Talking Race Chasers and A Star is Born with Willam

Willam
Willam/Instagram

While he may never compete on RuPaulโ€™s Drag Race All-Stars, Willam Belli certainly deserves the title. One of the hardest working queens in the biz, this outspoken performer has done it all. From acting in Nip/Tuck, Hurricane Bianca and most recently, stealing scenes from Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga in A Star is Born to recording music and letting YouTubers have it on his web series Beatdown, Willam truly defines what it is to be an all-star.

He can now add podcaster to his resume, as he and fellow RPDR alum Alaska bring us Race Chasers, which is described as โ€œa podcast devoted to the discussion and dissection of every episode of RuPaulโ€™s Drag Race starting from the very beginning.โ€

Each Wednesday, the queens recap the series and spill some behind-the-scenes tea. Willam took some time out of his busy schedule to talk about the series and what heโ€™s been up to.

Socialite Life: What was the inspiration for Race Chasers?

Willam: Alaska and I listened to a Golden Girls podcast while leaving Burning Man because an Amber alert was issued so they shut down the exit and we had to wait for 7 hours. Turned out a 17-year-old girl was off fucking her boyfriend and the parents reported her missing. Good for her, I say. But, yeah. I got the idea from that podcast and decided that if RuPaulโ€™s Drag Race wasnโ€™t gonna pay us for repeat airings, I was gonna find a way to make some money offa them by talking about it.

SL: How did you come to choose Alaska as your co-host?

Willam: Sheโ€™s the voice of reason and Iโ€™m the voice of treason. We complement each other well and sheโ€™s my favorite Ru-Girl other than Latrice Motherfuckinโ€™ Royale.

SL: Has revisiting the show changed your feelings about working on it?

Willam: Nope.

SL: Aside from your season (of course), which season are you most looking forward to giving the Race Chasers treatment?

Willam: I think season 9 had a lot of strong contenders but Iโ€™m also interested in 6 because thatโ€™s the one I saw the least of so far.

SL: Which season are you least looking forward to?

Willam: I dunno. Everyone says 7 is bad but I like having nice things to look at like Violet and Pearl and Fame.

SL: Are you going to take on the All-Stars seasons on the podcast?

Willam: YES. Weโ€™re currently skipping ahead and doing AS4 right now.

SL: Have you managed to get a part in whatever theyโ€™re filming outside of where youโ€™re recording?

Willam: Not yet. But I recently started watching How to Get Away with Murder and they use Boardnerโ€™s, the bar next store to my production center, a lot.

SL: You have a Race Chasers live show coming to LA in January. Do you have any plans to do more live shows?

Willam: As long as the donkey doesnโ€™t die in the first show.

SL: Shangela said she auditioned for A Star is Born as a Marilyn Monroe impersonator. What did you do for your ASIB audition?

Willam: I did a dead Marilyn Monroe character and then a Barbra Streisand character. I sang and I improvised and read some scenes. It was fun.

SL: What was your experience like working on the movie?

Willam: It was the best professional experience of my life.

SL: Manila Luzon wore the โ€œJackson breastplateโ€ for a Dolly Parton look for the video โ€œJoleneโ€. Where is it now?

Willam: Itโ€™s in a drawer. I drew a reindeer on it and wore it to a Christmas party yesterday.

SL: Youโ€™ve appeared in a number of movies (and I loved you in Hurricane Bianca) and television shows. What has been your favorite experience?

Willam: Nip/Tuck was pretty fuckinโ€™ great. Ryan Murphy is a genius

SL: Your book Suck Less is amazing. What inspired you to write it?

Willam: Coaching Neil Patrick Harris in all things drag for his role in Hedwig was the genesis. He made some off handed comment like โ€œyou should write a book,โ€ so I did. He gave me the best forward for it too. Heโ€™s hilarious and great at everything (as is his husband David).

SL: You have made a name for yourself in music. Is that something you always wanted to do?

Willam: Iโ€™m a comedian who uses music. Chris Hardwick is my idol in that sense. Tenacious D, Weird Al, people like that

SL: If you arenโ€™t busy enough, you are also a viral video sensation with your Beatdown series. Has anyone ever taken offense at your critiques?

Willam: Iโ€™m sure they have. People come up to me and tell me they were on it and I canโ€™t even remember. Then they get offended again that I forgot them.

SL: When do you sleep?

Willam: No one ever looks back on life and says, โ€œdamn I wish i slept more.โ€ You only live once.

SL: Who do you think will win All-Stars 4?

Willam: RuPaul.

SL: Is there anything else youโ€™d like to promote?

Willam: My album Songs in the Key of Nope (available at www.willambelli.com/nope) and my YouTube channel which has had two new videos a week for the past year now going strong: www.youtube.com/noextrai.

You can catch new episodes of Race Chasers every Wednesday and follow the show on Instagram. Keep up with all things Willam on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.


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