A Star is Born came close to excluding drag queens – until Lady Gaga intervened. (That’s motheeeer!)
In a recent interview with MailOnline, Willam revealed that she, and other queens featured in the Oscar-winning drama (including Shangela), were told they were being “cut” from the final edit.
The actor and Drag Race icon memorably played Emerald, a drag queen at Ally Maine’s local bar who asks Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) to sign her breastplate, before encouraging him to sing on stage.
As a key moment in the film, showcasing the blossoming romance between Ally and Jackson, it’s hard to envision A Star is Born stripped of the drag bar’s warmth and the presence of its incredible entertainers.
Willam recalled attending Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black’s wedding in 2017, where he received a text in-between “the rehearsal dinner and ceremony” saying, ‘Terrible, terrible news. All of your scenes have been cut.’”
“[I was] trying to be happy at a wedding when someone tells you you’ve just been cut from a Lady Gaga movie,” said Willam. She was reportedly contacted a week later and told that her scenes were reinstated because “Lady Gaga fought for the inclusion of drag queens in the movie.”
Willam added: “Thanks Gaga, we love you.”
Upon release, A Star is Born was met with universal critical acclaim and became a huge success at the box office, earning over $430 million worldwide. The film received eight nominations at the 91st Academy Awards – including Best Actress for Gaga – and won Best Original Song for her worldwide chart-topper ‘Shallow’.
Gaga also became the first woman in history to win an Oscar, BAFTA, Globe Globe and Grammy Award in a single year for her acting and soundtrack contributions.
In the years since, Willam has continued to find success with her and Alaska’s podcast, Race Chaser, appeared in critically-acclaimed productions like Death Drop (2021) and Titanique (2023), and even earned a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for her role as Douglas/Gomorrah Ra in Eastsiders.
You can watch Willam’s interview with MailOnline below, where she also dishes on backstage tea from RuPaul’s Drag Race and what she’d say if she came face-to-face with RuPaul.
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