Bianca Del Rio looks back on the moments that shaped her career and reflects on her journey to finding her place in the drag industry. From getting her start in drag at bars to becoming a 'Drag Race' veteran, Bianca breaks down some of the most memorable highlights from her life.
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00:00 Hi. Hi. Hi. So relatable.
00:02 I believe that's what you asked me to say.
00:04 I'm Bianca del Rio, and today I'm looking back at some moments that have shaped my career and my identity.
00:09 Not my life. My identity. It's all about identity nowadays.
00:12 Identify as a...
00:13 Hi, I'm Bianca del Rio, and I'm going to look back at some moments that have shaped my career and my identity.
00:19 This is Becoming Bianca del Rio.
00:22 So, I grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, which explains why I like to drink.
00:28 And it was a party town, and it was an amazing place.
00:30 When I was working there as a young adult, working in the bars doing drag,
00:35 which I know I'm jumping ahead, we'll go back.
00:37 I was working for a group of drunk people.
00:39 And so when you work for a group of drunk people at 3 in the afternoon when you're doing drag bingo,
00:44 you definitely learn a lot about yourself and a lot about alcoholics.
00:48 So I learned then, you gotta be a bitch, 'cause you gotta get your money, they gotta get their drinks.
00:53 So we worked harmoniously together.
00:55 I had done a show called Pageant in 2005 in New Orleans, but I also had done it in 1996 as well, 'cause I'm that old.
01:03 And that was the start of my drag career.
01:06 I was kind of not considered an actor, not considered a performer.
01:09 I had done costumes, wigs, and makeup and stuff for theater.
01:12 And being in the space, they always needed someone else to fill in.
01:16 So I filled in for a small role that was supposed to be literally maybe five lines,
01:21 and then it ended up being three minutes on stage, then it became five minutes on stage,
01:25 then it became ten minutes, and then it became the monstrosity sitting before you right now.
01:30 So that's how it all began.
01:32 Let's see what's next.
01:34 Hello, World of Wonder and Logo TV. My name is Roy Halock.
01:38 My drag name is Bianca Del Rio.
01:40 So this was my drag race audition tape.
01:44 And I'm saying "tape" because that's of a certain time.
01:47 So yes, we had to make a tape and actually send it in.
01:49 I was in New York doing a show called Hot Mess with Lady Bunny at Club XL.
01:56 And one night, Michelle Visage came to visit, and she saw the show, and she asked,
02:01 "Why haven't you auditioned?"
02:03 I said, "Well, I think it's for, like, younger queens.
02:05 I think it's for people, you know, that impersonate Beyonce and do splits and stuff."
02:08 And she's like, "I think you'd be really good."
02:10 She goes, "I have nothing to do with casting, but I think it'd be something that would be great for you."
02:14 And I thought about it. I had about three days, and a friend of mine, Matt Kugelman and I,
02:18 put this video together in my apartment within days and sent it in and went,
02:22 "Let's see what happens."
02:24 And there you go. There you go. Crazy.
02:26 Well, well, well, I hope you bitches are ready.
02:30 But as I'm watching this now, all I remember is that room is freezing!
02:35 Freezing!
02:36 Because they have to keep Rue awake.
02:39 It is very, very cold there.
02:41 And also, the reason why I'm wearing this dress, it's a different thing now,
02:45 because now these queens come in with these amazing, big, flamboyant costumes.
02:49 We were told, with the little bit of information we were given,
02:52 "Wear something that you wouldn't be upset if it got ruined."
02:55 That was it.
02:56 So that's why I'm wearing this little random dress that I wore 15 times on the show,
03:00 because I didn't have much time to pack up and go do it.
03:03 And I was concerned about what we were going to do,
03:05 and our challenge for the first thing was a pillow fight.
03:08 What kind of shit is that?
03:10 I'm not going to ruin that dress. It would have helped it.
03:13 Well, my ultimate favorite challenge was the rap challenge.
03:17 And I know what you're thinking. Yeah.
03:20 But it was the most fun, and we had Eve and Trina there,
03:24 which was so much fun, because they were dead serious trying to help us.
03:27 And here was my asshole self trying to be a rapper.
03:31 But it was fun. It was taking me back to my early days and my cavericies and my highlights.
03:36 I was feeling my fantasy.
03:38 Watching this now, for me, is really interesting,
03:40 because there was a moment before Drag Race where I was considering quitting,
03:43 and not like, "Oh, I was going to quit, and I was going to leave the world,
03:46 and they were going to miss me." No.
03:48 The game was, I thought, "You know what? I'm just going to be 40,"
03:51 because I did Drag Race when I was 37.
03:53 And for those of you on Reddit, I was 37 when we started filming in June.
03:57 I had a birthday June 27th. I turned 38.
04:01 Then it aired the next year. Got it?
04:04 So during that time, I thought, "You know what?
04:06 If this Drag Race thing doesn't work out for me, and it doesn't give me an exposure."
04:09 Now, granted, in our seasons, we didn't really know what the potential was,
04:14 where your career could go, or what you could do.
04:16 So it was the early years, so to speak.
04:19 Jinx had been very successful. Sharon had been very successful.
04:22 So it was the beginning of, "Hey, you could possibly do something with this."
04:25 So I thought, "Let me give Drag Race a try, and if it doesn't, I'll wrap it up at 40."
04:30 Which means at that point, I would have had 20 good years.
04:32 And here I am sitting here almost 30 years later.
04:35 [laughs]
04:39 Hi. I'm here to interview for the science teacher position.
04:43 My friend Matt Kugelman, who made the film, had the idea to do this many, many years before I did Drag Race.
04:47 And was like, "We're going to make a movie. We're going to make a movie."
04:49 And I'm like, "Yeah, girl. Yeah, we're going to make a movie."
04:52 And I never really thought in my head, "Oh, we're doing it."
04:54 Until I got there in the middle of summer to film in Texas with Rachel Dratch.
04:59 And you're like, "Oh, shit."
05:00 First of all, Rachel Dratch. There is nobody better, funnier than Rachel fucking Dratch.
05:05 I love Rachel Dratch. A hoot and a lovely, lovely lady to work with.
05:10 I'm used to theater where I thought I'd have to learn the whole script from beginning to end.
05:14 And know every scene back and forth.
05:15 So I was struggling because there was a lot of science dialogue.
05:18 And I don't know if you can tell by looking at me, I don't know much about science.
05:21 So it was challenging. And Rachel Dratch told me, "Honey, honey, honey. Don't look at that shit."
05:26 I'm like, "What?"
05:27 She's like, "Just look at it 10 minutes before you go on camera, and you'll just get it in your head.
05:31 And then it's out of your head when you're done."
05:32 I'm like, "What?"
05:34 And then I thought, "This bitch is genius."
05:36 Well, she's also worked on "Saturday Night Live," so she knew how this worked.
05:39 So it was a great tip that she gave me.
05:41 The other tip she gave me, she says, "Never make another movie."
05:43 We did, and she's in it.
05:45 This amazing show called "Everybody's Talking About Jamie" was in London.
05:50 I got a call from the director who said, "I'd like for you to join the show."
05:55 They said, "We want to offer you the role of the elderly drag queen."
06:02 I'm an elderly drag queen now, too.
06:05 Yeah, I think what's amazing about this show is that this show is of this new time that we're experiencing.
06:10 You know, here's a story about a boy who wants to grow up to be a drag queen.
06:13 And in high school, he's telling everybody he wants to be a drag queen.
06:16 His mother is all about it, and he gets his wish.
06:19 Where that was nowhere near the life I lived.
06:22 So I definitely related to the elderly drag queen role, because that's not how I grew up.
06:27 I didn't think I'd be a drag queen, nor did I plan on being a drag queen.
06:30 God knows I wouldn't have told anybody, "I'm going to be a drag queen."
06:33 I still don't tell people.
06:35 But it is interesting to see how much we've evolved, and I think that's what's also pretty important now.
06:40 Overall, it is kind of exciting, especially for me, to see how much we've grown and how much acceptance is out there.
06:45 After "Drag Race," there were many opportunities that came my way.
06:50 Most of it, people thinking, "Oh, you should do a music video," or "You should do an album of some sort."
06:54 And I thought, "No, no, no, no, no."
06:56 But then I thought book would be fun, and they were very interested in doing a book about my life,
07:00 which I thought, "Nah, nobody wants to hear that life story."
07:03 So I thought, "Well, how can I give back, or how can I make this fun?"
07:06 And I thought the perfect opportunity was to answer questions and give horrible advice.
07:10 Because here in America, people just tag along for anything.
07:13 As I said, Dr. Phil, hello?
07:16 Useless, but giving advice.
07:18 Dr. Oz, another--you know what?
07:20 Thank you, Oprah, for all these useless fucking people.
07:23 But people flock to them.
07:25 I thought, "Well, if you got the nerve to ask me a question, you deserve the answer that I'm going to give you."
07:30 And most certainly, you know, people need more advice these days.
07:33 They really do.
07:34 And it should be me to give it to them.
07:36 Look at me, shining symbol of success.
07:38 Hi, it's me, Bianca Del Rio, and I'm excited to--
07:43 I'm not excited. I'm trying to think.
07:46 Where'd you come from?
07:48 Shut up, bitch.
07:49 Get her a drink, she'll do it one time.
07:51 It's true! It's true!
07:53 This whole experience was insane.
07:56 It was a very, very long day, and as you can see, there is no teleprompter.
08:00 And it's a lot of Drag Race lingo that you're asked to read off of these little cards and make magic.
08:05 Eventually it got easier for me, but in the beginning, I was like, "Fuck! What season are we on? What's happening? What's going on in the room?"
08:11 So it was challenging in the beginning, but the worst part about the job was having to watch Drag Race.
08:17 That was the hard part.
08:18 A lot of bitches I didn't care about.
08:22 It was a lot! And remembering these--just when you remember their names, you're on another season.
08:27 It was a lot for this elderly drag queen, I must say.
08:30 So 2024 for me is all about my new tour, which is called Dead Inside.
08:38 It's part therapy and reality mixed into one.
08:42 But I'm excited to hit the road again.
08:44 I've had a year off because I was doing Pit Stop for most of my life.
08:47 So I'm excited to get back on the road and see people again.
08:49 And aside from it being a show, which is great, obviously to get to perform at any point is fun,
08:54 but I also get to meet people because I do a meet and greet every night,
08:58 which is usually 150 to 200 people that I get to interact with.
09:02 And some of the shady shit these people tell me I live for--I mean, that should really be a whole book now that I'm an author and an elderly drag queen--
09:09 is to do an entire book of just the shit people tell me.
09:12 Things Bianca has heard. Write that down.
09:14 Things Bianca has heard.
09:16 So I'm just excited to interact with people again.
09:18 I had some time off, which was great, and it was a good year to take a break.
09:23 A lot going on.
09:25 And looking at this particular schedule, we're starting out with North America and Canada,
09:28 but it's probably going to take me into 2025.
09:32 So for all ticket information, go to TheBiancaDelRio.com.
09:36 See, I did a plug. See, I don't forget that.
09:38 Thank you, them, for having me.
09:40 And this has been Becoming Bianca Del Rio.
09:43 [BLANK_AUDIO]