Performer Cassandra Fever is a lot more than a pretty face. Though she is an electrifying drag-diva, she spends more time bettering her spirituality than her hair-style. Her performances in movies, in music videos and on runways are important aspects of her artwork; her fight for equality, justice, truth and community are important aspects of her being.
This warm, funny and intelligent beauty queen took some time to speak with us about her lifestyle, beliefs and flawless make-up.
Eros Zine: You seem like a really down to earth person. Is that personality trait ever compromised by your diva status?
Cassandra Fever: No, never. The "diva" attitude stays on the stage. I always say, just be yourself. Never believe in your own bullshit and always treat everyone the way you want to be treated. It is the easiest thing to do. Plus it's good karma!
EZ: Do you consider performing in drag as entertainment, art or both?
CF: I'd have to say both because in essence, one is kind of like the other. The makeup and costuming end of it is definitely the more artsy side. So is the act of presenting a celebrity. It is hard to be someone else, and be good at it. The entertainment side comes into play when you make the whole creation come to life. I consider myself to be an artist and an entertainer.
You know, the kind of drag I do is serious business. I don't do it just for laughs or for the fun of it so much as it is my creative outlet and my financial resource. All my thoughts and feelings are poured into my shows. Every happy nerve or aggression is present during my time on stage. For me it's almost like therapy; for the audience, its a glimpse into my psyche and an escape from real life. I think that's pretty entertaining.
EZ: You just celebrated your 10th anniversary as a drag artist. Congratulations! Tell me about the first time you went public in drag.
CF: Well, thank you ... hmm lets see. The very first time was on Halloween and I was 17 years old. I went to a costume contest at a night club dressed as Madonna with the ponytail and everything. I don't really remember too much about the evening because I had been drinking to control my nerves. I do remember getting a couple of phone number and not calling any of them. I was really tripped out that someone might do something to me because it was also my first time at a gay club. It was a double whammy for sure! I also remember it being incredibly uncomfortable after about two hours, and by the end of the night I swore up and down that I'd never do it again though. So much for that declaration.
EZ: Ha, right. Now you're a pro. Speaking of which, where'd you learn to do your make-up so flawlessly?
CF: Oh honey, I'm still learning! Just when I think that I can't beat my mug any harder, I discover another trick. My poor face. I'm surprised it hasn't fallen off with everything I've done to it. Thank God for moisturizer. You know, my grandparents owned a costume shop here in town, and a lot of times they would baby-sit me while they were at the store. I was always playing with the stage makeup in the back room. I just thought of it as a form of painting. So this is like years of practice we are talking about. I get a lot of mail from T-girls and real girls even, asking me for makeup tips. I will say that the secret to good makeup is all in the kind of makeup brushes you use. It really does make a difference. That, and a lot of practicing in the mirror. Maybe by the time I'm 90 years old I'll have it completely mastered.
CF: I have loved the Elvira character ever since I first saw her in 1981. I should have known I would be a drag queen back then with her as my teenage idol! I used to imitate her jokes all the time. My friends would say, "God, you do her so well, you sound just like her!" so she was the first celebrity impression I decided to focus on. It wasn't until I got all dolled up as Elvira that I said, "Okay... I think we've got something here."
Of course she is a big gay icon, so I started doing her in my shows. I'll tell ya, people just freaked out over it. The audiences loved it so much, and eventually I crossed paths with the real Elvira. She absolutely loved my impression of the character and started using me as Elvira to promote projects she had going on, so I became like, the "official Elvira impersonator." We became friends during all that, and I haven't had a Halloween to myself ever since! It is literally my busiest month of the year.
EZ: One of your mottos is "Learn to feel. Keep love real. Boycott casual sex!" Is this how you live your life?
CF: Yes, that is ABSOLUTELY how I live my life. I cannot afford to live it any other way. This is a really serious thing. We live in an age full of many, many sexually transmitted diseases. The HIV virus alone is on the rise again and in staggering numbers and is running totally rampant among younger gay guys. These young guys are all saying, "well what are the odds of me getting anything" or, "if I get sick, I'll just take a pill and I'll be fine," but I assure you that it isn't that easy. STDs are very nasty customers. These boys need to realize that there are a lot of "free extras" that come with the price of a hook-up.
Since I was 17 years old, I have seen many friends become infected with several diseases, including AIDS simply because of careless sexual behavior. It was such a wake up call to me. I thought, "If I don't get my shit together, that's gonna be me one day," so it became important to choose wisely who we sleep with. Preferably only with someone we love. We all want something to fill the void or to cure the boredom. We all get lonely, but casual sex is not the answer. It is only temporary fulfillment. So support the boycott ! Make the wise choice!
EZ: You express a lot of frustration in a gay dating scene that is superficial and centered around 21-year-olds. How were you treated when you were 21? What's the difference now?
CF: When I was 21 I was actually treated pretty badly. I accepted a lot of words as the truth. I unknowingly allowed myself to be used by guys who didn't give a shit about anything other than the fact that I was cute. And of course, when guys found out that I was a drag queen they either disappeared like a snow cone in Phoenix, or they suddenly treated me differently because they thought I was "somebody."
There are so many stigmas involved with drag, so I tried, rather unsuccessfully, to keep that separate. I just had to learn a lot of things the hard way. After ten years of seeing different behaviors in the club scene, I had a much better sense of people. I also have a better sense of what kind of person I want to share my life with. Life is not all about gossip and glamour or how gorgeous every guy is. It is not about only respecting and socializing with those who we think are "hot." It is about heart and soul. I never would have said that at 21 years old though. That's why it's groovy getting older. Otherwise you stay stupid forever!
EZ: You practice Hinduism. How did you get involved in this and how has it changed your life? And what the heck is "political and spiritual cabaret?"
CF: I became involved with Hindu culture and Buddhism through my friend Nina Hagen. She is very involved with that lifestyle, and she spoke about a great teacher who lived in India named Babaji. Babaji's message is to live your life with truth, love and simplicity. This was a refreshing change from the whole "your gonna burn in hell if you don't blah blah blah," and it just captured me.
I have always considered myself to be a spiritual person, but I never really gave myself over to one faith or another because, to me, organized religion was really about making money and dwelling on the negative things in life. This religion is not only more adaptable to modern life, but it is also about working on yourself as a human being. It's about cause and effect: you get what you give. It forces you to examine what is important in life. It asks you to look at the bigger picture, verses "me, me, me."
After reading though many books and attending classes, I found myself being more aware of the world around me. I applied what I learned to my daily life, and started to see how much we, as a society, have a general lack of respect for the world and take so much of it for granted. I could go on and on about it, but I think ultimately it has just given me a better sense of self and heightened my sense of community and consciousness.
That goes for my shows too. I consider them spiritual and sometimes political. Of course, they are more rock-cabaret and they include all sorts of human emotions and true stories. I have a song that I do called "SO BAD" about the ugly side of life, the dark side that exposes things like the culture industry, war and misused atomic energy. Also I have a song about Anita Berber, who was a cabaret icon in swinging Berlin in the 20s before the Nazi invasion. Although I like to be sexy and wild, I also like to make sure there is a good message or some form of social consciousness to it. It is my way of spreading the good word.
EZ: Speaking of spreading the word, you've done a lot of work on TV, in videos and on film. How'd you get hooked up with the entertainment industry?
CF: Well believe it or not, I was a "regular" actor before I was a drag queen actor. When I graduated high school I went to Los Angeles and signed up for everything I could. I found an agent, I took acting lessons, I got my headshots, and I went on my little auditions for commercials and TV shows. Usually there'd be like 20 other guys who looked just like me, all auditioning for the same role. It's a really tough business to crack. If you don't have something about you that stands out, a gimmick or whatever, then it's really hard to make it to the big time.
I was fortunate enough to land a few gigs fairly quickly on TV shows like "Party of Five" and "Coach"... mostly just small time sitcom stuff. But my appearance was so cookie cutter... there was nothing remotely unique or interesting about me. That's when I really started to focus more on the drag thing as a profession . I began to realize that as Cassandra Fever, I'm not just one in a million. I can play parts that are more interesting or fun. And as a specialty actor I can get paid more. I used the connections I'd made from before and reappeared on the scene as Cassandra.
EZ: This year, you were in Pink's video "God Is A DJ." What did you do, how was that experience and was Pink a cool lady? Did she get to see YOUR Pink impression?
CF: No, unfortunately, she didn't see me as Pink, but I did chat with her for a bit. She's great... loves drag queens of course, but in that environment you're more focused on the work, so I didn't get to spend too much time with her. She's a wild child though. She reminds me of a really cute, tough boy in drag. In the "God is a DJ" video, I'm running around the club scenes in a blonde afro wig and this wild get-up. I also had a scene where she whistles to me out in front of the club, but I don't think that made it into the final version. You can see me pop up here and there. I tell ya, that video goes at a hundred miles a minute. It's really hard to see what's going on. It's like, don't blink or you'll miss me.
EZ: In 2003 you were on the Anna Nicole Smith Show. What was that like? What do you think of her recent physical transformation?
CF: Well, we did this thing in West Hollywood… it was Anna Nicole Smith Day (if you can believe that), and some of us W. Hollywood drag queens were hired to come to the party dressed as Anna. I was of course the thin version! The Mayor of the city came and presented her with some award for God knows what. She showed up in a wheelchair with a broken leg and her camera crew. It was... interesting. I had to have a few Lemon Drops to get through it.
What they didn't tell me was that they were also "auditioning" the Anna drag queens for a movie she was involved in. Half way through the afternoon, I was given a script and brought into this private room with Anna, her camera crew, all her groupies and the producers of the film. Sooo... I read the script, (which was really terrible) and they all just stared at me the whole time like I was on crack or something. Definitely weird.
As for her "new look" .. what can I say. I don't believe diet pills are very healthy. I think she is slowly destroying her insides trying to be a size she isn't. I hope it's worth it to her.
EZ: Craziness. You were ALSO on the Jenny Jones show. Any fist fights? How'd that play out?
CF: Ah no, fortunately or unfortunately there were no fights. I was actually a member of "the hot bod squad" which is a panel of 4 judges. I was the only drag queen; the others were real girls. We had to decide if the guests on the show had plastic surgery or not. Then at the end of the show all the judges had to reveal what was fake about there bodies. Obviously, you can guess what my secret was. It was kind of stupid, but that's daytime TV for you. I had a fabulous time in Chicago though. When I arrived at my hotel, the producers had pizza and cheesecake ordered to my room! Chicago has the best pizza you will ever eat. I ate the whole thing and then prayed that I could still fit into my outfit for the show the next day.
EZ: Every beauty queen has her vice, and if yours is Chicago deep dish, you're doing just fine! Okay, I gotta ask. You were in a RuPaul music video. What's SHE like? The ultimate diva?
CF: Ru is the most beautiful human being... inside and out. I have been acquainted with her for several years, and she is so generous and supportive. Some people get famous and become total monsters, but Ru has never let me down that way. She'd show up backstage at one of our shows just to kick back and laugh with us. She even performed in the show with us one time as a surprise for the audience. Just a really top notch person. A total doll.
EZ: What's next for Cassandra Fever?
CF: Well, I don't know... Currently I'm reading scripts for three different films I may act in. It looks like one is for sure. It's a really cool movie about the LA punk/goth scene of the 1980's called Nobody Special. I'm talking to the producer and the writer about playing a really whacky drag queen who thinks she's Morticia Addams.
I'm working on getting my own club night going in Orange County. There are no gay clubs there, so I want to try and change that. Have a drag show or something twice a month at one of the clubs in town. I was going to start a drag show at Dennis Rodman's night club in Newport Beach. We met several times to get a solid plan together, but then he went to jail, and our plans went with him. And... I may go to Germany to do a show with a drag queen I know from Berlin. So there are lots of good things in the works that I am very grateful for. We shall see.We'll keep our eyes open for you Cassandra! You can check out more of Cassandra Fever at www.cassandra-online.com and www.halloween-queen.com.
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