RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Lady Camden was on a mission to win the race during season 14. She finished as runner-up and slayed on the small screen with several unforgettable moments.
Before the road led to drag, Camden was born Rex Wheeler in the UK and began training in the world of dance at a young age. Wheeler attended the Royal Ballet School and danced with the Sacramento Ballet for five years.
This talented queer performer now stars in a new documentary titled Lady Like where she spills the tea on her journey. Narrated by fellow Drag Race alumni Nina West, it’s a behind-the-scenes account of Drag Raceand the pressures that come along with the competition.
The flick has brought Camden to the Windy City, and she talked on the phone before arriving at Center on Halsted.
Windy City Times: What was the name Lady Camden inspired by?
Lady Camden: I am from the neighborhood of Camden Town originally. I was working at a restaurant without a drag name and I had a gig, so I had to come up with a name rather quickly. I wanted something that could be produced and labeled. I wanted to feel like royalty and be theatrical.
The area of Camden is more touristy now, but before it was very artistic and a place where one could feel like a weirdo. I was inspired there by fashion and music at concerts. The place sparked joy for me because I have some fun memories from there.
WCT: When did you begin dancing?
LC: I started dancing professionally when I was 19 years old. I danced with the Sacramento Ballet for five years and then I danced for the Smuin Ballet in San Francisco for three years.
In 2018, I retired from dancing and then I fully pursued drag.
WCT: Have other contestants from Drag Race made a documentary like this one before?
LC: There have been a few. I know Jinkx Monsoon made a successful one in 2015 called Drag Becomes Him.
I don’t know if I enjoyed having someone film me the entire time because I was really nervous about everything. I am a nervous person and I am trying to get better at this, but I will assume the worst sometimes and worry about what people think. It comes from being a dancer and everything has to be perfect in terms of technique. I am slowly shedding this through the years.
During that time I was hoping everyone liked me and it added a layer of anxiety by having cameras follow me around all the time. Now I have learned, “It doesn’t matter if people don’t like you, bitch!” [laughs]
WCT: That is a part of Lady Like that will resonate with fans because it pulls back the curtain on mental health as you go through various experiences.
LC: I’m glad you say that because when any human being watches something a million times like I have with this film, I can’t help but nitpick. I love to hear from people who see it with a fresh pair of eyes.
WCT: There is one part where the fan dropped their pants at your meet and greet. Are there other moments that come to mind with your fans?
LC: That guy I kind of know, so he sensed that he had permission to do that.
After the documentary I was in Italy on the Werq the World Tour, it was a group of girls and not just me. The fans could see backstage on the side and would scream. That made me feel a little bit like NSYNC or a pop band.
The minute you are on TV then you are on everyone’s mind. I assumed that would die away, but I have been lucky and it hasn’t.
I have had a few people fall down in front of me and get up wearing a mustache, which is funny. People still scream “Maxine” at me and it’s surprising that they remember that part.
Sometimes they say things on Grindr and that’s when I have to draw the line. I don’t want to talk about Drag Race on there for my own sanity.
WCT: Have you been to Chicago in the past?
LC: Yes, my mom lived in Chicago with her family for a big portion of her life, and was born just outside of Chicago. We moved to California, and then she moved back to go to the Art Institute of Chicago and study fashion for college.
We went to Chicago every summer and each Christmas, so I have been there quite a lot.
WCT: Your mother was adorable in Lady Like, by the way. What would you like people to take away from the documentary?
LC: That it’s okay to feel worried or insecure. No one is a bad person for feeling that way and it’s a part of being human. It means someone cares about what they do.
What advice I give to my older myself and anyone who watches the film is that it’s okay to want success for yourself and feel passionate about it, but pay attention as to when it drives you forward and when it holds you back from making brave choices. That can put a muffling force on your voice and can mute you.
I hope people can see when their anxiety fuels them and when it interrupts them.
WCT: You said a line in the doc, “My brain automatically goes to thinking about what I could have done better.” I think many people feel the same way.
LC: I was on the set for a movie the other day and finally got my first SAG role. There was no reason to be nervous, but I was the entire time. I thought I had messed it up and kept thinking about all the things I did wrong. I asked myself, “If I can’t enjoy this moment, when will I?” I need to enjoy the fruits of my labor!
WCT: Speaking of labor, this movie shows how hard you have worked to be where you are. Your anxiety has fueled some of that.
LC: Yes it has. Sometimes I feel like a superhero and prove people wrong when I sell out a show, then sometimes I self-sabotage what I have accomplished. It’s a balance…
WCT: Lady Like is a redemption story showing your highs and lows.
LC: When a person wins on Drag Race it’s amazing, but when they don’t, it doesn’t stop them from going on to do amazing things. If people are new to Drag Race, they think the winner goes to heaven and everyone else goes somewhere else.
People can always quit drag or ballet and do something else. It is up to them what they do.
WCT: Do you have foot injuries from ballet?
LC: I danced with companies for a decade and had to navigate injuries all the time. It is the same thing with working out at the gym a lot. There can be injuries, and some are more prone to it than others. I was prone to back injuries, and would get irritable back pain. I shrugged it off a lot until I slipped a disc at a rehearsal one time. I was out for three months and I started playing with makeup at that time. I was going out of my mind and needed to feel like an artist again. It was terrible at first, but I felt gorgeous. Eventually, I could go out again in public, and it led me to be a drag queen.
WCT: With these competition reality shows you don’t have to be a winner to succeed. Jennifer Hudson did not win American Idoland Nina Garcia told me one time that Christian Serrano sent them clothing after Project Runway wrapped to keep him in the spotlight.
LC: I love that story because he continued to be talked about and is a huge success story. That was really smart.
I sometimes feel I am not a success from Drag Race because I am not Jinkx or Trixie Mattel. World of Wonder has not brought me back to talk about past episodes and I am not in the Drag Race Hall of Fame, but I can write my own show in San Francisco and perform it. That is a success for me. I can write a version of The Nutcracker and make it naughty. Without the platform of Drag Race, many queens won’t have that opportunity.
WCT: Now there is Drag: The Musical…
LC: They sent me a message about it, but I am not sure if I have the chops for singing in it just yet. I hope to be in the show one day and it’s really good.
WCT: Denali Foxx told me last week that she would like to go back and do All-Stars. Would you consider doing that?
LC: I have wrestled with this because many people think that it’s necessary to be on TV all the time. I don’t know if I have the personality for that. My dream is not to be a reality TV star and instead, it’s to be on stage or in movies. It’s my happy place to perform and entertain people.
I would love to do All Stars when I have developed my own character a little more, not just in drag, but as a human being. I have been working on singing in front of people, which scares me.
I want to do life’s Drag Race before I go back to the real one and knock them dead. I don’t want to go back and only do slightly better than I did before. I want to go back and annihilate it!
WCT: Just like Shea Coulee did.
LC: Yes. I am on the way to doing that. It’s about learning things and sometimes failing, auditioning for things whether I get the part or not.
Therapy really helps. You saw how nervous I was in the film and how I cared about what people think. That is such a big part of what I am actively trying to let go of every single day of the week. In the words of Latrice Royale, “Get up, look sickening and make them eat it!”
I want to go back when it feels right and at the right time.
WCT: Where will Lady Like be distributed?
LC: It has been bought and will be distributed in the New Year, but that has not been announced yet. I will post about it when that happens, so stay tuned!
Find more on the film at ladylikemovie.com.