Not only is Jinkx Monsoon an iconic RuPaul’s Drag Race winner and legendary drag queen, but she’s also cemented herself as a wonderful actress. She’s taken on a role in Disney+’s Doctor Who cast and her parts on the stage include Matron "Mama" Morton in Broadways’ Chicago and Audrey in Off-Broadway’s Little Shop of Horrors. Sadly, we don’t get to see many performers like her in mainstream media. However, after seeing her shine in the episode “The Devil’s Chord” on the long-running sci-fi show, I’m hoping more drag queens will be able to take on roles like these that show off their range as queens and actors.
Of course, elements of Monsoon’s personality as a drag queen played into the part of the villainous Maestro in Disney+’s first season of Doctor Who. However, that’s not all it was. She wasn’t playing a caricature of herself. She developed a new character that capitalized on her skills as a performer and truly highlighted her talents as an actor. She touched on this point, telling EW this about the inspirations for Maestro:
I hope I’m not misquoting it, but I believe in the script it said: ‘Maestro: Think Joker, think the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and think Jinkx Monsoon.’ I was in the character description, so I knew I could rely on some of my own affectations and personality traits. [Laughs] But really, for any character I create, usually there’s a female performer in mind. For Doctor Who, I wanted to look at past Doctor Who villains to kind of match that level of over the top. There’s a heightened element, especially to the more powerful villains. It’s kind of like Shakespeare, where you’ve got to make it feel natural even though it’s larger than life.
Monsoon also told Variety that she was inspired by Disney villains as well as Michelle Gomez's Mistress from Doctor Who. Overall, she was able to use her skills as a drag queen to create her incredible villain, however, she wasn’t beholden to her persona as a queen.
And, she did all of this fabulously and in high fashion. However, she didn’t have to do her own makeup or fully develop her looks herself for this show. The design team worked closely with her to do it, as she told The Seattle Times:
I was an actor there being an actor. Of course, there were little moments where I’d say, ‘Well, if you want a drag queen’s opinion on what I would do … .’ But the design team was just incredible.
I love that Monsoon has emerged as a prominent drag queen and actor, and while those two things intersect sometimes, they don’t always have to. She’s proven herself as a skilled performer with range in the worlds of drag and performing, and I hope more drag queens are able to do this, too.
Overall, when this episode of Doctor Who aired on the 2024 TV schedule, it introduced the queen to a whole new audience and showed her longtime fans another side of her. She’s truly carved out such an incredible path over the last few years, this helped her expand it, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
I also can’t wait to see other prolific performers make their marks as both drag queens and actors. They’re such incredible artists who deserve massive recognition, and thankfully that’s starting to happen!
To go back and see Jinkx Monsson as Maestro in one of my new favorite episodes of Doctor Who, you can stream her episode (as well as all the others from this season) with a Disney+ subscription.
