah,
we're both from Red States and likesame for me. And that's one of
my favorite things about Dragging the firstplace is I was always like really active
in my community because I feel likeonce people just get to see you and
know you and like kind of havean understanding of it, even though it's
(05:05):
like very creepy in the beginning,they just are able to see you more
as a person. So that's likeexactly what happens in the film. You're
totally right, like in survival mode, we all doesn't matter where we're coming
from, what we look like whatwe're doing. It's all about coming together
and making things work, making itwork. I love that. And you
(05:30):
know, watching the film another thingthat I think, and this again is
on kind of a deeper level inmy opinion. I was talking to Dewanda
Wise recently, who stars in Imaginary, a strong black woman, incredible actor,
and I talked to Elvira pretty muchevery October for the show Who's you
(05:51):
know, the Queen of Halloween,and with Dewanda and with Elvira. With
Elvira, her and I were talkingabout how for a long time it was
like, just like Oscar so white, it was horror so white. And
especially in the last ten years orso, there's been a marked shift in
(06:14):
in that. You know, nowyou see all sorts of people represented in
horror. And for me, youknow, I'm a huge horror buff and
I think that horror is an excellentplace. It's almost like a safe place
for anybody, come as you are, and and audiences don't care, you
know, we just want a greathorror film or a can't be horror film,
(06:38):
or a bad horror film, likeit doesn't matter. We just love
horror, and so it's an awesomeplace in my opinion for people to be
represented, and then you go seeit on a big, big on the
big screen, or you go seeyou know, see the streaming exclusive film
or whatever it is, where youknow that hasn't always historically happened, and
(07:03):
horror in a lot of ways hasallowed that. Do you think that there
is a correlation there with horror andunderrepresentative communities for you, like, are
you seeing that shift as people inunderrepresented communities? Traditionally? I would say
so yeah. Growing up definitely,I saw it was very, very very
(07:26):
why is for sure? And seeingsuch the thing is the world doesn't care
if you're black, if you're wifif you're gay, if you're not.
The world is going that things aregoing to happen in the world. We
all going to go through stripes andstruggles and stuff, and I think Horror
exemplifies that to the max really,And it's now that it's shifting to showing
(07:47):
that everyone goes through these same struggles. People can see like, hey,
we're all not that different because weall go through these same struggles. And
I think that like queer people havethis really this love of horror, and
so it's cool to have this moviethat kind of highlights queer people. But
(08:07):
for everyone it's very like Tu WongFoblea, like it's really can't be still,
but there's still all of those likeshocking, like all the fun stuff
you still want in a good horrormovie. So yeah, it's just like
horror so unifying. Chris is crazybecause it scares me so much. I'm
(08:30):
a big scaredy cat myself, soI'm really thrilled about it. Are you
a horror fan? I am.I'm more the type like I have to
have people to protect me to watchhorror very that, but I will watch.
I'm very much the person I'm thankyou. I'm the person that talks
in the theater to the thing don'tgo very brenda from us scary, but
we don't go through that. That'sme terrified by them as well. And
(08:54):
then you have creators like I meanJordan Peele, who is one of my
absolute faith favorites, who is empoweringuh traditionally underrepresented people to you know,
besides his own incredible work uh andto me he's he's already a legend with
with the films that he's done,but he's empowering and giving a voice to
(09:16):
other underrepresented people, uh in hisspace too. And it's like if Jordan
Peele is, you know, endorsing, you like, the industry is gonna
pay attention. And I think it'sso important. And I also think a
film like Slay where it is universalin so many ways, you know,
(09:37):
and you can go and watch itand laugh and be scared, and but
it also has some social commentary,like it's very smart, and I love
that about Sleigh, you know,self aware. Yeah, we love intellectual
we love we might not be veryintellectual, but we love intellectual humor for
sure. Yes. And when Iwhen I when I'm with Intel actuals and
(10:00):
they're joking, I just laugh becauseeven if I don't know what they're saying,
you know, I'm just like,oh ha, and then I google
it later. You know. Howfun was it to make this? I
mean, because you know your performers, you know, by trade anyway,
but this is like, in myopinion, you know, is like a
(10:22):
different kind of performance. I wouldthink where you know you're playing, you're
not playing to an audience that's necessarilythere in front of you. You are
not you know, I would assumemost of it was scripted, if not
all of it, uh, andit seems like it's just a different avenue.
So how how was that for youto do like a feature film like
(10:45):
this? It was like that isthe biggest difference is like normally when we're
performing, there's people right there tobe like, wow, good job,
whereas like when you're acting to thed there's no one there to tell you
that was good and tell you're likeand then you've already done. So I'm
like, well, I hope itwas. It was so great because our
director Jim, like, I feellike, you know, they wrote the
(11:07):
script, they had a really goodhandle on everything. They like guided us
and told us exactly how they wantedthings to be. And so I also
feel like we could kind of feelthe energy. It's almost like an energy
in the room like things were goingwell. It's like, oh, this
is going great. And then whenwe're just like you know, hot boo
boo messing and can't get through thelines because we're laughing too much, you
know, we knew. So wasthere a lot of fun on set?
(11:33):
So honestly, I had some ofthe best times. I'll say, like
our lunch, our lunch breaks,my conversation. Yes, I just it
was just really fun to have,you know, for drag queens highlighted as
the stars of the show, youknow, number one on the trailer,
you know, like just to betreated like superstars into like just have fun
(11:54):
with the crew. And I thinkif everyone was so kind and everyone was
so like uh, I think itwas that we were all there to make
magic, and I think we allunderstood that, and I think that's why
we all had such a great timedoing it, because we're like, we're
all here just having a good timeand making something incredible, so let's just
do it to the best and havea good time while doing it. Yeah,
(12:15):
I think some I think some ofthe people were expecting the queens to
be like divas, which sometimes maybewe were. I feel like for the
most part, it was like verychill, and for sure it was.
It was very good energy and veryjust a fun environment to be in.
How different is it for you?You know, And again I'm I'm assuming
(12:37):
I've never done drag, but Iyou know, vendor shows and all,
and so I'm assuming like when you'reperforming on a stage like you you have
to be on and you know thereis a live audience there and you're feeding,
feeding off of their energy and andI'm sure that drives you even more.
And all, how is it whenyou know you are having to do
(13:00):
like cuts and and that sort ofthing, you know, to or do
another take or whatever. Is ithard to kind of uh put out that
performance when you're used to getting thatdirect feedback, like immediate feedback. I
mean, I feel like it wasfor me, but not for Heidi,
(13:20):
because Heidi is a star exacting.She was like crying a single tear,
like only like real actresses can do. I was feeling, honestly, when
we were filming, I was feelingmy whole fantasy onset. It was because
I feel like when you're performing infront of people, there is like that
instant gratification and instant like you feelthe energy, you can bounce it back
(13:41):
and you're very like you got tobe on it. And when we're filming,
you have to be within that characterand you have to feel what that
character would feel, and you haveto you have to react in a way
that that person would react, andhow to be okay with jumping into the
character and that out in and out. Yes, So yeah, that was
a difficult part for me. Itwas fun being able to just like,
(14:03):
Okay, I have to cry.Now, let's let's do it. Let's
cry. Did you ever in yourearly lives did you ever imagine, you
know that one day you would beand you know, not just on TV,
but now on in a feature film, Like did that ever? Was
that ever like, yeah, I'mgoing to do that or did you just
(14:26):
kind of go for the ride andand here we are in a big horror
movie? Well? Yes, ofcourse. Honestly for me personally, I
did. Growing up. I waslike, I feel like I'm meant to
do something bigger then because I livedin a very small town. So I
was like, there has to bemore to the the world than this.
(14:48):
And I was like I meant todo something. I didn't know what it
was. It definitely did. Ididn't think it was going to be did
you cross dressing for Jesus? Allthese many years? But here we are
and it took me to a horrorfilm and all these other great things.
I think that, Yeah, likeas a drag queen, you have to
be delusional enough to think that likeyou're a star and that you're like we're
met for something. It's like baserequirements. So I always did want to
(15:11):
be I don't think I ever sawmyself in a horror movie. I just
saw myself in like a rom com. But you did have some romance.
I did have a little bit ofromance. But no, yeah, this
is like I didn't realize I waswanted to be an actress until it We
were done with this movie and Iwas like, oh, I want to
do that again. I would havedone it again too. I was like,
(15:33):
oh my god, I have somuch fun. This is like incredible.
I love that. And you know, as you're filming, you know,
now obviously it's raps getting ready topremiere. When you saw the final
cut, what like, what wereyou thinking, Like, were you like,
holy crap, Like that's me.We haven't we have a Yeah,
(15:54):
we're gonna see it with our twoV accounts. We are so stream we
were gonna watch it tonight. Sowow, Okay, that's super, that's
awesome. So you have no idea. We're just going off the trailer.
We're just going off the trailer lookslike we looked really good. So I
thought the trailer was lovely. Thetrailer is I do, and the film
(16:15):
is I'm telling you, I reallyloved it. And so do you have
any special plans for tonight You're gettingpopcorn or vodka or what's going on?
Probably I might see if a coupleof my friends want to come over and
just like watch us hamper down andwatch a scary movie together, popping that
popcorn. I'm going to Vegas's goingI'm gonna take a break from gambling and
(16:41):
tipping the strippers to watch my newfilm of course streaming where on TV.
I cannot believe that, Like,you're so nonchalant about this. You're like,
I might, you know, I'lltake a break from tipping the strippers
and watch my film. Or oh, she's kind of a legend, she's
kind of an icon. But andeven and even you heardi like, you
(17:04):
know, oh, I'll probably callsome friends Like what like you weren't like
like a month ago, Like okay, on this day, you are not
doing anything because we're watching my freakingmovie that's premiering, Like how are you
so nonchalant? I should have beenlike that? Probably, Like maybe drag
queens aren't very good planners. Wehave to have people plan for us,
(17:25):
and then we're more executors than planners. We you know, Okay, all
right, what what was the mostfun moment for both of you on set?
My fight scene, I would saywas probably my favorite time all set.
I really got to get in therebecause I wanted it to look real.
I was like, look, Italked to the people who we were
(17:48):
fighting. I was like, look, throw me, let's we're gonna do
it. Let's do it go andwe did. I was living well.
I I really didn't like get tobe behind the camera to like watch that
much. And so there's one daywhen I got to just watch some of
Trinity's scenes and I was just like, I can't believe this is real.
(18:11):
Like I was like, I'm soglad that I was one of the first
people that got to see this,right. I still have some footage on
my phone from getting a couple ofrecords and stuff. I'm like, ah,
so that's why I'm so excited tosee the final product, because like
I remember all the all the magicin my mouth, the bar. I
just want to see it all cometogether. Because we also film out of
(18:32):
order too, so it's like wedon't feel from start to finish. So
it was like one day we're atthe end of the movie and the next
day we're back to the top,and I'm like, okay, well,
we don't even know where these go, right, It's gonna be nice to
see them. It's gonna be niceto see them flow from one to the
other. So are I mean,uh, and this is sort of tongue
(18:52):
in cheek, but like you areofficially screen queens now? Yes? Yeah,
we are just like ever Robert,Oh, Like are we? I
mean you are the stars of ahorror film. You know that that automatically
makes you scream queens? And thenI think I think technically now you could
(19:15):
be the queens of the screen queen. Yeah, oh my god. That
is going in my little bio onall my platforms. What was the wrap
like for you? Like, whenyou were done, were you like exhausted,
exhilarated, all of the above?Were you like, you know,
(19:40):
I just shot a freaking horror movie. It was really just getting right back
to work. Honestly, we hadI had to go do some shows back
in the States, and so Ithink it's the actual rap party. It
was nice stunt double Yeah, weshut down without Crystal. She left just
a couple of days early. WhenI wrapped, it was it was just
(20:02):
a lot of emotions. It wasa lot of all. It was.
It was very much like because wekind of became really close knit because you're
you're surrounded by these people for likethe amount of time that you're filming,
and that's all the people really you'reseeing for that most amount of time.
So it's like, yeah, youbecome close and you and all of a
sudden it's over. It's like,oh, it's kind of sad. I
remember I was crying on my finalnight. I was like, on my
(20:22):
last day on set, my heelbroke, right, it was a sign
I remember that. WHOA. Iwas like, it knew you were perfect
time you were uh for And I'mbeing spoiler free. Traditionally in so many
horror films there it always, youknow, ultimately ends up becoming a franchise,
(20:47):
whether it's you know, a prequelor a sequel or reimagining or you
know, set in the same universe. Is there possibilities for Sleigh to or
Sleigh Harder or whatever. We fullywere on set being like, come up
with ideas for the name of thesequel. We're like, so we're getting
(21:08):
a sequel, right, So wewere convinced the entire you couldn't tell us
we weren't get a sequel already,so we're like, we're definitely getting one
Zombies where we thought of it all, we got storyline, plot lines.
The name of the is was SlayAnother another day, Another day, Another
Sleigh. That's where we came to. I absolutely love it. Thank you
(21:36):
both for speaking with me. Ican't wait for everybody to see Sleigh exclusively
on to be what. What canwe expect next from both of you?
Oh goodness. Well, my podcastjust came back today with Jadison's Hall hauling
Clauses, so check us out anywherewhere you listen to podcasts. You can
(21:56):
catch me doing the super commercial myElphiel with Judge. Judy and I got
a couple other projects in the fireright now I can't totally talk about,
but you will see me real sooneverywhere. Oh yeah, and I posted
a new TikTok today, so makesure you go watch my sick talk.
But yeah, otherwise, just theinternet. I'm traveling around all the time
(22:19):
working out Honey, she got business. Thank you, Heidi, Crystal.
I really appreciate your time. Ilove Sleigh and I can't wait for everybody
to see it. Ah yay,thank you, making, thank you,
thank you, congrats Hidie and Closetand Crystal Method. Hi. Those they
(22:41):
are hysterically funny, super creative.I'm so glad I got the chance to
talk to them, and I amso glad that I was able to watch
Sleigh. You I'm telling you,horror fans, comedy fans, drag fans,
it's a great film that you canwatch exclusively on to Be. And
(23:02):
by the way, let's not forgetthat end. There's always an opportunity to
slay again, and I really hopethat they do do that because you know,
it's just a great team, greatcast, very smart, very funny,
and it's so enjoyable. So hitme up, go see Sleigh,
(23:26):
watch slayh on to be. Letme know what you think about it.
I want to discuss it. Iwant to know what you think, and
let's talk sligh in pop culture.All right, that is our show for
this week. Short and sweet.You know it's been my nickname a time
or two. But in any event, that's all for this week. Hit
(23:48):
me up. I'll see you nextweek. I love you. Well.
Yeah, thank you for listening toPop Culture Weekly. Here all the latest
at pop Cultureweekly dot Com Slay QueenSlay Slay Queens. Allow you, queens,
(24:10):
it can be so mean to thevampires. Slave queen slay slay slayer
slay slur slur slur
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