“I think the perception of audiences that love folk and country is they’re perceived to be more closed-minded than they really are.”

I didn’t start drag because I thought it would be a ticket to anything. I did it for my own narcissistic fulfillment. When I started selling records, going on tour, doing TV. I never expected any of it.

To me, drag is about doing whatever you want, and nobody says anything. And ‘Drag Race’ is about doing what you’re told and having it evaluated. I hate being judged.

I was the poorest kid in my school, poorest kid in my town, poorest family. That stayed with me forever.

I remember being obsessed with Christina Aguilera’s ‘Stripped.’ That was her peak, and she is such an amazing singer. Plus, I was a little gay boy, and the music video for ‘Beautiful’ existed, so obviously I was affected.

I didn’t start drag because I thought it would be a ticket to anything. I did it for my own narcissistic fulfillment. When I started selling records, going on tour, doing TV. I never expected any of it.

Some of my favorite drag queens are women.

I’m not a competitor by nature, and I’m certainly not used to being evaluated.

People on a daily basis walk up to me, panic, and tell me something extremely graphic and violent about their life.

Any time there is an economic downturn or political strife, lipstick sales skyrocket. If you have a hard day, it’s this $14 thing that lifts your day. I think drag has that same lipstick effect.

People are slowly realizing that they’re looking at drag all the time. ‘Mrs. Doubtfire.’ ‘Real Housewives.’ Peewee Herman. Don’t let calling it drag make you uncomfortable.

I’m an optimistic realist. I kind of expect the worst but prepare for the best.

I always tell my mom that if she would have just bought me a Barbie when I was little, I would have gone into real estate.

Trixie Mattel is a product of bad things that happened to me, and it’s how I deal with things. It’s wonderful.

I remember seeing RuPaul in ‘The Brady Bunch Movie,’ when she says to Jan, ‘Girl, you better work.’ And I froze it in my mind forever.

If I have a show at night, I like to spend the whole day alone in silence. I know that might be crazy.

For years, ‘Drag Race’ was gay people’s best kept secret. When I started doing drag, people didn’t know anything about it. Look at it now: it’s like it’s gone from black and white to IMAX.

I enjoy playing the audience like a piano.

Cricketers have to perform in front of millions, and there are no retakes. If then you become a hero, you deserve all the accolades coming your way.

I am a typed director. If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach.

I always take the audience into account.

Always make the audience suffer as much as possible.

Our job, as actors, is not to tell the audience how interesting we are, but to entertain them with our films.

I don’t write because there’s an audience. I write because there is literature.

I guess any movie actor can become a role model for audiences out there who enjoy him.