If there was ever a role designed to weaponise Brooke Lynn Hytes’ statuesque presence, impeccable posture and bone-dry delivery, it’s Amber, the gloriously condescending first-class attendant she plays in Stop! That! Train!
Directed by Hairspray filmmaker Adam Shankman and produced by the team behind RuPaul’s Drag Race, the unabashedly camp disaster-movie spoof takes its cues from the likes of Airplane! as best friends Tess (Ginger Minj) and DeeDee (Jujubee) escape their dreary jobs aboard the Stank Rail for the considerably more glamorous Glamazonian Express. Their upgrade proves short-lived when a catastrophic “Stormaganza” puts the high-speed train on a collision course with Florida, forcing the pair to work alongside its snobbish first-class attendants – including Brooke Lynn’s deliciously imperious Amber – and RuPaul’s President Gagwell to avert disaster.
But beneath the absurdity of Stop! That! Train! is something the performer found particularly meaningful: the film never treats its drag queens as the joke. Ahead of the film’s Australian release, Peter Gray spoke with Brooke Lynn Hytes about being treated as an actor first, unleashing her inner villain, how her ballet training helped shape Amber’s intimidating physicality, and why she believes drag performers are more than ready to lead mainstream movies.
Congratulations on the film. I’m going to say, I think your delivery of, “You look different. Have you had a stroke?” is one of the great line readings of the year.
I can’t wait for my Oscar nomination.
I know that Adam Shankman has said that with direction, the joke isn’t that these characters are drag queens. The joke is the movie. How liberating was that as a performer? Did it change the way you approached the comedy?
I think we just felt taken seriously more than anything, knowing that we weren’t the joke. It felt like we were real actors, and Adam treated us like we weren’t campy, clowny drag queens on set. We were real actors doing this, and there was just a really nice level of respect from him and everybody on set. Obviously, that just made us feel really comfortable and validated and this was going to be a really amazing experience, which it was.
Because the film is inspired by Airplane and those 70s disaster movies, were there any classic comedies or performances that you secretly borrowed from when building Amber?
Yeah, I would say I kind of borrowed from Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly and Rachel McAdams as Regina George. It’s kind of a combo of those two.
It all works! We’re looking at Amber as the “villain,” this flight attendant who looks down on everyone else. What as the key to making her entertaining instead of just being mean?
The key was the script. Our script was so strong that I really didn’t have to do much work. Honestly, I just had to say the lines and figure out how I would say them. Even that was just so easy. When you read something that’s good, and you just know how you want to deliver it…
This script wasn’t written for drag queens. Yes, we were drag queens playing these roles, but a lot of the time when people write for drag queens, it’s like, “Ooh, girl.” The way (people) think drag queens talk is so hysterical, because none of us talk like that. I think because it was just written as a normal person was a lot easier to deliver with authenticity.
Obviously before drag you spent years as a professional ballet dancer. Did that background affect how you moved through this film? Even standing still, your posture tells a story. Did you find that you relied on that at all?
Definitely. Just the way I carry myself. I’ve been told I have a very intimidating, unapproachable presence, because in drag I’m six (foot) seven. I’m very tall, and then I carry myself like a dancer. I’m very straight. I’m kind of reserved. Regal, I guess you could say. I come off bitchy, but it plays in mt favour in this movie. I definitely did lean into that a little bit more. I tried to give that kind of air of authority.
Adam Shankman has said that drag performers create two characters. You are Brooke Lynn Hytes, but then Brooke Lynn Hytes becomes Amber. It’s such a great description. Does it feel that way from the inside for you?
A little bit. I’m luck that Amber is close to who Brooke Lynn is in a lot of ways. The way she carries herself, the dry sense of humour, it’s all so close to me. It wasn’t a huge stretch for me to deliver this character. I didn’t have to dig deep. It was just fun playing a villain. It’s a little easier because it’s more satisfying to just unleash. We all have a little villain inside of us. It’s nice to unleash that. You get permission to be mean.
Sharing scenes with queens that audiences know so well, was there anyone whose comic timing almost threatened you to break character?
Jujubee. Yeah, Juju’s just hysterical. She did make me break character a couple times. I love Juju as a person. I love working with her. She’s got such good energy. She’s so funny. She’s one of my favourite queens ever.
The film feels very significant, because it’s a mainstream comedy led by drag performers and the story isn’t explaining drag; it’s just accepted as part of the world. Do you think audiences are ready to simply enjoy drag artists as movie stars?
I would say so. It’s done quite well in the U.S. in theatres. I think people are excited by it. I think it’s such a nice step for us to just being shown that drag queens can really lead a movie. We can just play normal characters. We’re just supernatural people. We’re supernatural beings, but we’re ordinary people at the same time, and I think this (movie) shows that we’re like everybody else…but also not. We want the same rights as everyone else, but also don’t touch us (laughs).
You’ve gone from the ballet stage to Drag Race to hosting one of the franchises! Now you’re in feature films. Looking back, is there anything this version of your career has given you that your younger self training at the National Ballet School couldn’t have possibly imagined?
Like, all of it! Imagine any of this? You think I thought any of this was gonna fucking happen? (Laughs). Honestly, the level of not-planning that my life had. Everything that’s happened in my career and my life has just happened. None of it’s been planned. I think the only goal I had when I started doing drag was getting on Drag Race. That’s the only goal I had. And I’ve achieved that, obviously. Everything else has just happened without any real planning. It’s just been offered to me.
I think people know they can trust me, and they know I’m going to show up. I’m going to 100% of myself to whatever I’m doing, because I love what I do. This is my passion, and I’m going to be on time. I’m going to be easy to work with. And the rest is herstory.
Stop! That! Train! is screening in Australian theatres from August 13th, 2026.
