Jinkx Monsoon on All About Eve
Superstar drag queen Jinkx Monsoon calls upon her own experience as a female performer to dig deep into the iconic 1950 film All About Eve and one of Bette Davis's most memorable roles.
For me this episode is a perfect melding of guest and film. Talking with Jinkx Monsoon about All About Eve was a pleasure from start to finish. Not just because Jinkx is as funny, compelling, and outrageous as Bette Davis’ Margo Channing; or because she can practically recite the script by heart; but because she brings such insight and clarity to what it meant to be a woman in Hollywood in the 1950s and how that era continues to hold sway over gender dynamics in show business today. In Jinkx’s view, All About Eve both exposes and subverts the restrictive “norms” of society and cinema of the mid 20th century. Oh, and she has a filthy story about the weirdest thing that’s happened to her in a cinema so that always gets extra points. Enjoy! - T.J.
Cabaret icon, RuPaul’s Drag Race Superstar, acclaimed actress and vocalist, the “internationally tolerated” Jinkx Monsoon joins Cooper and Tabitha to explore the many layers of Joseph Mankiewicz’s 1950 backstage theater drama All About Eve. Starring Bette Davis as Margo Channing in the role that came to define her career, and Anne Baxter as Eve, the multiple Oscars-winning film is iconic for its witty dialogue and its scathing take on the ruthless nature of show business.
Jinkx shares how Davis’ performance inspires her own work, what the movie has to say about the experience of female performers in a youth-obsessed industry, and the love story playing out off screen between Davis and co-star Gary Merrill. We learn all about Jinkx's Portland, Oregon childhood, the innate roots of her fabulosity, and what keeps her bringing her signature cabaret to stages around the world.
About the Film
All About Eve. A seemingly timid but secretly ruthless ingénue insinuates herself into the lives of an aging Broadway star and her circle of theater friends. 1950.
Written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Mary Orr
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Principal Cast
Bette Davis (Margo Channing)
Anne Baxter (Eve)
George Sanders (Addison DeWitt)
Celeste Holm (Karen)
Gary Merrill (Bill Simpson)
Hugh Marlowe (Lloyd Richards)
Gregory Ratoff (Max Fabian)
Thelma Ritter (Birdie)
Music by Alfred Newman
Cinematography by Milton Krasner
Editing by Barbara McLean