Condragulations are in order for "RuPaul's Drag Race" contestant Ginger Minj, who's gone from knocking out the competition on reality TV to having Michelle Dockery and Jennifer Aniston knocking down her trailer door on set.
Minj, who placed second in Season 7 of the Logo series and 8th on its second All-Stars round, is back in front of the camera for TNT's "Good Behavior" this Sunday. In the episode, Letty (Dockery) goes undercover as a female impersonator in an attempt to steal $500k from a drag club, where Minj's character works. Fellow "RPDR" alum Sharon Needles and performer Roxy Wood also appear.
"She became our drag daughter," Minj told TooFab of Dockery. "She was our collective drag daughter, me and Sharon and Roxy. We sat there like, 'No girl, we would never sit like that. You gotta command the stage! Swing that leg over there like that. If you're gonna snap your fingers, do it over your head, make it bigger!' She was our baby, we made sure we took care of her."
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View Story"Michelle Dockery is one of the most wonderful people I've ever had the opportunity to meet," Minj continued. "She was so warm, she really embraced us from the get go. We got to our trailers the first day on set and there were cards with pictures and gifts for all of us on our dressing stations. She was like, 'I'm so excited, I'm such a fan and I really hope I don't disappoint you.' She never did, she was so wonderful."
The drag star had a similar interaction with Aniston on the set of the upcoming film "Dumplin'," something that definitely caught her by surprise.
"She came to me, she came to my trailer. I wasn't going to bother her, I love her and I didn't want to fan girl, I said to myself you have to be professional Ginger. You want to work with them again? Just show up and do your job," she explained. "But she actually came banging on my trailer door my first day and just thanked me so much for being a part of it."
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View Story"She said, 'If you look around and you see things that really aren't exactly what they should be, just call us out and let us know,'" Minj continued. "She made it a point every single day to come and say hello to me and give me a hug. She's so tiny and delicate and wonderful too. I was biting my tongue the entire time going, I don't want to ask but did you ever get back with Ross?! I was such a huge 'Friends' fan."
Keep reading to see what else Minj revealed about working on the set of "Good Behavior," which queens she's rooting for to win "All-Stars 3," and how married life is treating her after tying the knot in September at DragCon.
Her episode of "Good Behavior" airs Sunday, November 12 at 10/9c on TNT.
How did the "Good Behavior" opportunity come about?
My management company contacted me and said, "Hey we want you to audition for this thing, we think you'd be great for the role." Without knowing the show at all, I took the lines, filmed a little video and sent it in and did't hear anything for a couple weeks. All of a sudden I got a phone call saying, "Hey you booked it!" I didn't know anything about the show, I just showed up and filmed it, had the best time of my entire life. It wasn't until like three weeks later I was in New York and the show came on TV and I was like, what did I get myself involved in, this is so dark! This isn't nearly as much fun as we had on our episode.
What was your reaction when you saw who else would be on the episode with you, I assume you and Sharon were friends before this.
That's kind of how I found out that I had been cast, I got a text message from Sharon that said, "See you soon, sis!" So right after, my management company called and said, "You booked it, you're gonna be there with Sharon and there are a couple other girls they're pulling from around the country that aren't from 'Drag Race' and I think you're gonna have a good time." It was the best experience, everybody got along so well. Even though the days were really really long, they were fun. There was never a dull moment.
You're no stranger to acting or being on TV, but how did this experience compare, being on a scripted series?
It's lovely. It's kind of going back to my roots. Before I was a drag queen, I was an actor. I've always thought of myself more as a dragtress, where all of my drag stems from theater and acting. It was a return to form for me and I really enjoyed it. I love having a character, I love losing myself in whatever's going on and just playing pretend and that's what we got to do.
How much input did you have for her look or character?
They pretty much let us decide what we wanted to do. They had us give them options of what we wanted to wear and how we wanted to style ourselves and then they chose from those options. It was very collaborative and when we got there they were very adamant that all of us keep the drag realistic and grounded. You know a lot of times, our community isn't represented realistically on television. You have these amazing dance numbers and stuff, but you don't go into a real club and it looks like that. They wanted us to step up and say, "This isn't really realistic, in an actual drag setting this is what would happen." They would really take our advice and found a good middle ground. I like that they respected what we did enough to really listen to our concerns and make everything as natural as possible.
What was your first reaction when you saw Michelle's drag makeover?
I didn't know who she was! I thought she looked fabulous, she looked so good. I'm totally happy and fine being the funny fat girl, but I was truly jealous of her and how her little body is. She's the tiniest little Tinkerbell and I love her.
You talked about realism, but how realistic is it for a drag queen to be rocking a Balmain top and Gucci pants, as Letty does in this episode?
Well, I will say, we would probably rock the same exact outfit, we'd just buy it at Santee Alley for about $5. Same print, but we would not pay those designer prices. Bougie on a budget! I think that even though they are designer pieces, she was very adamant that they still speak to that over the top drag persona. She really wanted to make sure that they were a little uncoordinated and loud so they still gave that drag aesthetic.
Did you offer up any drag superstar pointers to Michelle?
Of course! She became our drag daughter. She was our collective drag daughter, me and Sharon and Roxy. We sat there like, "No girl, we would never sit like that. You gotta command the stage! Swing that leg over there like that. If you're gonna snap your fingers, do it over your head, make it bigger!" She was our baby, we made sure we took care of her.
What'd you think of her character's stage performance?
It's so good, we watched it 500 times from every single angle. She's so engaging. Michelle Dockery is one of the most wonderful people I've ever had the opportunity to meet. She was so warm, she really embraced us from the get go. We got to our trailers the first day on set and there were cards with pictures and gifts for all of us on our dressing stations. She was like, "I'm so excited, I'm such a fan and I really hope I don't disappoint you." She never did, she was so wonderful.
Now there's some shady dealings going on in this club. Do you have any crazy real life behind the scenes stories that stand out?
The first club I ever worked in as a regular was in a teeny tiny town called Auburndale, Florida. Their nearest big city is Lakeland, which is nobody's big city. And my dressing room was a compact mirror stacked on top of Bud Light boxes and I sat on a keg. So, there were certainly things happening in that club, the goings and comings of all those people, they didn't have the best intentions. But who was I and what did I know at that point? I thought, I finally made it, I'm really in the nightlife!
They just announced the lineup for All-Stars Season 3. Is there anyone you're rooting for?
I know all of them and I root for all of them in different ways because I think everyone could benefit from and bring to it something different. Of course, Trixie and Kennedy are from my season and I would love to see them represent because I feel like Season 7 gets a bad rap from the community. It was a transitional season, it was the first time things had really changed in a long time and upon watching it back, fans are finally starting to go, maybe it wasn't bad, it was different, but not bad. I'd love for one of them to win so we could get some street cred for our season. I also really really love Shangela. How can you not love Shangela? She's reality TV gold and she's been on more seasons of "RuPaul's Drag Race" than RuPaul.
You also recently filmed the upcoming movie "Dumplin'", we're dying to know if Jennifer Aniston is a "Drag Race" fan.
I don't know for sure that Jennifer is a Drag Race fan, but she certainly did her research before I came in and she came to me, she came to my trailer. I wasn't going to bother her, I love her and I didn't want to fan girl, I said to myself you have to be professional Ginger. You want to work with them again? Just show up and do your job. But she actually came banging on my trailer door my first day and just thanked me so much for being a part of it.
She said, "If you look around and you see things that really aren't exactly what they should be, just call us out and let us know." She made it a point every single day to come and say hello to me and give me a hug. She's so tiny and delicate and wonderful too. I was biting my tongue the entire time going, I don't want to ask but did you ever get back with Ross?! I was such a huge "Friends" fan.
Congratulations on your wedding in September at DragCon as well. How's married life treating you so far?
It's actually really great. He finally was able to leave his job, so he's traveling with me full time now and it's great that for our honeymoon we get to see the world and make money doing it. It's wonderful. We miss the babies, we miss the puppies, but we see them as much as we can and we talk to them 5,000 times a day.
What else do you have coming up?
I'm doing a bunch of tours right now and I'm getting ready to go into the studio with my second album, which I'm really excited about. It's completely different form my first album, Sweet T, which did really well. Billboard gave it a 5-star review, we did live shows and got standing ovations, sold lots of album and it's wonderful. But I had no songs on there that were just fun dancey songs and that's what the second album will be geared towards.