Red Broadwell
Dracmorda and Swanthula Boulet, better known as the Boulet Brothers, have been long-standing pioneers of the alternative drag scene and patrons of all things spooky. Their show, The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula, has created a platform for all manner of drag artists to show their art. After five regular seasons, the Resurrection special, and the returnee Titans season, the show has grown into a massive celebration of the spooky, the punk, and the unapologetically queer. Now the Boulets can add Emmy nominees to their long list of personal and professional accomplishments, being the first drag artists nominated for their own work in an Outstanding Make-Up category.
I had the chance to speak to the Boulets over the phone. We discussed their landmark Emmy nomination, the creative direction of Dragula season five, the stand-out moments of the past season, and the hell of an ornate costume.
Awards Radar: First I’d like to say congratulations the Emmy nomination. I also read that you’re the first drag artists to be nominated for doing your own work.
Swan & Drac Boulet: Yeah!
Awards Radar: That’s crazy! How are you feeling about that?
Drac Boulet: Really good! It took a couple of days for it to sink in. A lot of the time, because we wear so many hats on the show–we’re producers, we’re the hosts, we’re the judges–a lot of other things take precedence. The makeup is really something that’s very personal to each of us. We both go to our own separate dressing rooms and we paint our faces. It takes three to four hours for us to get fully ready. That’s something that nobody else touches or has any influence or say over, unlike everything else with the rest of the show. It’s nice to be recognized for that.
AW: I’ve been watching the show since season two, I think. I’m a big fan, [the show] has gotten me into a bunch of drag performers that I probably wouldn’t have heard of otherwise. It’s made me very excited about the future of alternative drag just in general.
Swan Boulet: That’s kind of what it’s about, right? We want to put a spotlight into the shadowy places where people just exist on the fringe. Even though they’re amazing artists, you wouldn’t ever know about them. There was no platform before Dragula for that specific type of performer, so that makes me happy?
AW: So after six seasons, counting Titans, and across your countless other works I don’t think I’ve ever seen you repeat an outfit or a makeup look. What is your process for developing a look?
DB: I think, a lot of times, the outfits we wear on the show are so incredibly uncomfortable. Once you’re trapped in it for eight hours for a shooting day or more, you never want to see it again. So, it’s easy to not wear it because it’s awful and we don’t want to wear it.
SB: I think it’s also connected to our obsessive compulsion to always reinvent and always be seen as something new and glamorous. Repeating just doesn’t help that at all.
DB: The make-up we vary a little. I think we have our standard face that’s very iconic. Once you get a look you’re recognized for, you don’t want to vary it too much. I think in the beginning of the season we always stick to our “this is a Boulet look” or the evolution of the Boulet look for the season, as far as the make-up goes. As the episodes go on, we’ll play along and have a little fun. But, the clothes definitely change every time.
AW: I can imagine that once you’ve been in something that elaborate for eight hours, I can imagine you would want to burn it after.
DB: And the designers are never practical. They can draw out something and say “we want it to look like this” and I’m like “you can say no to me”. If you can’t make it happen, say no. Oftentimes they don’t, despite what it does to your body to stay on or stay up.
AW: I mean, for a show known for its Extermination Challenges, it feels like some of those ensembles in of themselves are extermination challenges.
SB: Oh, one-hundred per cent. There’s a million ways you can do drag. But something about our drag, and what we say between us, is that if you are not one-hundred per cent uncomfortable from the top of our heads to the bottom of our feet, our eyeballs, our lashes, our giant claws that render your hands completely unusable. If you’re not one-hundred per cent uncomfortable, you’re not doing Boulet Brothers drag.
AW: So, [season five] was the first season you both fully directed. What was the experience of directing the series as opposed to a live show or a special?
DB: It felt great, it felt correct. It felt like the most fulfilling experience of creating the show yet. We almost sort of directed it in the past, but it was always filtered through other people. We’re the executive producers, so we’re always able to say ‘yes’ to this or ‘no’ to that. But you’re seeing your vision interpreted through other people, ultimately, if you’re not writing or directing it yourself. So, this time we were able to really see our vision come to fruition. It wasn’t that different from what we’d already been doing, but there were a few important differences.
Like, for example, we felt previously that we weren’t showcasing the look and the drag of the competitors as much as we wanted to. Now you see we do a standard runway but we go back to doing our regular close-ups. In the past it felt like our editors were trying to make it a great music video and forgetting that our contestants are competing. They’ve worked all week to make this outfit, so show the outfit.
SB: And, of course, we love the people that we work with for years before that on seasons one through four, and even through Titans. They’re friends of ours and they helped us build the show. But, for season five and onward, we cut out the middle man so to speak. So, our vision and what you see on the screen is more congruous in season five.
AW: The floor show feels like the biggest change. I was curious what your ideas and creative process for creating this version of the floor show that really showcases the drag was?
DB: I feel like the floor show is where you see it the strongest, but you’ll also see it in the exterminations and the death scenes. Those are the three places I think you seen it the most.
SB: We made some fundamental changes, some of them not based in weaknesses but in places we could improve from previous seasons like seeing more of the drag. This whole idea that from episode to episode competitors are creating new aspects of their drag, new characters if you will. That’s why we introduced that turntable. For us, it felt like that tip of the hat to the character creation screen when you’re creating something for a role-playing game or a fighting game. You put your character on there, you spin them around, and you can see them from head to toe. It adds to the drama and the visual presentation is definitely an upgrade.
We also decided to move away from the video screens, which you see play a big part in previous seasons. We wanted to say that this is on-stage, in the realm where you experience drag live, so let’s try to make that translate as much as possible to camera.
AW: That was something I definitely picked up on. It made the show feel like a filmed live show rather than televised drag, if that makes any sense.
DB: That was kind of the goal. When these drag artists come off of the show, they’re going to be performing live. That’s what we should be testing them on. I think with other shows I’m like: “What is this show…how is this show testing their drag?” I think sometimes producers get lost in that, so it’s important for our show to focus on that aspect.
AW: Even before you took over directing duties, you have had a huge influence over the show. You’ve been very front row in growing the show to what it is now. How has it been to see the show grow to this scale?
SB: It’s kind of like having a child that you love dearly and is a product of you and the person that’s most important to you. You and them, you create this child that you absolutely love. But it also drives you insane, up the wall, and makes you want to throw yourself from the top of a building.
DB: I think that’s a pretty fitting description: sometimes you love it, and sometimes you hate it a little bit. I think the fandom is the biggest change. When we first started the show, we knew what we wanted the show to be and we believed it could become that. Not to be weird, but I’m not surprised that the show is more successful. That was the goal the whole time, and we believed in it; if we hadn’t believed in it, it wouldn’t have happened. I was surprised that it took as long as it did in some ways. But then when things like this happen, with the show being Emmy nominated, that’s something I wasn’t sure would happen.
SB: I would agree with that.
DB: It’s not about a panel of people watching a TV show and asking what are the best TV shows that came out this year. You usually have to campaign and try and play the game to win awards like that, and that’s beyond our resources. So to know that we were chosen and voted on by our peers, by all the make-up artists and other people that work on TV makes it that much more special.
SB: Yeah Drac, you touched on the fandom influencing how we feel about the progress of the show. The show itself is one thing, but how the fans react and how they can affect your life as the creator is pretty profound. We definitely did not see that coming.
DB: Yeah, because we’re so connected to it too. It’s not like we have the luxury to film the show and then never have to look at it again and we don’t hear about anything online. We hear about everything, it’s brought to our attention. It’s dropped on our front step and burned on the porch every time.
SB: Not only that, but we are blamed and we are responsible for everything.
AW: What was the coolest things that happened this season? Whether it be a performance moment or anything really?
DB: For me, having Mike Flanagan on season five was very important and impactful. He’s a modern master of horror and we’ve become friends with him. I think him and people like him who are friends of ours coming on the show and being a part of it and wanting to be an even bigger part of it, it means a lot. It’s very validating.
SB: I agree. I think another milestone or something worth mentioning that I’m proud of from season five was the level of diversity. We had artists from Asia and from South America and, of course, the U.S. But we also had several trans people, nonbinary people, all colors, and all different expressions. That’s really satisfying. That’s where we come from and what we’re about, so I think season five was very successful in that department.
AW: Out of all the looks you’ve done for the show, across all seasons and specials included, which one or which ones are your favorites?
DB: I would say the promo look from season three is probably the most iconic.
SB: I’d agree with that
DB: I think Resurrection stands out to me too. I lost a little bit of weight then and I liked the way I looked. The starvation was worth it.
AW: Thank you so much, again, for taking your time to do this interview. And, again, congrats on the nomination!
DB and SB: Thank you, we appreciate you doing this.
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