This year is without a doubt, the year of Eureka. Whether it was their back to back star turns on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 6, as part of the stunning trio on We’re Here, or being the latest screen queen on American Horror Story, this multi-faceted performer is bringing their talent and equally large heart to screens all over the world. As their Drag Race run ends (for now), I caught up with Eureka, and we dished about their Drag Race run, the drama of the eliminations, and their future plans. Eureka also shared with me what their beloved mother taught them that they take throughout their career as a “Northern Star” of sorts.
Michael Cook: From Top Four on Season 10 to Top Four on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 6, you are officially a Drag Race legend. Can you believe it?
Eureka: Yeah I can believe it, they love putting Eureka through all of the hoops (laughs)!
MC: The twist of All Stars 6 truly was a “game within a game”. What was it like to return to lip sync against Silky Nutmeg Ganache and beat her, after she went up against (and beat) all of the former competitors from this season. What did it feel like for you to come out on top and return to the competition?
E: It was bittersweet because it was nice to come back and to win, but it also broke my heart to send her home. Especially watching it back at home, I was honestly rooting for Silky too. Then when it got to my lip sync, I felt bad because I knew I was going to send her home. I knew she worked hard, but the same thing that I had to remember in that moment was the hard work that I had put in the whole season too. I couldn’t let it make me feel bad because I worked my ass off too, so it was like, how can you decide between the two?
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MC: Immediately following your return, you had a successful challenge win and then had to send Trinity K Bonet home. Suffice to say, it was a rollercoaster of emotions from the moment you returned, is that fair to say?
E: Yeah absolutely, it is a lot of pressure also. I chose Trinity because the group did. I did that because it was not worth sending two different girls home in the end. I didn’t want to go into the Top Four with bad blood on my hands or drama. It just happened to be that is who the group was choosing also, and that Trinity had given up, based on the way that she was acting all day. I know that the fans love Trinity, but at the same time you weren’t there; it sucks the way that it worked out.
MC: With few exceptions, fans rally behind the All Stars contestants sometimes more than any other…
E: That is the drama of the show; the voting and the eliminating. The drama!…(laughs)
MC: While you didn’t grab the crown this season, what do you think it would have told you that you have done right so far in your career?
E: It is going to tell me that I did myself right. That all of the hard work, as a bigger individual, has paid off. I didnt get here because I’m fat, but because I am talented and worth it. Everyone is always like “it’s time for a big girl to win” maybe it’s just time for a survivor to win. Maybe it is time for someone who has been through everything and still come out on the other side, that is how I feel. I have been through everything you can possibly go through on RuPaul’s Drag Race; injuring myself, coming back, getting eliminated and coming back. At what point, have I proven to the world that I am a survivor and worth winning? I have done everything that I can; just that it is all worth it I guess.
MC: Have you wrapped Season 2 of We’re Here yet?
E: Almost. we have one more episode to go.
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MC: Has the experience of We’re Here shown you a totally different perspective of the television process and made you fall in love with it in a different way?
E: You know, I have always been in love with tv and film because it is where I escaped when I was younger. My obsession with it has only grown with Drag Race and then with We’re Here. It absolutely made me fall in love with it even more. I get to do drag at the highest level. With support; with wardrobe and makeup, I almost get to be my own RuPaul on the show. It is completely different, but it is also very emotional and that is a huge part of who I am as a person. I need that emotional therapy, and that is what We’re Here is really about; how therapeutic and confident building drag can really be. It’s very that; it is just a different show, but we could not have one without the other. I could not be on We’re Here without Drag Race because the world wouldn’t be ready to drag without it.
MC: Five years ago, we found Eureka. Five years from now, where do you want to be?
E: My goal is to be on the silver screens, in films, that is really the goal. I am working on it now, I have a dream of doing an adaptation film on Glenn Milstead’s life, who was Divine. That is one of my biggest dreams, it is a project that I am working on now. Things like that, just more of this. I dont know about Drag Race again, but I think the tank is empty on my Drag Race run. For a while!
MC: Maybe a return as a Lip Sync Assassin in a future All Stars season?
E: Okay, I can see that, I can definitely see a lip sync assassin moment.
MC: Your mom is an overarching part of your Drag Race journey and you as a performer as a whole. What is the one thing your mother taught you that was a Northern Star of sorts, that helped get you through?
E: I was taught what pain feels like, what having nothing feels like. My mom was a single mom and I saw her struggle and fight, but she always fought through with a positive attitude. She taught me to keep fighting and not to tear anyone else down to get there, No matter how nasty or mean they are to you, do it on your own merit and you’ll be fine. That has always kept me right.
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