Don’t be fooled by this multifaceted performer’s brief time on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” — she’s so much more than that and a bacon dress! A stage and screen actress with several credits who made Oscar history, a musician who rocks out with other big name queens, the niece of a true American icon, and now the latest incarnation of Rose Nyland to grace our stages… the incomparable Kelly Mantle!
Thotyssey: Kelly, hello and Happy Pride Month! Actually, do you enjoy this time of year, or is it all too crazy?
Kelly Mantle: Pride takes away my Summertime Sadness.
If you weren’t busy with Pride gigs, what would you be doing this time of year? Bars, beaches, Netflix and chilling, etc.?
Getting high by the beach and singing Lana Del Rey covers.
I was just re-watching scenes from the wonderfully nutty improv comedy show you co-starred in with Tammie Brown: The Browns, which streamed on Amazon Prime via Out TV that was first released in 2020. Your drunk lesbian character Sheila is a camp icon!
Thank you! Sheila is my shero.
When you all filmed that show, did you have any sort of minimal script or structure regarding what needed to be done for the scene or even the episode, or was everything just made up on the fly?
When we first started The Browns, it was all improv just like Curb Your Enthusiasm or a Christopher Guest movie. No scripts, just skeletal ideas of moments we wanted to happen. Everything we shot in Puerto Vallarta was guerrilla-style shooting. We got a little more scripted with Season 3, but still left room for improv and play.
In general, since you have explored a hugely diverse realm of performing from drag to music to theater to improv to scripted film / TV to reality TV (phew!), what kind of experience do you prefer: scripted, rehearsed stuff where you can really refine the product, or very improvised in-the-moment stuff where you can authentically play?
Well, reality IS scripted lol. When it comes to acting, I love doing both: scripted and non-scripted. Of course I love delving into characters and dialogue by brilliant playwrights and screenwriters. But it’s also fun to do things like The Browns where we get to basically write the material ourselves in the moment. That’s very exhilarating. I never know what’s gonna come out of my mouth…or go in it!
What’s life with having Tammie Brown as a bestie like, lol? Is it a lot of crazy antics and walks in nature and finding dead bodies on the side of the road? Or is it largely chill?
It’s all of that and then some, lol. Every great rollercoaster has those suspended moments of stillness before it starts furiously spinning you in circles and blowing your wig off. That’s basically what it’s like being Tammie Brown’s bestie.
You two play in a band together called Rollz Royces with Michael Catti, and in the past you played with Tranzkuntinental that also included drag stars like Detox, Rhea Litré, Vicky Vox, and Willam. Is the collaborative nature of being in a band an easy thing for you to do, or do you prefer to be the boss, lol?
Of course being in bands with your girlfriends is a total blast! Being in TranzK with those bitches was like the Go-Gos on crack. But when it comes down to the music, I prefer to play solo with my guitar…down at the Men In Music Business Conference.
You are famously baseball legend Mickey Mantle’s niece! That’s probably the world’s greatest RuPaul’s Drag Race cast member trivia fact of all time. I stupidly thought Mickey Mantle was married Marilyn Monroe–that was Joe DiMaggio, lol! But that would’ve been something, if Marilyn was your aunt.
Oh, I wish Marilyn had been my aunt (although Mickey’s wife, my Aunt Merlyn, was fabulous and actually resembled Marilyn). Mickey and Marilyn did know each other, though, and there’s some pretty saucy stories (and pics) that I loved hearing about. I’ve actually been told by two different psychics that I was Marilyn in a past life. Lol! A girl can dream.
As far as RuPaul’s Drag Race alums go, your time on season 6–which saw you leave as the first eliminated queen–was cut short, yet your overall career both before and after your appearance on the show has been so rich and interesting. Is it crazy that that a whole generation of queer folks know you best from that one show, or does it make sense? Did you have to overcome any hard feelings about spending such a short time there?
Nooo! It’s showbiz, baby! Some people are in it to win it… I’m in it for a minute. Leave ’em wanting more! Fortunately I think most people are finally discovering my acting and comedy work, which is more my gig than Drag Race anyway. So it’s a great payoff for me. Also, I think there’s something kind of poetic about going home first. It allows you to rise like a phoenix from the ashes. And the gays love a good comeback and Renaissance!
Do you still have that infamous “bacon dress” that you designed in that first ep (which I thought was actually quite pretty)?
It’s currently on display at The Smithsonian.
Do you have thoughts about how Drag Race has changed the business and art of drag into something likely quite different from when you started taking part in it? Are the changes good or bad, or is it a mixed bag?
I think it’s great that drag can now be a lucrative career. I hope the evolution of drag continues to be a revolution. And I do wish Drag Race would use its platform to write better material than what they currently offer on the show.
You appeared in so many popular TV shows over the years: NYPD Blue, Mike & Molly, Cold Case, CSI, The New Adventures of Old Christine, George Lopez, Modern Family, … you even got to shoot a judge in Adult Swim’s Eagleheart! (Let’s not bring certain Supreme Court justices into this conversation, lol). I’ve heard you say in interviews that you tried to really flesh out these characters as much as you could, both to reflect trans or nonbinary realities, but also just as people in general. Sometimes you were successful, other times you were dismissed by showrunners. Do you think roles for non cis-folks have gotten a bit richer in more recent years, or is it still the same? Also, what was your favorite TV role?
I think we’ve seen a slight evolution in the dimension of non cis roles. Luckily, it’s more accessible for us to create and write our own content these days. Now we just need to see more of that accurately-represented content get picked up by major networks and studios.
Next to Sheila, my favorite TV project has been Eagleheart. It left me completely assassinated.
You’ve also said that it would be great if trans / nonbinary actors could play cis roles in the same way that the reverse happens’ Elliot Page recently said something similar. If we’re talking about real life people or well-known fictional characters, is there any woman that you’d love to play?
My dream role is Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? And Cher!
You made history and headlines when your role in in the 2013 film Confessions of a Womanizer was submitted for Oscar consideration in both Best Actor and Best Actress categories! If you ever find yourself in that position again, do you think you’d know what to do? I feel like in today’s crazy times you’d be under so much pressure from both queer groups and right wing loons to pick one category or the other.
Wouldn’t it be great if there were so many amazing lead and supporting roles for trans and nonbinary actors, which would warrant us having our own category!? I mean, ultimately, it would be great to have acting categories that aren’t based on gender, but performance. Unfortunately, we exist in a patriarchy, especially in the entertainment industry, so there’s concern that model would automatically be more favorable to cis men. So until we can crash the system, I guess we’re going to continue the dialogue which I was happy to start.
You recently did an installment of WOWPresentsPlus’ Drag Me to the Movies with Crystal Methyd parodying Scream, called Yelling Loudly, lol! What was that experience like?
So much fun! I’d never met Crystal before, and we had a blast working together… and such great chemistry. And I loved working with Ron Hill and Jeff Maccubbin, the creators of Drag Me To The Movies and also the producers of Trixie & Katya’s UNHhhh series.
And you’re currently touring with Jackie Beat, Sherry Vine and Sam Pancake for Golden Girls Live, which is exactly what it sounds like! You’re Rose! How did you come to be a part of this production?
We’re so excited to bring it to NYC for Pride, and to Fire Island! I love working with these legendary ladies. I have some big shoes to fill (size 13 to be exact), stepping into the role of Rose while Drew Droege is committed to other projects at the moment.
Are you a Rose in any way in real life?
Although my man, James, says I’m dingy and absent-minded like Rose, I personally think I’m much more of a southern floozy like Blanche. I guess I’ll have to accidentally trip Sherry Vine down the stairs so I can be Blanche in the next one.
Do you have an all-time favorite Golden Girls episode?
I like the one about Dorothy’s Lebanese friend…I mean, lesbian friend, Jean, who fancies Rose. I think they should’ve made Rose an out-and-proud Home And Garden lezzie!
The Golden Girls Live comes to New York for shows at Red Eye in Manhattan on June 27th, 28th and 29th (two shows each night, 7pm and 9pm), then out to the Ice Palace on Fire Island on July 1st (8pm)! What can folks expect?
Well…at our last show in LA, Jackie Beat’s pants fell off and she was left standing center stage in her granny panties! So ya never know, lol. Folks can expect lots of laughs! And right now, we need ’em! Laughter is life’s lubricant.
Do you have any New York queens or other nightlife folks you enjoy kiki’ing with, or favorite venues?
Yes! I’m having lunch with Liza at Bergdorf Goodman!
Lol! Is there anything else coming up for you that we should be looking out for?
A: Yes be sure to catch my solo show An Evening Without Kelly Mantle when it comes to your city. And I’m getting ready to start my very own podcast! Find out more on my socials.
Finally: as long as it isn’t another damn charity season (lol), might we see you on a Drag Race All-Stars season in the future?
As long as they promise to send me home first again…on a First Outs All Stars Season!
Check Thotyssey’s calendar for Kelly Mantle’s upcoming area appearances, and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube.
Thotyssey 