When it came to “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 16, Plane Jane came to play, both on the main stage and in the werkroom with her Season 16 sisters.
While some may not have always enjoyed her consistently tongue in cheek delivery, Plane Jane kept her eye on the prize, finding herself rising to the Top 3 in the competition. While the crown may have been out of reach this time, Plane Jane agrees with Mama Ru herself; it simply wasn’t “her time” right now. I sat down for a chat with Plane Jane and we got to dish extensively on her engagement with her casemates, her highest (and lowest) moments on “Drag Race,” and the “All Stars” legend that offered her sage advice-and suitcases-for this game changing experience.
Michael Cook: Condragulations on Top 3 on “RuPaul’s Drag Race" Season 16. With the experience very vividly in the rearview mirror, how does it feel now?
Plane Jane: It feels great. It feels nice to relax and get a little bit refreshed before I have to get on the plane again and go jet-setting across the country and the world. I will say, watching the finale back a reliving my “traumatic” elimination, it definitely brought back all of those feelings of heartbreak. The feelings of being so close and so wronged in that moment by Mama Ru, but I can never hold a grudge. I think everything panned out the way that it needed to. I kind of am a believer now in the mantra “everything happens for a reason.”
RuPaul said, “It’s not your time,” that isn’t to say that it wont be my time at a later time. That was not my time, it was Nymphia (Wind’s) time. That being said, I felt that it was my time throughout the entire season. I killed it, I did a fantastic job, so I am not pressed or disappointed at all, how can I be? I accomplished something that I had dreamed about for so long and I did it so, so well. All around, I feel really great.
MC: Were some of your interactions on the show presented with tongue firmly in cheek, or do you find that some of the harsher aspects of your personality on the show were truly who you are in real life?
PJ: I mean, we all know my notorious fight/altercation with Amanda (Tori Meeting). In the context of the show and when we were filming, I don’t think Amanda really experienced my best. I don’t think that she fully grasped the tongue in cheek nature of my personality. That being said, I think that the other contestants really got me. If not right away, then after a little bit of time spent with me. Even though my delivery may sometimes come off as dry, I think it becomes very evident very quickly that I am just a very unserious, sarcastic person and I really like to have fun with the girls, my sisters, and just throw shade. I just sometimes immediately go into situations without having a prior rapport with certain people. I treat them like we’re already family, as if we’re sisters. And that is certainly how I approached “Drag Race.”
You know what, I may not have known all these girls prior but now we’re sisters and they’re now all fair game. Generally I think everybody caught on fairly quickly and what I think happened is that not only did my sisters catch on to the shady shenanigans and buffoonery that I was spewing at them, they also joined in. I think that the way that I came into the competition allowed for the other girls to relax into the shade as well and let their own shadiness come out. And I think that is what ultimately made the season so special, dare I say.
MC: Boston, Provincetown and New England drag has its own distinct sensibilities and style, and Jujubee is counted among one of the performers from that area who has gone on to be a "Drag Race" legend. Did a two time "All Stars" alumni give you any advice on how to tackle your own time in the competition?
PJ: First of all, I did grab a few of Juju’s massive suitcases, there are forty-five suitcases stored up from her various drag television journeys. She said, “Don’t forget to have fun. Have fun on camera, have fun with the girls, don’t get too caught up in the competitive mindset of it all. Let the fun and your personality really shine through. When you’re having fun, it allows the audience to have fun with you and that is how people are going to fall in love with you.”
I really took that advice to heart and I feel like I really allowed myself not to get caught up in the stress and the pressure of being in the competition, but I really allowed myself to just go out there and have fun and really be myself. I think that is why a lot of people resonate with my character. Sure I was shady and fairly competitive, but people clocked that it was all tongue in cheek and they were able to resonate with the realness of it all. I think Juju gave me great advice in that regard.
MC: I would have to agree, with all of those maxi challenge wins. Your raw talent truly shined through and you must look back with so much pride. What do you think your rose and thorn are of your Drag Race run?
PJ: I feel like my highest high was probably my Snatch Game win. I feel like it set me on a really fierce trajectory for the rest of the season. I had my one win in the beginning which was sickening and also a huge high for me. Winning the first challenge that I got to be a part of, the talent show, with an original song mind you. That was really great but then I had a streak of “You’re very good, you're high, but you’re safe, you’re not quite winning.” So winning Snatch Game midway through the competition really solidified my presence so that was great. I feel like my lowest low, my thorn, was that emotional breakdown episode that I had with the design challenge. At that point, I feel like people and the viewers don’t understand how mentally and physically draining the competition is.
These challenges are really demanding solely because of the time constraints involved. It’s just one right after the other, you’re just going, going, going and in the midst of that, you are competing. There are tensions with the other contestants, and with yourself. My engine was kind of sputtering at that moment and I was just kind of mentally drained. At that point in the competition, it was Top 6 and it was really make or break. I was putting so much pressure on myself and I really let the fun get away from me on that particular challenge, but I was really able to get right back into it. As soon as I got in drag, that is where I felt “I got this”. It’s like the being in drag part is actually my power and whenever I get into drag, whatever doubts I have out of drag as Andy fade away and I can really do anything.
MC: What do you think you want to do next with the world at your feet?
PJ: That is a good question. I was telling the girls that I wanted to do more television, that would be really sickening. Whether it is scripted or non-scripted, get me an agent, get me there! I loved being in front of the camera, it was a whole different world than the live performance that I was prior accustomed to. I always appreciate drag that has production value behind it. I think that drag that is backed by production value that is high drag and high art to me.
I would love to be a part of more televised productions, would love to perhaps do bigger stage shows, do a one woman show, I think that would be really fantastic. I have been saying that I want to do it all; I want to improve in every aspect of my drag. Not only just career wise but as an artist. I want to keep going and keep growing; I don’t think I have peaked yet baby, I think this was just the beginning for me. I've been saying that the world is my oyster, baby, I’m ready for it all!
Follow Plane Jane on Instagram @the_planejane.