Who are the Drag Race stars in A Star is Born?
A Star is Born stars Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper (Warner Media)
Halleloo, bitches, guess who’s making a cameo in the upcoming remake of A Star is Born?
The movie, which comes out on October 3 is packed with great acting, amazing vocals and two small but meaty cameos from Drag Race Royalty™.
The film features cameos from RuPaul’s Drag Race favourite Shangela Laquifa Wadley and the controversial Willam Belli.
Two Drag queens are (re)-born
A Star is Born tells the love story of fading rock star Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) and wannabe singer Ally (Lady Gaga). The two meet after Ally performs a rendition of Edith Piaf’s “La Vie en Rose” at her local bar on a night typically reserved for drag acts.
In the scene in question, Maine, drunk, enters the bar by chance and is instantly charmed by Ally’s vocals (and her taped-on eyebrows).
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper starring in A Star is Born, Cooper’s directorial debut. (Warner Media)
In the movie, Shangela and Willam play drag queens at Ally’s local club. Shangela, the bar’s MC, is presented as Ally’s drag mother.
“LG [Lady Gaga] would really like you to come in to audition for this role,” Shangela told Metro about landing the part. “I guess you could say she did hand-pick me to audition for the role.”
Shangela said she loved working with Gaga and Cooper on the movie, and had very nice words for Cooper, who also directed A Star is Born.
“He was so warm, and he knew so much about the LGBTQ community we were creating in this scene, and he was also interested to know more, so it was really cool and super refreshing to work with him,” said Shangela.
Shangela plays the drag bar MC and Lady Gaga’s drag mom in A Star is Born (Netflix)
Willam plays Emerald, whose role is literally lusting for Bradley Cooper.
In the movie, the bar is introduced as a welcoming environment for Ally, who is a cis woman.
Gaga was a guest judge on the Season 9 premiere of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
“She attributes a lot of her [joie de vivre] to her life with [drag] queens in clubs,” RuPaul told ABC News in 2017.
“She’s an amazing person and a really loving person,” he said. “And I’m always surprised when I see these people because she’s a child! You know, when you strip down the makeup, it’s like, ‘Oh my God!'”
The 411 on the queens
Willam Belli attends the premiere “A Star Is Born” on September 24, 2018 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty)
For those not acquainted with the work of Shangela and WIllam, first of all: girl, what are you waiting for?
Shangela, whose name is D.J ‘Shangela’ Pierce, appeared on Seasons 2 and 3 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. She was also the runner up of the third All Stars season of the show. Fans of the drag competition got a chance to see the performer go from drag baby to stunning diva.
It’s likely you’ve seen Shangela, the ultimate professional, in popular TV shows such as Glee, 2 Broke Girls, Bones and even Toddlers and Tiaras (as a guest mentor). She’s also made a few appearances in the pages of Vanity Fair and Glamour.
Willam appeared on Season 4 of Drag Race and was infamously kicked off the show for “breaking the rules.” While Drag Race contestants are meant to remain in perfect isolation during the taping of the show, it was revealed Willam was sneaking her husband in for “conjugal visits,” although, as she said herself, “there was not much talking” going on.
In addition to Drag Race, Willam has made TV cameos in CSI, Criminal Minds and Sex and the City to name a few.
Both queens appeared in Hurricane Bianca, a movie effort by Drag Race contestant and Season 6 winner Bianca Del Rio.
