crest with Divine

fanadian University Press

of them and squat over their faces
and flash bulbs would go off. Then I
would answer questions. This was
my nightclub act at the time.

Gateway: This must have been very

racey, over 10 years ago, versus
today, 1986.
D: Yes, it’s come around now.

people used to sit there with their
mouths just open - especially if they
got hit by a fish. When I.did my first
play in New York I played a dyke
matron in a woman’s prison. One
convict had a pet chicken and in the
next scene I go into my office with a
cooked chicken on my finger and |
pull it’s leg off and eat it, and throw
the chicken into the audience. One
night I hit a man with a suede coat
on, and the producers had to buy
him a new coat - five hundred
dollars!

Gateway: I was surprised by the
off-Broadway and on the London
' stage?

D: Oh yeah, I got rave reviews in
London. I used to have them
memorized. But I’ve had better ones
since!

Gateway: Do you have any plans to
work with Waters again soon?

D: It all depends on the script. If he’s
going to do a Pink Flamingos 2 then
no I’m not really interested. I think
I'd be going backwards. I can’t
speak for John but for me I don’t
really feel it’s the right thing to do at
this particular time in my career. I
think John’s a brilliant writer. He’s

The Other Press

 
  
 
 
 
  
 
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  

  

Design: Doug Finnerty
one of my favorite screenwriters,
and directors, and he’s one of my
dearest friends.

Gateway: Is the rumour about a CBS
TV series true?

D: All these rumours! I’d love to do a
TV series. There are some people in
Hollywood who are quite interested
in me. But this is as far as it goes.
Gateway: I was wondering how any
of the major networks would have
the guts to put Divine in a series. I
could see on Showtime perhaps...

D: Oh, you'd ‘be suprised. I’ve been
up for major TV_ shows. They've
usually been killed by the head of
the individual network at the last
minute. This is the same problem
I've had right through my career.
But now, many of the studio heads
have changed and are young men
and woman who were in fact, big
fans of Pink Flamingo. Which is
great for me! There are infact quite a
few shows I could get on at present.

Gateway: A Dynasty appearance
perhaps?

D: (laughs) I’m not going to name
them.

Gateway: I recall your  well-
publicized ban from Tops of the
Pops, have you appeared on that
show since your first time?

D: No. But one of my records was on
the charts and they did cover it. They
just shows part of the video.

Gateway: So you were well received
producers decision. You just sang
the song, you made no suggestive

, gestures. Boy George had appeared
‘in drag, and no one protested. It

hought

ting at home on their fat asses
watching television. They’re the
very ones who complain! They had
12,000 complaints and they say

10 million watch the show.
That’s not a very good ratio. How-
ever, my record sales doubled the
next day! The only people who were
ever banned from Tops of the Pops
were the Sex Pistols, Frankie goes to
Hollywood, the Beatles and myself.
So I felt this wasn’t bad company to
keep, when it goes down in history.
Gateway: You travel a_ lot.
foreign customs ever give
hassles?

D: Only in Canada.

Gateway: Really.

D: Once in Germany, and another
time in Sweden.

Gateway: You're riding a real wave
of popularity right now. I’m

Do
you

    

: wondering where you see_ yourself

D: I'm going for it. Right to the top.
Why not? All I can do is not make it.
Gateway: One could say you already
have. You're quite a cult
phenomenon.

D: Oh, but I want more than that. I
want Oscars, Golden Globes,
Grammy’s, I mean why not? If
someone had told me five or six
years ago that I'd have gold and
platinum records, I'd have said they
were crazy because I didn’t sing.
But now I’ve got them on the wall.
And if someone had said that I'd
make a movie with Kris Kristoffer-
son or Genevieve Bujould, I'd have
told them they were crazy. These
are big stars. My final scene was
shot with Kris - I got shot by him.
Gateway: I'd like to see you get an
Oscar.

D: So would I. And I will if I have
anything to do with it. It’s been a
dream of mine since I was a kid.
Gateway: As an outsider, what do
you think of Edmonton - it is one of
Canada’s most conservative cities.

D: You wouldn’t have known from
the crowd last night! I haven’t had a
chance to see much of your city. I'm
going out to that big shopping mall
today. I’ve heard so much about it.

Gateway: David Byrne even
mentions it-in his new book True
Stories. He discusses this weird
mall with rivers running through it
complete with submarines and
sharks.

Some people are offended by
your act. They consider you a bit of a
freak - a novelty only because of

 

“Pug

October 14, 1986. Page i

your overweight and _ obviously
homosexual. How do you react to
this?

D: They’re assholes. (laughs) These
people who are uptight about their
sexuality. Not everyone’s going to
like me. But I’m not doing my act for
everyone, I’m doing it for those who
like it. Some people don’t like Diana
Ross, and all she does is get up and
sing pop songs. I don’t think I'm a
freak, I’m just another entertainer
who happened to do something -no
one else had. People don’t know
how to label me. Unfortunately, it
seems everything has to have a
label. I’ve always said. that I’m. a’
character actor, I play different
characters. It just so happens that
the characters I was given to play
were women. I don’t knock these
roles - they’ve given me a _ large
following.

Gateway: Boy George has said a few
remarks about you to the press.
These negative comments surprised
me.

D: Especially when he'd be sitting in

every show I did_in London, Then

couldn't stand me -
did he buy a ticket for the show? I’ve

heard through people that he’s
actually a big fan. Basically, he just
said those things to protect his
image.

Gateway: You've been interviewed
by almost every one. How did

David Letterman react to you?

D: I’ve been on Late Night three
times, twice by myself and once
with John. David is actually a fan of
John’s. He has always been very
nice to me. We did have a problem
last time I was on, that’s why I
haven’t been back. Generally, I sing
a song in drag and then I’m in-
terviewed. in normal clothes - they
over ran the show and didn’t do the
show. It seemed quite purposeful,
so since then we’ve reached no
agreement on my return to Late
Night.

Gateway: Will you do Joan Rivers?
D: She’s already asked. We were set
for the Tonight Show however, she
had that split with Carson.

Gateway: And Merv Griffin?

D: He was the nicest of all. He intro-
duced me, said wonderful things
about me. The first commercial
came on and he said ‘now you stay
right here next to me for the whole
show’. It was supposed to be a
three-minute interview. It ran for
seventeen minutes and I had fifty:
eight minutes on air.
Gateway: Our very
‘Thicke?

D: He’s quite good. He’s got hi:
own comedy show now.

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