By Cris Franco
Since winning season six of the dragtastic multi-EmmyAward-winning RuPaul’s Drag Race, Roy Haylock (aka Bianca del Río) has become a recognized actor, writer, stand-up comedian and overall fabulous Cuban-Honduran. Being the hit reality competition show’s most popular contestant makes him a very busy girl. So I was lucky to get to chat with Roy as he prepared for the Los Angeles premier of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. It’s the West End’s mega-hit musical in which Mr. Haylock plays the pivotal role of “Hugo,” the lead character Jamie’s drag-guru.
CRIS FRANCO (CF): To prepare for this interview I binge-watched RuPaul’s Drag Race. I can see why you’re a breakout star. There’s something very beautiful, unique, honest and hilarious about your persona.
ROY HAYLOCK (RH): Am I gonna have to pay you for that compliment?
CF: Yes. I accept Venmo and PayPal – doesn’t PayPal sound like code for “sex worker”?
RH: If only it were that easy.
CF: So, how did Roy Haylock become Bianca del Río?
RH: Oh, gosh. I wish I had some amazing story. I used to go by Marvel Anne because that’s a character I played in Charles Busch’s comedy Psycho Beach Party. Then one day, I just came up with the name Bianca del Río. It stuck. And once it’s out there, you can’t take it back.
CF: Especially if it’s stuck. How did you come to be Cuban-Honduran?
RH: My mother is Cuban, my dad’s from Honduras.
CF: Good answer. In Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Jamie faces rejection from some of his family for his drag dreams. Did you have a similar experience?
RH: Fortunately not. My parents let me find my own way in the world and today they support what I do. They come to my shows, which is huge considering drag isn’t the most accepted activity in the Latinx community. I didn’t think drag would be in the cards for me. It was a risky thing to do, but I think my parents understood because they took a risk coming to this country to build a new life in America. They’re not out marching at the Pride Parade, but I know they love and trust me.
CF: Young Jamie expresses wanting to be a drag queen in high school. When did you realize that you wanted to don a dress?
RH: Well, it definitely wasn’t in high school. At age 15 and 16 I had the makings of a drag queen as I was already involved in theater, costumes, wigs, make-up. The drag thing just slowly evolved. At age 20 I played a female in a play, so I entered the drag world as an actor. It was never my plan, it wasn’t my dream. It was like, okay – let’s try this. That’s how I got to Drag Race. I went with it, it snowballed into a career and 26 years later I’m like, how did I get here? I was never as clear-minded as Jamie is in the musical. He’s adamant. I’m still asking, how the hell did this happen?
CF: How did I become her? I mean, how did she become me? Who am I?! RH: Yes, obviously it’s an extension of myself. But I’m very realistic about who I am and what I am. I’ve always said that drag is the package to get away with murder. It’s entertainment, it’s fantasy, it’s theatrics.
CF: It’s almost profound how it exposes the artifice of gender.
RH: And everybody does drag for different reasons. For some, like myself, it’s a business, a job. I love performing, so I come at it from an actor’s perspective. For some of my trans friends it was their journey into transitioning – which is beautiful. But some friends basically just enjoy dressing up and going to parties. It’s how they choose to express themselves, which is great. It allowed me to present myself as a comedian, actor, performer.
CF: Right. And through the backstage backstories we learn the different queens’ journeys. Drag Race has allowed for America to see the diversity within drag. It’s become a gay ritual at our house. Through all the fabric and face painting, it plugs you into the national gay conversation. The queer zeitgeist.
RH: Yes, putting drag on television has it now being discussed in living rooms. Drag’s everywhere. Queens are falling out of trees — which is amazing.
CF: Your role of Hugo (aka Loco Chanelle) in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is more than his drag persona appears to be.
RH: Yes, he’s more of a fairy godmother. Jamie befriends me/Hugo, a former drag queen whose given up on his dreams. Jamie enters and sparks a new energy and life in me. I start the show as Hugo and later I have 19 minutes to change into full drag and return as Loco Chanelle. Which is a challenge. Talk about a drag race. I’m there guiding him throughout his journey.
CF: You’re his Jiminy Cricket in a jumpsuit. His Sherpa in a shift. Moreover, your character is pivotal to Jamie finding his path to self-actualization.
RH: I give him the confidence. Jamie is about a person with a dream, whose mother, her best friend and Loco help him to achieve. He’s got lots of up and downs encountering people who want to shatter his goal. But the show shows that if people believe in you, anything can happen.
CF: And your career is proof that anything can happen. Along with your stage talents, you’re a gifted costume designer having built wardrobe for opera and Broadway.
RH: Art and design have always been two of my biggest passions. I still make costumes for my traveling show. I enjoy the process. When I moved from my hometown of New Orleans to New York, I worked for a huge costume house. Since building Broadway costumes is a little shaky, and so is drag, I kept both jobs just to be able to afford living in the city. And no matter what was happened that night as a drag queen, I kept going because I knew I had to be at work at 8:00 A.M. the next morning building costumes for Mama Mia, Wicked or Lion King.
CF: Has being Latino impacted your career?
RH: It’s tricky. I was born in this country, so when someone on social media commented that there had never been a Latinx winner on Drag Race, someone replied that I had won. And the commentor wrote that Bianca wasn’t Latina enough. Implying that if my character didn’t hold maracas wearing a sombrero riding a donkey or something, she wasn’t a Latina. I thought this was funny that someone would negate my heritage because I wasn’t fulfilling their stereotypical concept of my culture. And in a way negating my parents’ courage to leave their countries, start a family and work hard to give their kids a better life. My mom left Cuba to escape Castro when it was very dangerous to do so.
CF: Well, from my experience, your hard work ethic and appreciation for your parents’ efforts make you very Latino. The best kind of Latino. I understand you’re planning on making another film to complete the Bianca Trilogy.
RH: Correct. I’ve done Hurricane Bianca, Hurricane Bianca: From Russia with Hate – and was about to do the next film but had to postpone thanks to COVID. I think we’ll shoot the film once I’m back from being on the road touring Canada, Latin America, Europe, the UK, Australia, Tel Aviv and Amsterdam.
CF: Wow! Bianca’s World Tour! With all your success, what is your advice to aspiring theater professionals?
RH: Well, it’s all about trusting your instinct and staying in the present. You don’t know the future, you can’t change the past. If you are passionate about something, it will find its way to you if you allow yourself. As I said, I didn’t expect to be doing what I’m doing at this point. I’ve been very fortunate to meet some amazing people on this journey. But I’ve been open to these possibilities and said yes to many unglamorous gigs. In the end, I learned something from doing them. So you’re gonna have those ups and downs, which is okay, because if you don’t have the downs, you’ll never appreciate the ups!
For all info on how to see the very “up” Roy Haylock in the musical sensation, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, now playing through February 20, 2022, at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles, California, log onto: https://www.centertheatregroup.org