Yahoo Finance Yes, that was Drag Race icon Porkchop in old-man drag in RuPaul's Christmas movie
That wasn't just chestnuts roasting over an open fire — a healthy slab of Drag Race season 1 icon Victoria Porkchop Parker sizzled in disguise as an elderly man across RuPaul's hilarious holiday movie The Bitch Who Stole Christmas.
EW has an exclusive interview with the reality competition series' first-ever eliminated queen, who reveals how she joined the film as Bertram, the millionaire husband to fellow Drag Race alum Jaymes Mansfield's cutthroat housewife as the couple defend their ruthless reign over the small town of Tuckahoe's annual Christmas pageant. Read on for our full Q&A with Porkchop, and catch an encore presentation of the VH1 film — also starring Mama RuPaul, Ginger Minj, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Jan, Peppermint, and more Drag Race queens — on Sunday, Dec. 19.
VH1 (2) 'RuPaul's Drag Race' star Porkchop plays Bertram in 'The Bitch Who Stole Christmas'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: First, what's it like being married to Jaymes Mansfield as an unhinged, Christmas-obsessed housewife? Is she the ideal partner?
PORKCHOP: She could be if she got off her high kick of changing Christmas up!
The dynamic between your very silent Bertram and her super-extra character was lovely. What was your dynamic like on set?
She pretty much did her thing. I sat in the wheelchair with my mouth shut. I couldn't say anything anyway! She was wonderful and really on it. The first scene we did was when she pulled the projector down in our home, and I got wheeled in with my nurse. I was amazed at how well she was spitting her lines! It was like, "Move back, I'm getting ready to act the house down!"
It was nice to see two people who left Drag Race early getting a moment together. But I have to admit: I truly didn't recognize you under the Bertram drag! The disguise is so good. How did they pitch this role to you?
They didn't have to pitch it! As soon as they told me, I wanted to do it! From the description of the character, I knew what I wanted to do with it. I immediately thought, "Yes! I don't have to get in drag, and I get to be comfortable!" I was able to show off what I was able to do as a guy, not in drag.
So, they just called you and said they wanted you to be an old man named Bertram? Who's idea was it?
Yes! I think it was [Drag Race producer] Thairin Smothers, he called me to ask me and offered the part. I immediately took it!
Was it always the plan to shock people with your transformation?
I was on set for two or three nights before I did anything, and I got my makeup done every night. We had opportunities to figure out what was the best for me to look how I wanted to look. I had two different people do my makeup…. I knew they transformed me a lot, because when I looked in the mirror, it was like, wow, this is what I'll look like in 40 more years I hope!
Did you get yourself into old-man drag? Tell me about that process of picking the clothes and making yourself over.
They were like, "You're playing a 70-year-old man, bring something you think a 70-year-old man would wear!" I took a couple of different suits, I borrowed them. The one I ended up wearing the entire time was this grey suit that was given to me by an older man. He probably had the suit for 20 years. Between the suit and the makeup, it took two hours every night. It was a lot. There were seven nights in a row that we did that look.
Were you wearing prosthetics?
I just had a lot of old-age makeup. The guy who did my makeup worked for the Los Angeles Opera company; he was used to doing a lot of those types of looks where you age people. He was good at it. The fact that I do drag, I could look in the mirror and tell him to do this or that. We worked together on the makeup, I knew from how I normally looked in drag to highlight myself to look prettier, we did [the opposite] to make myself look older.
When you came out on set for the first time in full Bertram drag, did anyone not recognize you?
The first time I got wheeled on set, I hadn't seen anybody from the show because we were all separated… I could tell from their reaction, because they laughed when they rolled me out, that I was doing a good job.
I have to ask you about having the Porkchop Loading Dock become such an iconic season 13 meme. How does it feel knowing you're still an iconic part of the show?
I was supposed to have dinner with the producers and Ru that day when I went and filmed [Snatch Game], but I was late! My friend got into a car accident coming to pick me up, so when I ran to the stage saying, "I'm late, I'm late!" I wasn't acting! I had literally just gotten to the studio, and I missed the dinner and everything! I saw the Loading Dock when the episode aired, and I was blown away! I was thinking that I had to go shopping later, I wondered if people would notice me!
Subscribe to EW's BINGE podcast for full recaps of RuPaul's Drag Race, including our new season diving into all five All Stars seasons, featuring exclusive interviews with Jujubee, Alexis Mateo, Shea Couleé, Alaska, Detox, BenDeLaCreme, Kennedy Davenport, and more. And be sure to catch up on our BINGE recaps of RuPaul's Drag Race seasons 1-13 with Symone, Jaida Essence Hall, Trixie Mattel, Katya, Peppermint, Bianca Del Rio, Bob the Drag Queen, Sasha Velour, and more!
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