Being a multi-hyphenate performer is one thing Nina West is aware of effectively. Winning Miss Congeniality on Ru Paul’s Drag Race season 11, partnering with Dolly Parton on a kindness marketing campaign, making music for youths, performing reverse Daniel Radcliffe in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, changing into the LGBTQ face of Disney’s Pride marketing campaign, and releasing a kids’s e book—West is doing all of it in heels and a wig that touches the sky.

Speaking of that kids’s e book: with The You Kind of Kind, West goals to unfold consciousness that kindness is required greater than ever, particularly with laws everywhere in the U.S. with the potential to hazard LGBTQ youth. io9 lately sat down along with her to speak about its inspiration, working with fellow Disney inventive illustrator Hayden Evans, what the season means to her, and her favourite issues to do at Disney Parks throughout the holidays.

Sabina Graves, io9: Hi Nina! I’ve to start out off by saying I beloved seeing you in Weird as the long-lasting Divine on the eccentric movie star pool-party scene. How did that come about? 

Nina West: I’m on tour proper now with Hairspray and I acquired a name on the finish of January, starting of February from my agent saying, “Hey, we have an offer for you to come do this project that’s kind of top secret, but they want you to play [drag legend and John Waters muse] Divine.” I feel the day that I went to set was the day that TMZ or someone posted an image of Daniel [Radcliffe] as Weird Al.  I used to be there like within the warmth of the secrecy behind the mission. And it was only a dream come true to be requested to play such an iconic function and with pure camp and pure enjoyable celebrating the lifetime of Weird Al, with Daniel Radcliffe and with Jack Black. It’s simply a type of issues that I by no means thought would ever occur. Dan Radcliffe is like probably the most charming, the sweetest, most disarmingly type and great individual. He was actually considering my drag profession. The director, Eric [Appel] is only a actually unbelievable man and clearly Weird Al is so wonderful. I really feel like there’s this actually cool storyline that’s about celebrating your genuine self and celebrating weirdness and celebrating what makes you you.

io9:  On the be aware of being type, let’s speak in regards to the e book The You Kind of Kind. Congrats on the discharge, that is unbelievable. I like Hayden Evans’ artwork. I’m an enormous Disney fan as effectively so I’m acquainted with his work and your work with Disney. So once I noticed each powers mixed, I used to be like, “Oh, this is going to be good.”

West: The mission happened after I used to be eradicated from Drag Race. I launched this EP of child’s music known as Drag Is Magic. Then the pandemic hit, and it allowed me to settle into it and provides myself over to it in an opulent method that I’d by no means have had in any other case. I began engaged on the e book actually full time in possibly like April 2020, and Hayden got here into the image comparatively late within the recreation. Hayden was somebody that I introduced to the desk due to his art work. I like the storytelling that he’s in a position to seize by means of his art work and there’s the Disney connection, proper? There’s one thing about Hayden’s art work, which has similarities to [legendary Disney artist] Mary Blair’s. Mary Blair, however there’s a whimsy to it, and there’s a wonderment to it and an pleasure to it that’s captured in how Hayden does his art work.

Hayden actually knowledgeable how I needed to edit the manuscript and the way I needed to actually take into consideration the presentation of it in a brand new method, which was actually thrilling. And he actually encapsulated the power of the character little Nina and the power of my drag character of Nina West—I imply, actually captured at each web page flip by means of its vividness. The textual content actually additionally does help it. Another Disney connection could be that I used to be actually impressed by the Sherman Brothers who wrote loads of completely different [Disney] songs from Bedknobs and Broomsticks, however most likely most famously Mary Poppins’ “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”

Mary Poppins is my favourite Disney movie and it all the time impressed me and inspired me to simply form of assume outdoors the field. I actually wished to tip my hat to that and provides little Nina her personal power and her personal capability to have the license to create the world she wished to dwell in; a part of that’s how we converse in our language. And in flip, I wished younger readers. I wish to reconnect to that, as a result of once I was a child and I heard “Supercalifragilistic” the primary time, I used to be like, “but this isn’t a word, and it’s okay.” It was permission to dream and to be inventive. And I actually wished to even have that affect in my e book.

io9: Let’s dive into your first fandoms. Which ones would you say most impressed your profession?

West: It was The Muppets. I’m of the Sesame Street technology and that developed naturally for me as a result of The Muppet Show was in syndication—that was my first actual love. When I used to be a child at the moment, there have been these actually form of main moments within the Jim Henson Company, it was Little Shop of Horrors, it was Labyrinth, it was Dark Crystal. They have been all form of circling round my childhood.  It was all these like displays of Jim Henson. So I’d say my final first fandom and obsession have been the Muppets. And I feel Gonzo may need been [the] first actual second the place I feel I noticed myself, as a result of he was so completely different and he was an outsider. Here’s this factor or this it that loves a hen, and it’s simply form of accepted in the identical world the place a frog and a pig are in love with each other, proper? Like there was simply this whimsy and pure logic to it that actually didn’t make any sense, however it did. 

The Great Muppet Caper is among the finest motion pictures ever made. Little Shop of Horrors is among the finest motion pictures ever made And then all of it prolonged and all went to my Disney love.  So these are all connections, proper? For Little Shop of Horrors, Jim Henson Studios created [the Audrey II puppet], however it’s additionally the music of [pre-Little Mermaid’s] Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, and [The Muppets performer] Frank Oz directed it. It’s actually wonderful. This previous fall in September, at D23 Expo, I acquired to host a Muppet Christmas Carol thirtieth anniversary panel! I carried out with the Muppets. We sang a medley from the film. I interviewed [Muppets songwriter and famed music man] Paul Williams and [director] Brian Henson, [voice of Gonzo] Dave Goelz, and [costumer] Polly Simmons. As a child, I by no means thought I’d develop up and be sitting on a sofa speaking to the son of my hero. To sit subsequent to his son, who directed The Muppet Christmas Carol and directed Muppet Treasure Island, it was similar to this loopy second.

And interviewing Paul Williams, who wrote “Rainbow Connection.” We did a Disney Pride particular throughout the pandemic in 2021, and I sang “Rainbow Connection” with Kermit the Frog, which like, “this doesn’t get any better than this” someway acquired higher than that. We’re all on this room collectively. I’m sitting there speaking to the person who’s been Gonzo since Gonzo was Gonzo created. And these items which can be synonymous with who I’m intrinsically on the core of my being.

io9: Since this shall be popping out close to the vacations I’ve to get your suggestions as you’re a Disney Parks professional. What are your festive should do’s on the parks throughout the holidays?

West: At Disneyland, they’ve particular churros for each season, and I’m like significantly obsessive about the churro usually, so I’ve to seek out them. I’ve found over the past a number of years at Disneyland The Nightmare Before Christmas overlay on Haunted Mansion is the perfect. Haunted Mansion is my very favourite after which to place Nightmare earlier than Christmas on high of that? It’s implausible.

io9: Love Mansion.

West: And then what they do with it seasonally additionally makes it tremendous implausible and great. I like the vacation parade [and] the magic of the parks when it snows on Main Street, U.S.A. whether or not you’re in Southern California or the warmth of Orlando. It’s great and unbelievable. There is one thing about even the music that they pipe in at park opening and it feels simply so vacation, it’s so great and excellent. If you’ll be able to expertise the candlelight processional, it’s implausible. Do holidays world wide at Epcot, or take the monorail across the Polynesian and Grand Floridian [hotels] and see the bushes. Go from resort to resort and take a look at the gorgeous decorations—that’s a strategy to expertise the parks and the magic of Disney. Or do Disney Springs or do Downtown Disney—there’s simply so might methods to do it the place you’ll be able to actually really feel the magic of the season, and in addition be fiscally accountable if it is advisable to be. I feel that’s actually what’s great about Disney is they supply an expertise and they’re storytellers. And that’s what I like about them.

The You Kind of Kind is obtainable now at booksellers and online.

Want extra io9 information? Check out when to count on the newest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on movie and TV, and every little thing it is advisable to learn about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.