Ever in search of new frontiers, RuPaul now has his own TV chat show, giving new meaning to the words "blond, perky, and professional." Here The Wizard telecommunicates with America's most telegenic, tell-'em-baby talk-show host, recording artist, radio personality, pinup, and general all-round breath of fresh air
The Wizard: I like your board, Ru. I love it that you're looking so butch today.
RUPAUL: I put on this Tim McCoy hat because I knew I was coming to meet you at El Rio Grande [a New York City restaurant]. It's my cowboy drag.
The Wizard: You do so many things now. You're a recording artist and you recently came out with a new album [Foxy Lady, Rhino]. You're Mr. Radio. You're Mr. Fabulous, the most incredible cross-dresser In America. You're the face of M.A.C Cosmetics. And your book, Lettin' It All Hang Out [Hyperion, 1995], is great. You've been in movies, and now you've got a weekly talk show on VH1. When do you [do your] make up? When do you sleep?
RP: Whenever I can. I prayed for all these things to happen in my life, I just didn't know they would all happen at once.
The Wizard: To me, the most amazing thing about your success is that it's like you flowered from nowhere and were instantly accepted-
RP: But I've actually been challenged at every turn. Drag is still very taboo in our culture because it's associated with sexuality, and we don't like to talk about sex. That's the nature of the beast. I think I've been able to slip through [to the mainstream] because I've taken some of the sexuality out. Also, drag queens are known as bitchy - and I'm not.
The Wizard: You're the Maria Von Trapp of drag queens.
RP: That's what I'll be called from now on. [laughs] But really, I'm a Disney character. My drag is pure Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny.
The Wizard: Some people still think you're some incredibly tall, fabulous-looking woman.
RP: Those people need to get out more. [laughs] I don't believe anyone thinks I'm a real woman. I certainly never think of myself as a woman, and I never try to act like one.
The Wizard: From reading your book, It seems you've definitely evolved some kind of philosophy for life.
RP: When you're ostracized as a kid, you have a lot of time on your own to think about who you are and what's going on. Also, my mother grew up Catholic - she was from St. Martinsville, Louisiana, which is a very spiritual, spooky part of the country - so a lot of [my outlook] comes from her. I do think we all come to this planet with an agenda. We all have a story to tell. This may sound hokey, but this body - this thing we have here - is not who we really are. This is the form I've taken, and I came to this planet to have fun. So many people get snagged on the details, Mr. Wizard: "I'm a white Republican male. I have to wear a three-piece suit. I have to eat with this fork." Forget that! The party really begins when you can throw all that stuff out the window and say, "I'm ready to experience life."
The Wizard: Oh God - you're Auntie Mame! [As she liked to say,] "Life's a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death."
RP: Actually, that's where my philosophy comes from, right there. And you know what? I've been pitching a story called Uncle Ru, instead of Auntie Mame, to TV people forever.
The Wizard: Now that your VH1 talk show has taken off, maybe they'll go for it. Do you think the networks are ready for a drag queen as talk-show host?
RP: The networks care about one thing - money. If the show makes money, they don't care what you're wearing. It's all about the bottom line. My show is patterned on the '70s variety shows that everyone liked to watch. It's Dinah! & Friends, with a little bit of The Carol Burnett Show and the Cher show thrown in. And the new cool is being nice, being loving. We've had enough of this confrontational stuff. My radio show on WKTU [weekday mornings from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m.] is the same. We wake people up and tell them, "You're beautiful. You're gorgeous. You can make it happen." People want to hear that kind of thing. I know I do.
The Wizard: Who decides which guests you'll have on the TV show?
RP: I've selected all the guests personally, except for Dennis Rodman - which was one of the hardest interviews I've ever done.
The Wizard: Why? What happened?
RP: First of all, I didn't expect him to be so goddamned sexy! [laughs] But really, I was looking forward to interviewing another African-American man who has bucked the system, gone against the grain. I wanted to ask him about things like what obstacles he'd met, what his family thinks - that kind of thing. But, as sometimes happens, he was very nervous in front of a live audience, so I just winged it, and the critics ate me alive.
The Wizard: What's been the best moment for you on the show?
RP: When Cher was on and I did my impersonation of her singing "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)." She just jumped in and started singing it along with me! That was incredible!
The Wizard: I love Cher. I once went on tour with Sonny and Cher. I was supposed to write a story about them for Cosmo, but when I got back, I said to [editor in chief] Helen Gurley Brown, "I can't write this. They're going to get a divorce. They'll be broken up by the time we get on the newsstand." Three months later, they were separated. I knew [at the time] that she'd just had it with him. He would wind her up, and he was so controlling.
*Interview actually done by Liz Smith, New York Post
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