The actor, 66, reflected on the legacy of the 1995 road trip drag queen comedy
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NEED TO KNOW
- John Leguizamo said To Wong Foo didn’t receive the recognition it deserved
- The 1995 comedy earned Golden Globe nominations for both Patrick Swayze and Leguizamo for their performances
- Leguizamo shared that LGBTQ+ fans told him the movie gave them the courage to come out to their families
John Leguizamo loved To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar and still thinks it should have received more critical praise.
In an interview with Bustle, the 66-year-old actor reflected on making the Beeban Kidron-directed film and shared his take as to why the 1995 film didn’t get the accolades he believes it “deserved.”
“I love To Wong Foo. I mean, it was such a brave movie,” Leguizamo shared.
“Priscilla Queen of the Desert stole our thunder because it came out…it beat us just before,” he said.
Leguizamo explained that they wanted to release the movie before The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert came out in August 1994, but they “had to wait” for Wesley Snipes, who was working on another project at the time. Ultimately, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar hit theaters in September 1995.
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“We were trying to beat them because there was only room back then for one drag queen movie per year, so we didn’t get the accolades that we deserved. I feel,” Leguizamo said.
The comedy starred Leguizamo, Snipes, Patrick Swayze, Stockard Channing and Blythe Danner. It centered around three drag queens, played by Snipes, Swayze, and Leguizamo, as they drove toward the Drag Queen of America pageant. Both Swayze and Leguizamo were nominated for Golden Globes for their performances, but neither of them won.
“I think Patrick did an amazing job, and Wesley and I crushed it too, and we took it seriously,” Leguizamo reflected.
“We really wanted to give these characters integrity, and we had drag queen coaches. I had Laritza Dumas. She was from the Bronx and she was trying to help me do my accent correctly and she taught me how to do it all right and I loved her,” he shared. “I borrowed as much from her as I could.”
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While the film didn’t win any major awards, Leguizamo said the film’s impact and the response from the LGBTQ+ community still stick with him.
“LGBTQ+ teenagers came up to me a lot after the movie came out and said that that movie gave them the courage to come out to their family,” he revealed.
He shared that “that’s what you hope your work does.”
“That gives people a sense that they’re seen, that they’re important, that their lives matter,” he told Bustle. “That’s what you hope that you do with your work. That’s why you have to be careful with what you select and the kind of imagery you put out because it can be used against you.”
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