Filmmaker Luke Willis (Lady Like): "We Built An Ice Cave For A Hundred Bucks"

Show Notes

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Luke Willis, the director, co-writer and co-producer of Lady Like, a new documentary about RuPaul's Drag Race Season 14 runner-up Lady Camden AKA Rex Wheeler. Luke recalls first meeting Rex through the San Francisco ballet scene where they both had danced professionally, then being knocked out the first time he saw Rex perform as Lady Camden, not knowing Rex had started pursuing drag. Luke talks about telling Rex soon after that first show, "Let’s make fun, campy, queer stuff together," and so they did. Their collaborations on short films eventually led to the documentary, which follows Rex's week-to-week journey as his season of Drag Race airs through the finale and beyond, but it also delves deep into Rex's troubled childhood and his future post Drag Race. Other topics include: Luke dropping out of college after his sophomore year to become a ballet dancer, the enduring magic of the movie Centerstage, how the perfectionism of dance is reflected in both his own work and Lady Camden's, that time he was in The Nutcracker growing up but kept it a secret, his most cherished memories from his dance career, the suitcases full of cash top drag queens take home from a club gig, the timeline he gave himself to get a feature film finished and that time he and his team built a spectacular ice cave for a Lady Camden video for under $100.

https://www.ladylikemovie.com