(soft music)
- Trixie Mattel I have a question for you.
- What's going on?
- What it like when you were approached to do a documentary?
What was going through your head?
- A lot people were like,
wow this is a really big next few months.
Are you documenting this?
And I was like, well I have my phone.
They were like we should do something bigger and so,
I mean listen, I'm a drag queen,
you ask me to do like a film about me, I was like,
and like, yeah.
But when you watch the film 'Moving Parts,'
it's not the Justin Bieber experience.
It's not like a music video and me, like, in great lighting
It's like me not in drag,
rifling through a suitcase in my garage
which is honestly the real spirit of drag, so.
- What's the scariest part about doing this?
- It sounded like a good idea,
until about 6 hours in
I was like
- Right, right
- And its not leaving for about 9 months.
I mean the director Nick Zeig-Owens
literally slept on my couch with a camera.
On a micro level, it's a snap shot of me as an artist.
And on a macro level,
it's a snap shot of, like, the golden age of drag.
(soft upbeat music)
- Was it hard for you to let people see Brian
outside the Trixie Mattel lens?
- I mean there's parts in the movie
that went by so fast
that I didn't realize were so cool until I watched it again.
And there's parts in the movie that were so awful
that I did even like realize how awful it was
until I watched it again.
I don't want to give away too much,
but last year was definitely like you know
I had won ‘Drag Race' and put out my second album
and traveled the world
and then I also had like challenges
with the 'Trixie and Kayta Show'
and you know perception of fans, stuff like that, so.
It's not all easy.
(soft upbeat music)
I never talked about it, never,
it was never my place.
You know, I was touring the world
doing all this press for 'All Stars'
and everyone's like great job.
Let's talk about your crazy friend.
You know, like—and that was never something
I wanted to participate in
and in this film especially you know Katya and I,
we sat down with my assistant and management.
We all watched it together,
had a lovely room temperature Diet Coke
and we all were like a lot of this is uncomfortable.
However, it is what it felt like in the room
and so I think it's important
for anything that has to do with to do with drag
or gay people or mental illness or substance abuse.
Do we want to continue to just, like,
put some FaceTune on the worst things in our life?
In comedy or music, that's never been my style to just, like,
sweep things under a rug. I'm just like,
You know,
I have a glass eye and 3 testicles.
- Why do you think it's easier for you
to express yourself through music and comedy?
- Well look at this crash dummy.
I mean like,
are you seeing it over here?
Okay.
Like, when you look like this it's like who cares
whatever I say or do, I go home and no one cares.
But, like, me, you know out of drag just like an Elmer Fudd,
you know I look like an ASL interpreter
you know from Wyoming.
In drag you can explore whatever you want
and then you can just hang up the chicken suit
and be like what, I'm just Clark Kent.
I don't know anything about this Superman you speak of.
- Through doing this documentary,
did it teach you anything about your own vulnerability?
- I don't think I could have made a film myself
that really is accurately me.
'Cause again, you and me and everybody,
I watched the final cut last night one more time
and I had like a moment of like,
and it made me just feel like
I really did something with my life.
And, I know that sounds depressing
but I watched it and I was like
The sentiment is sort of like,
happiness isn't having everything go right for you.
Happiness is learning to not only
expect bad things to happen to you
but like accept it.
'Cause as soon as one thing moves into place,
two things are gonna fall out of place.
That's just the drag queen experience in general