Shea Couleé Is Eyeing Hollywood Domination

Shea Couleé believes in the power of manifestation. Just three years after falling short of the Season 9 crown in RuPaul’s Drag Race, she manifested a win on Drag Race All Stars 5, which earned her a spot in the franchise’s 2022 winners-only season. “For a lot of my life, I’ve been a self-fulfilling prophecy,” says Couleé, who has a “never say never” mindset about possibly returning to the franchise for a fourth time. “When Mama Ru calls you, you got to go.”

Now Couleé, who uses she/her and they/them pronouns in drag, has sights set on Hollywood domination. In a historic first, Couleé is the first drag queen to be cast in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starring in the upcoming Disney+ series Ironheart. The iron-clad Marvel contract means she can’t reveal anything about her character yet, but she did say filming the series was the “most incredible five months of my life,” thanks in part to her two Black female directors, Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes. “Sam is someone I’ve been friends with since I was 18 years old,” says Couleé, who’s now 34. “I was actually living on her couch when I started doing drag. To see the growth and glowup for both of us, and to watch her direct so beautifully... I was just really lucky.”

Aside from her first major acting gig, Couleé released her debut album, 8, in February, and embarked on her first solo tour, the Lipstick Ball. “Taking up an hour’s time on stage can just feel so incredibly daunting,” she says. “But we sold out 75% of the tour, which was so incredibly validating.”

Below, Coulee reveals the Pride Yearbook superlatives she’d give herself today, the album she can’t stop listening to, and why she’s happy to go after politicians who are pushing anti-drag laws.

Shea Couleé On Bushwig, Self-Care, & Lawmakers’ Real Jobs

What superlative would you give yourself for the 2023 Pride Yearbook?

I’d give myself the same superlatives I won in high school: Best Dressed, Best Individual Style, and Most Likely To Win an Oscar. I love fashion. I think I have immaculate taste. Besides English, fashion is my favorite language. Most Likely To Win an Oscar, because after having an incredible five months filming Ironheart, I got really reinvigorated with my love for acting.

How do you feel about anti-drag laws popping up across the nation?

It makes me feel annoyed, it makes me feel angry, but it also makes me feel activated. It’s funny how conservatives chose to target drag queens on the platform that we’re grooming children and creating negative impacts and influences on them. When you try to wield some type of moral hierarchy, it opens you up to investigation. By trying to use us as a scapegoat, they put themselves under a microscope.

I feel like we are starting to see conservative politicians, faith leaders being outed for actually harming children. [It’s not] drag queens creating this harm. The harder and harder they push toward us, the harder and harder we’re going to push back and start finding skeletons in their closets.

What would you say to lawmakers who are opposing the art of drag?

Your job as a lawmaker is to work on behalf of all of the hardworking, tax-paying constituents, and not to take rights away from people who are simply different from you, who are trying to live their lives. That’s not your job. You’re not doing your job.

What were some of your go-to songs or artists in high school? How about today?

I’ve been a Beyoncé and Britney [Spears] fan since I was 8. I was listening to a lot of Alicia Keys. I liked Stacie Orrico in high school and a lot of musicals, like the soundtracks to Wicked, A Chorus Line, Ragtime, and Rent. I liked Amerie and Christina Milian.

Now that I’m older, I listen to a lot of music that my parents listened to, like Chaka Khan, and I’ve been listening to a lot of Brandy lately, specifically the Full Moon album. Victoria Monet. She’s on rotation so f*cking much. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve listened to Jaguar. Doja Cat, of course. SZA, Ariana Grande. Those would be my girls in rotation. I don’t listen to a lot of male artists. I really give all my time and money to the girls.

Tell us about your self-care routine and mental health tips.

There’s something about a really nice soak and a hot bath with Epsom salts, bubbles, candles, and good music. Or sometimes I’ll just sit and doom scroll on TikTok, looking at funny videos and laughing. I’ll meditate in there. But I just love a good bath.

What’s the most memorable drag show you’ve ever attended?

It’s so hard because I’m normally in them. [Laughs.] But Bushwig [in Brooklyn] would be the most memorable for me. There was so many amazing, incredible performances, and just such a varied representation of drag. I love all types of drag, I really do. There is also one, Chicago Is A Drag Fest, that I’ve gone to several years, but I got to go while I was on break from filming Ironheart last summer, and the girls just killed it. Denali, specifically, just really shut it down that night.

Who are your favorite drag queens and why?

Well, RuPaul, obviously because that’s mother — just what an incredible human who has really created such an amazing empire and platform for so many other drag queens. My favorite makeup artist would be Ellis Atlantis, a British queen who won the Netflix show Glow Up. She’s incredible. I love Aquaria. She’s super-duper talented. One of my favorite queens to hang around is Jaida Essence Hall. I’ve been a fan of Raja Gemini since I was a teenager, watching them do makeup on America’s Next Top Model. Raja is up there at RuPaul levels of incredible, as an artist, a visionary, and just as a friend. And one of my faves from Season 9, Miss Farrah Moan, is one of my closest friends. We play video games together. We’ve been on vacations together. I absolutely adore her.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.