What happens when drag queens, a runaway train and a disaster movie collide? That’s how you get the gloriously chaotic STOP! THAT! TRAIN! It’s a riotous, campy ride that embraces the absurdity of its premise while putting drag queens front and centre. But beneath all the silliness is something more significant. In a cinematic landscape where queer stories are often highly political, director Adam Shankman believes there is power in simply letting a film like this exist on its own terms.
Talking improv, hectic filming schedules, and how sobriety helped them approach their starring roles, Drag Race stars Ginger and Jujubee sat down with FILMHOUNDS to discuss all things STOP! THAT! TRAIN!
Firstly, thank you for sitting down and talking with us. You’re both amazing performers with an incredible talent for improv. What was the process like of having to play these characters straight?
Ginger: First off, Connor [Wright] and Christina [Friel] wrote a great script, right? So, all of the pieces were definitely there, and we would always make sure that we would do at least a couple of takes that were just exactly what was on the page. But Adam learned very quickly with the two of us… We happened to live together when we were filming this, so you know we’d film all day and then go home and work on the next stuff all night, and we would just be like, “We’re gonna tell you what we’re gonna do. Just keep rolling no matter what.” And he goes, “Oh, God, the girls have got a bit.” So we would do it, and then it would be just quiet. You wouldn’t hear anything. He’d come over the loudspeaker and go, “Okay, that was good. Let’s go back. Juju, try this. Ginger, try this.” And that was maybe our second or third day of filming. After that, he kind of fell into this rhythm with us of “We’re gonna do a couple exactly like it’s supposed to be, and then I’m just gonna let them do a fun run and see what they come up with.”
Is there any scene in particular where that improv really shines through?
Jujubee: Oh, yes. I wouldn’t say it was 100% improv because Ginger and I did practice this on our own, but there is a scene where Tess and Didi have their moment where they are fighting and we’re standing across the train. And I don’t want to give too much away, but there’s a physical altercation that is… magical and irresistible. It was really hard to film that scene because it was so funny. But that was one of those scenes where we asked Adam to keep rolling and that was the, “Oh, these girls have a bit,” moment. And we were so glad that we just went in with the gall to do that because, you know, for me, this was my first film, so it was intimidating to share my thoughts and ideas because I just wanted everybody to be happy and everybody to love me. But I also knew this was my one opportunity to just speak my mind and to share what I feel is the strongest version of my comedy. And Ginger and I did some things that were freaking hilarious.
Ginger: And can we just give a quick shout-out to the entire cast. Like, down to the background actors who, especially in that scene that we were just talking about… None of them knew what we were about to do. Every single one of them stayed in the moment and played right along with us. You don’t always get that in a film or a theatrical setting. You know, sometimes if it’s funny, somebody’s gonna break. And none of them did. They were just so dedicated to what we were doing, and I truly appreciate that.
I know the shooting schedule was tight. It was a nineteen day filming schedule. Did that add any pressure?
Jujubee: I didn’t approach it by thinking about it that way. For me it was a day-by-day moment, you know? ‘Cause we would go home and just look at the next day. So, I wouldn’t look too far ahead. My focus was to just get the next day as “perfect,” and I put that in quotes, as possible, right? And I think we did really well with that. I think at the end when we wrapped, I was like, “Wow, we just did that.” And my mind is still blown that we did that in that short amount of time. But we’re drag queens, and drag queens are superheroes, you know? We just are capable of anything and everything that you put in front of us.
Ginger: And Juju and I were the two that were there every single day. You know, we were always there, and I think it kind of goes back to both of us being sober. We’re on this sober journey. A lot of that is very one day at a time. So you’re absolutely right. It’s like you just look at what’s directly in front of you. But I also think it’s because both of us have done Drag Race so many times that it has really prepared us for that. ‘Cause on Drag Race, you get your script, two hours later you’re in drag and you’re filming in front of the cameras. So there is no time to stop and panic and think. You just gotta keep pushing through. You just do it. And I think that’s what made this really fun because we never had the time to overthink it. We jumped right in.
STOP! THAT! TRAIN! Is In Cinemas Now
