Drag queens have to work quickly. “You’ve got to jump on a train or someone else will do it and get the credit for it,” Tilly Capulet said.
As soon as Capulet saw “Weapons,” she got to work on an Aunt Gladys look. She was not the only one.
Since the August release of the horror movie directed by Zach Cregger, the menacing villain Aunt Gladys, a witch played by Amy Madigan, has become a social media phenomenon thanks to her distinctive wig with bright red baby bangs, garish makeup and eye-popping sartorial flourishes. She has also been fodder for drag queens around the world, who are posing for Gladys-themed photo shoots and incorporating Gladys into their acts.
It’s fitting: Madigan told The New York Times that Gladys’s garish makeup, with smeared red lipstick, was partly inspired by drag. “You want to pay homage to that, you don’t want to make a joke about it,” she said.
I spoke to six performers via video and phone about why they were drawn to Gladys.
Morgan McMichaels
Los Angeles
Morgan McMichaels knows she’s not supposed to be on her phone at the movies, but she couldn’t help it. Gladys captivated her so much that she needed to get to work immediately. “Against the rules and against my better judgment, every time she was off of screen, I was on my screen researching, you know, ‘flower brooch,’” McMichaels said.
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The post Aunt Gladys From ‘Weapons’ Doesn’t Scare These Drag Artists appeared first on New York Times.
