‘The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula’ Season 5 Winner On Chinese Horror and Coming Out Of Her Shell
The Boulet Brothers have been harbingers of gross glamour since 2016 with the release of their drag competition series The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula. They’ve shown the world that drag is more than gorgeous gowns and big hair. It can be filthy, scary, and avant-garde. The series just celebrated its season five finale, crowning the stunning Niohuru X as the World’s Next Drag Supermonster. Niohuru turned look after stunning look in the series’ biggest season yet, illustrating her fashion-forward approach to drag.
We spoke with Niohuru X to discuss being so vulnerable on TV, which Chinese horror film was her trans awakening, and crafting her filthy final look.
Dread Central: Well, first off, congratulations. How do you feel?
Niohuru X: Oh, this is such a surreal experience. The moment I saw myself being [covered in] blood on the stage, winning, it didn’t feel real. It feels like a dream. And then I spent some time registering that information within myself. I’m like, “Bitch, you really did that. You really did that. You are the winner of The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula season five.” It is crazy. My heart is filled with happiness, filled with gratitude to all the beautiful cast members and the professional production. And for the Boulets who brought me on this journey. I’m so happy right now.
DC: You were so vulnerable this season. How does it feel to have been so vulnerable and win? What has that emotional journey been like for you?
NX: It definitely has been a very, very emotional journey. First of all, I think the production and the Boulets really created a very safe, positive environment to allow the artists to be in touch with their feelings, to express their emotions freely, and to really show their vulnerabilities. I think I definitely got to know myself better and [got] more in touch with my emotions, my past on a deeper level throughout the journeys.
Surprisingly, being vulnerable didn’t drag me down. It actually gave me more power to push forward. I am more proud of myself. I’m more certain of myself. I feel no matter how dark of a background I come from, I’m able to stand here celebrating my art, showing my most beautiful side to the world. I’m a bad bitch, and I’m going to be a better bitch in the next few episodes. And yes, it’s definitely a very empowering journey for me and for the viewers.
DC: I was going to say, I feel like you’ve spoken so much to the fans. There’s so much power in that vulnerability. What has the fan reception been like, not just to your vulnerability, but to you? I mean, it must be crazy to have this new community for you springing up with people watching you all over the world.
NX: Oh, yes. Coming into the competition, I didn’t think I had the responsibility on me to represent a very broad community. My initial thought was I was just there to show my own art. I represent myself. But as the days go on filming, I realize I’m more than myself now. I have the hope, I have the support. I have the love from the whole big community, the queer Asian community, from the trans community, from the overseas foreign trans artists community.
That gave me so much motivation. It’s a little pressure, but a little pressure is good. It gave me so much pressure to be the best version of myself, to deliver the best art that I could, and really motivated me to step out of my comfort zone and share my past, share my journey of how I became who I am today. I’m very happy that I was able to break off my shells [sic] and talk about my feelings, and hopefully bring love and light to people all over the world.
DC: Oh yeah. Well, talking about your art, you have such a specific vibe, and I love it. It is glamorous, it is disgusting, which is obviously what The Boulet Brother’s Dragula is all about. But you got your start in fashion, right? You moved to the US to go to fashion school in New York.
NX: Yes. I came to America to be in fashion school, but the school didn’t really work out so well because of the pandemic. So I quit. I started learning everything I know now from YouTube and self-educating myself. Oh, hell
DC: Oh hell yeah. That’s so cool.
NX: Yes, and I think my looks are very fashion-forward. Futuristic fashion, futuristic fashion. That’s all I do, and that’s what I do the best. Yeah, I definitely think I bring a new perspective of drag to the stage, like something people have never seen before. And I think my drag persona, I don’t really have a persona when I’m in drag. I’m just myself. I feel 100% myself in and out of drag when I’m in drag. It’s just a more extreme visual version of Niohuru in drag.
DC: Oh, cool. I love that. And so when you went to fashion school, were you thinking about future forward fashion as an artist before you even came to the United States? I was just curious about your aesthetic before you even started designing at school.
NX: Oh, before I came to America, I was a completely different person, I don’t even recognize him anymore. I didn’t start transitioning. I didn’t know myself well enough to express my gender identity, and I wasn’t doing anything creative at all. And so this has all been a very new journey for me. So my gender identity journey and my creative journey all started the day I came to the US.
DC: Oh, wow. It’s been a wild couple of years for you, huh? And then to get onto The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula going through and as being such a huge part of you, discovering not just your identity, but your aesthetics and everything. That’s got to be overwhelming, to say the least.
NX: Oh, in the best way possible. I’m so grateful for this experience. It’s definitely very life-changing, and it changed me from inside so much. And I do believe that The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula is a platform too. It’s not really just about the scary factor, it’s really about helping conquer their own personal demons. And I’m still battling with the demon, but I’m on a winner momentum now.
DC: I want to talk more about your looks of the season, because absolutely every episode you’re turning incredible looks. Do you have a favorite one that you pulled off this season that you were particularly proud of?
NX: Oh, all of those are my babies. I love them so much.
DC: I know, I’m basically telling you to pick your favorite child.
NX: If I have to pick one, I think the Haunted House is one of my absolute favorites out of the favorites.
DC: Okay, cool. And your filth look in the season finale of The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula with the pig foot phallus and the takeout container, I loved the reasoning behind it and trying to fight back against the sexualization of Asian bodies and Asian trans bodies. It’s also fucking disgusting, and I love that. How long did it take you to construct that full look for the runway?
NX: Time on set? I really lost touch with time on set. I don’t really know how long it took me to work on that look, but I do know it was a very emotional look to create. While I was doing that look and gathering images and getting inspiration, I put something very Chinese, a symbol of being Chinese. And I pushed all the Asian stereotypes to the extreme and made things look disgusting, but in a glamorous way. That was my story to tell of being an Asian trans woman. Sometimes I feel sexualized and fetishized like I’m nothing but Asian and trans. I’m not a 3D person anymore. I don’t have anything more to offer than being trans and Asian. And I want to flip the story and empower myself so that I can turn something so ugly into something so disgustingly beautiful.
DC: I just love that The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula lets artists tell these stories like this. You’re not seeing people telling these kinds of stories in such challenging, cool, beautiful ways. So I’m so glad that you had that outlet.
NX: The Boulets and the production really created a very safe environment to make us feel welcomed and safe, to express our feelings and other emotions. They also gave us all the green light to push the artistry to the extreme. And I want to just say how grateful I am for that and all respect and all love and appreciation.
DC: Hell yeah. Well, and also, you draw a lot of inspiration in your drag from Chinese folklore, especially when you create more creature monster looks in the season. So I’m curious, which legends or which pieces of Chinese folklore speak to you the most? And are there any pieces of Chinese folklore that you haven’t been able to make drag looks for yet that you really want to?
NX: I think one of the most Chinese folklore-based looks is from my first episode, the Chinese fox demon.
DC: So good!!
NX: Oh my God, thank you so much. I love that look so, so much. I want to come out with a bang and really just shake up the game, and bitch, I fucking did that. That look is very close to my heart, too. But I got to know this character from a movie called Painted Skin. It’s about a demon painter who paints their skin to present themselves as a beautiful woman and eat men’s hearts. When I watched this movie when I was a teenager, it changed my life. I think that was my transgender awakening. I was like, I want to look like her. So glamorous, so deadly, so beautiful, so evil and so vulnerable, so romantic at the same time. So I’m very, very proud of what I accomplished on the first floor show.
DC: Are you a horror movie fan? Is that something that you’re interested in at all?
NX: Oh, yes, I’m into all horror movies, of course. But I’m so new to America. I’m so new to Western countries, so I’m still trying to absorb as much pop culture into myself as possible. And I feel like I still have a lot of fabulous horror movies I haven’t watched yet.
DC: Oh, I’m so excited for you. You have such a cool journey to go on with horror.
NX: So I bug everyone to write me a movie list, like what’s your movie recommendation? So I’m going through just check one, check two, check three. And yes, I still have a lot to watch.
DC: What have been your favorites that you’ve seen so far?
NX: I just recently watched the nun. It’s fucking fabulous. I love, love The Nun. And what else do I love? I feel like when you talk about horror movies, the ones that pop on top of my brain are the Chinese ones I watched back home.
DC: Oh, I’m not really well-versed in Chinese horror. So what Chinese horror films should people watch??
NX: I don’t want to overwhelm you. I’d start with Painted Skin. Painted Skin is perfect. The music, the visuals, the costumes, the acting, everything is the 10 across the board for me.
DC: So what’s next for you? The world is your oyster now, so what’s next?
NX: I believe that when you are really working on yourself and elevating yourself, the universe will bring you better things and bigger things. And I don’t really have a milestone set in mind that I need to conquer. I’m going to focus all my energy on building myself more from the inside of my healing journey from the past, and also pushing my artistry to the more extreme. It’s already extreme to the more extreme. And I believe the universe will give me better weight, better things when I’m ready to catch the opportunity.
DC: So exciting. And you also have a fashion line or a fashion brand, correct?
NX: Yes, I do. The name is Nuwa1997. The name comes from an ancient Chinese goddess called Nuwa, and that is the character I based my kaiju look around. She’s the Chinese goddess who fixed the sky when the universe was collapsing. Nuwa is the God that created humans in Chinese culture, and she’s half demonic and half divine. She’s half-human, half snake. She’s so beautiful and so deadly. I feel such a strong connection with her. So I named my brand Nuwa1997 because me and my partner, we are both born in 1997. So it’s just two powerful Chinese women making it in the fashion industry in America.
Categorized:Interviews
