I remember watching season 14 of Drag Race and thinking were it not for Willow Pill, Angeria Paris VanMichaels would be taking the crown. She has the grace and finesse of the pageant world she hails from, but also da-YUM is she funny. Well folks, here we are two years later and Ms. Angeria has finally snatched her crown on All Stars season 9. Condragulations, you’re a winner baby! This year’s season featured eight queens and no eliminations until the finale, which aired last Friday after a very special introduction by Madame VP Kamala Harris. This season also had a new twist in that the queens were playing for charities, so Angeria’s $200,000 prize will be going to her chosen organization, the National Black Justice Coalition. EW caught up with Angeria shortly after her crowning:
What do you want people watching at home to see in your victory and your journey to this point?
I want people to know that it doesn’t matter where you come from. This journey, it started all the way from Sparta, Ga. I grew up in a town where I was one of four gay people, openly. Getting on Drag Race was already a big thing, and now winning is crazy. This is something that I don’t think me or my family could’ve seen coming. It sends a message that it doesn’t matter where you come from or how big your surroundings are; your dreams are even bigger, and you should always chase them.
You cited Disney’s Beauty and the Beast as a reference for your finale look at a time that there’s a debate over which spaces drag is “acceptable” in. Can you elaborate on that?
I love Disney, and that’s always been one of my favorites. Growing up in the South, I feel like every little gay boy wanted to be a Disney princess. Every little queer kid that grows up with that Disney princess in their head. That’s what I felt like on the runway. I was living for every single moment in my life, and I wanted to be myself and accepted for what I always felt was in me. I felt like the prettiest little princess that there was, in my big ball gown.
People said that you were delusional, but you were killing the competition, at the same time. How do you respond to that?
If this is being delusional, obviously delusional wins you a crown, a scepter, and $200,000 for a cause you believe in. To everyone out there: If people around you are calling you delusional, keep being delusional, because obviously it will lead to success, okay? [Laughs]
On the note of acting, Ru said on the finale that he had high hopes for you as an actor. You booked high-profile gigs before the show, but now, what do you have lined up?
I will say: Stay tuned. Definitely stay tuned. In terms of things that I’m doing, you can find me on the All Stars 9 tour, starting very soon and you get to see not only me, but all of the girls from All Star 9. We’ll relive some of our best moments and runways throughout the season.
Is there a dream role or genre you’d like to do?
There’s so much that I want to do. I want to do more TV. I want to be on shows, sitcoms, reality TV, I want to be in movies. I’m a big drama, horror, thriller type of person. I’d also love to be in comedies, because we know she’s a funny girl. I foresee a lot of acting coming my way. I want it, and I’ll accept it with open arms.
I’m not crying hearing Angeria describe being the prettiest little Disney princess of her Southern gay boy’s dreams, you are! That finale ball gown was stunning. At first I didn’t pick up on a Beauty and the Beast reference, but looking at it now, yeah, I can buy it as the sartorial interpretation of, “If Lumière and Plumette had a bébé.” Oh, Miss Angie; she’s got a honey-warm Southern accent that immediately transports you to sipping sweet tea on a humid porch while you fan yourself by hand. And she’s not just a beauty queen — she’s a funny girl, as she put it. I particularly enjoyed her welcoming and volleying back each time RuPaul would say, “Angeria? You know there’s an ointment for that.” And how she’d play up her fabulous facial expressions and decadent Georgia twang. She’s self-aware, and uses it to maximum effect all to entertain us. If that’s delusional, keep being delusional!
Photos credit: IMAGO/Dave Starbuck / Avalon, Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon, IMAGO/Zoonar.com/Lumeimages.com / Avalon