Trixie Mattel: ‘Queens who complain about the responsibility are ungrateful’
Trixie Mattel told PinkNews that drag queens need to be more in touch with how lucky they are. (Hush)
Trixie Mattel is juggling a lot of responsibilities right now.
The RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3 champion, stand-up comedian and pop culture icon is working on a new album, releasing a cosmetics line, working on a new book and planning a tour. And she’s moving house.
But Mattel told PinkNews she thrives on a heavy workload and never forgets how lucky she is to be doing what she loves.
“I just like working, I like doing stuff, I like having ten things to do,” she said.
“I like looking at a day where I feel like there’s more to do than I can handle. Morning and nights, seasons and stuff, to me working is just another clock, another way of measuring time.
“When I’ve been at my darkest, it’s when I have nothing to do. Famous drag queens who complain about the responsibility are ungrateful.”
Trixie Mattel said that drag “has never been about meeting other people’s expectations.” (Hush)
Trixie Mattel: “I don’t need vacations”
While working non-stop doesn’t leave much time for a social life, she’s okay with that and said: “I don’t need vacations or to go out with friends, that stuff doesn’t really nourish me the way making stuff does.
“I have a boyfriend and I have a few close friends and that’s really all I need.”
She continued: “Honestly, [success] is kind of fine. I think people are really melodramatic when they think it’s hard.
“Have you ever wanted to do what you’ve always wanted to do, and you get to do it on a massive level with enough money to do it the way you want? That’s literally what it is.”
She admits that with fame comes pressure, but her way of handling that is simple.
“There’s more of an expectation, but drag for me has never been about meeting other people’s expectations, so that doesn’t bother me.
“When people say: ‘What do you think about so-and-so getting death threats in her comments?’ Well, she shouldn’t read the comments. Do you think RuPaul reads the comments?
“I get to express myself, I get to act stupid but also be smart. I get to design this look, and do this kind of music, and do the jokes that I do. It probably won’t last forever, so I’m just loving it now.”
Drag queens need to be more in touch with how lucky they are, said Trixie Mattel
Even in the moments when she feels down, Mattel “reality-checks” herself on how far she’s come in her career.
“I was just on the morning news the other day in Canada. I had to get up at six to be in drag and then I had to perform, and I was just like: ‘F*** this, I do not want to do this.’
“And then I was like, there was a time in my career where if I had to be on the news the next morning, I wouldn’t be able to sleep because I’d be so excited.
“I just have to remember how much every single piece of this would have meant the world to me five years ago.
“Drag queens in general need to be more in touch with how lucky we are to do this, how many people would die for this.”
In 2020, she will go on her One Woman Show tour, featuring 13 UK stops.
The drag superstar will also be joining DragWorld in London for the first time this August, and she has some expectations on how the convention will differ to its American counterpart DragCon.
“I’ve never done it, I’ve heard it’s in direct sunlight, not really interested in that.
“Usually in the UK the fans are younger and people have weirder haircuts. People have, like, blue bowl cuts.”
