Read the full conversation below, and check out our exclusive first look at Shangela’s character above.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Shangela, it’s so great to speak with you.
Wecan’t get rid of you!
Credit: Clay Enos/Warner Bros.
SHANGELA:Baby, I’m back again!
That’s what I always do: I come back.
I just keep popping up everywhere, honey.
But no one’s complaining.
I want to give you a hug.
I heard you initially turned it down!
What’s the story there?
Let the record show I would never turn down a role withLady Gaga.
That was never the case.
You know how characters go through changes in writing?
The original character was a Marilyn Monroe lookalike, zombie kind of thing.
So when it came across from my agent, I was like, girl that ain’t me.
I don’t look nothin' like Marilyn Monroe.
But that was the reason at first I didn’t go in for the audition.
Then the role after I auditioned changed to a drag bar owner and it expanded a little more.
And now you’re her drag mother in this.
Did it feel like a natural relationship on and off camera?
But this whole story is rooted in love.
There’s so much emotion and heartbreak in this story.
Your scenes with her and Willam are so fun.
The characters have their dialogue, but Bradley gave us a little freedom to play on set.
It was awesome for him as a director to trust us in that way.
Willam and I have worked together before.
We were inHurricane Biancatogether, we’ve toured together, so we naturally had that playfulness between each other.
You know [her character] starts flirting, girl, I don’t have no time for it.
Was he receptive to learning?
It was so cool to see how already well-versed he was when we got there.
He seemed like he was having a good time…. he’s done his research.
Before I was in his film, I was a fan.
He’d put in the work.
If I need to pull you back, I will."
But he gave me the freedom to have fun and dowhat I do in 181 cities a year.
Next, I’m inviting him out for Halloween to come out in drag with me.
I wonder if Bradley will come out in drag.
How do you think Bradley looked in a thin eyebrow and blush?
Let me tell you something: IfKameron Michaelscan pull a muscle transformation, so can Bradley Cooper.
I don’t know if the thin brow is his look.
Are you saying you’d take Miss Bradley Cooper as your drag daughter?
You know I’m Shangela, honey, I’m only on the scene for a little while.
I’m a teen mom.
But I would take him as my sister, you see.
I’m still trying to look like Beyonce.
I can’t have too many kids!
What would that movie look like?
Well, it would be calledA Queen Is Born.
That might be next.
Let’s get this one through first and then ask Bradley if he wants to do a sequel.
Do you think that’s a powerful statement for a leading man in a mainstream movie?
I do, 100 percent.
There’s been such a great evolution of writing in mainstream film and television.
To see this modernization of the story and how he drops in, it’s so cool.
As aRuPaul’s Drag Racequeen, I meet so many fans from so many walks of life.
I love you so much.
Girl, I thought you were robbed!"
Treat people how you would want to be treated.
Show them the same respect.
Don’t walk in with any preconceived notions, just meet the person in front of you.
Usually, in studio movies, drag queens are there as a joke.
But here it’s just a normal, beautiful gateway to a foundation of sisterhood for Ally.
It feels like a step forward.
As a drag diva auditioning in Hollywood, I’ve initiate the gamut.
There are so many different facets, and this is one of them.
This is her experience.
The mainstream audience doesn’t see that so often about the drag community: it’s a sisterhood.
It’s something to be proud of.
But what are you most proud of with this whole experience?
I’m from Paris, Texas, okay!
I hope that inspires more people to know: honey, youcando it.
It doesn’t matter where you start.
It’s all about the journey and as Jenifer Lewis says: stay happy on your way to happy.
That’s what I hope to represent with this moment.
