RuPaul's Drag Race veterans Ginger Minj and Jujubee are making a compelling case for big-screen stardom in the disaster comedy Stop! That! Train!, a film poised to become a highlight for LGBTQ+ Pride Month audiences. The queens hope the movie, which hit theaters Friday, provides comic relief at a time when Pride celebrations have become a flashpoint in the current sociopolitical climate.
A Dream Come True for Representation
I never had anybody that looked like me on the big screen, so I get to be that person for somebody else right now, and I think that's a really beautiful thing, Jujubee told HuffPost. Minj added: It's important right now that we see ourselves reflected in mainstream media … it felt like a lot of pressure, but really, really fun at the same time.
Directed by Adam Shankman, Stop! That! Train! follows Tess (Minj) and DeeDee (Jujubee), two train attendants who lose their jobs after their low-rent employer, Stank Rail, shuts down. In a nod to Some Like It Hot, they pose as new staff on the luxury Glamazonian Express heading to Celebration, Florida, much to the dismay of their snooty colleagues played by Brooke Lynn Hytes, Marcia Marcia Marcia, and Symone.
From Mean Girls to a Stormaganza
Unfortunately for Tess and DeeDee, mean girls are the least of their worries as their train hurtles toward a catastrophic stormaganza. Chaos and hilarity ensue when President Judy Gagwell (RuPaul) declares a national emergency, and the duo must get the train to its destination intact.
Shankman, known for splashy musicals like Hairspray and Rock of Ages, had never directed an independent feature before being approached. He convinced screenwriters Christina Friel and Connor Wright to move the action from a plane to a train to distinguish it from Airplane! One of my favorite movies is Murder on the Orient Express, and I love trains, Shankman said. I could use the airplane tropes and jokes about the control tower and oxygen masks [but] it makes it weirder and more absurd if it's on a train … it felt very scrappy, which appeals to me because I'm from theater. I knew that I could do it with limited resources.
Star-Studded Cast and Musical Numbers
The director brought in Drag Race songwriters Leland and Gabe Lopez for the musical numbers, with the film becoming one of Lopez's final projects before his death in January. He also assembled a stellar cast including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Joel McHale, and Matt Rogers for cameos, plus Missy Pyle and Brian Jordan Alvarez in supporting roles, the latter playing a train conductor who becomes DeeDee's love interest.
They're really in there to be supportive of the queens, Shankman said of the ensemble. They wanted the queens to just get their flowers, and to be a part of this really freaking wackadoo thing that we were doing.
Rising to the Challenge
Jujubee, who had never formally acted in a film, said she had to put my big-girl pants on and show up to work, and know that I was chosen to be here with everybody. Minj, with credits in Dumplin' and Hocus Pocus 2, relied on her Drag Race experience. I had two weeks to film one line in Hocus Pocus 2, and on this movie, I had 19 days to film about 100 pages, she joked. It felt like the maxi challenge of all maxi challenges … There was no time to second-guess anything [but] I loved working like that, because I hate downtime.
Positive Reviews and a Message of Pride
Early reviews have been positive, with The Guardian urging audiences to see it with as rowdy — and gay — an audience as possible, comparing it favorably to recent queer films like Pillion. Shankman says the experience encouraged him to invest in my pride more and gripe less. Right now, there are more than 400 different bills on the table to try to strip us of our rights simply because of who we are, he noted. That's really challenging to think about. So the notion of investing in a moment of pride … feels more important to me now more than ever.
