BeBe Zahara Benet spoke with Parade about reacting to footage that went years back, the choice to highlight the LGBTQ+ experience in BeBe’s home country of Cameroon, and more. So Being BeBe has officially been released on demand and made the festival circuit last year. How does it feel to have your story be told to so many people worldwide? Well, I’m very excited about it. I’m very humbled by it. When we started the journey with Emily, the whole idea was for people to be able to honestly see my journey and see what the journey is like for an artist—making sure that the story is told with integrity and as pure as it could be. I feel like a lot of people get to see us and are very excited about us. But they just don’t really understand what it takes for us to be the kind of artists we are. The human side of us as well as the artistic side of us. So I’m happy to be able to get that story out there. And hopefully, reach as many people as you can possibly reach. I’m very excited about it. And hopefully, that may shed some light to some people to understand who I am and the different layers of who I am. And also when it comes to what it takes to be an artist, or what it takes to go through the human experience or the human life, whatever, you know. So it’s just all of these amazing emotions. How did the entire process of documenting your drag start more than fifteen years ago? Well, the decision to tell the story of my life happened 15 years ago. This was a decision that was made right from the very get-go. Back in the day–and I don’t say this because I’m very old [Laughs.]–the way you made yourself known in the community was by doing national pageants. So you run to these pageants, you win these pageants, you get to travel and meet people, but then you also get to make a name for yourself and make some money. So I remember I was going to Dallas, Texas, to represent Minnesota for our national pageant, which was Miss US of A. And Emily was also a young filmmaker at that time who came to Minnesota, where she is from, just to visit. Her younger sister was one of my background dancers. So I was having rehearsals, and her sister said," Hey, I’m going to dance for this drag entertainer. Do you just want to come and hang out?" And she found it very intriguing. So she approached me and said, “Hey, I’m a new filmmaker. Can I just follow you to Dallas to document this process?” I was like, “Yeah, sure!” But then, when we went to Dallas, in that process, she discovered that there was so much more in my story. Where I come from, who I am, the whole idea of drag. And that’s when she approached me and said, “Hey, can I actually make a documentary of your life? I feel like you’ve come with a different point of view that needs to be told.” And that’s when we made the decision. And I mentioned to her that if you’re going to tell the story, just tell the story exactly how the story needs to be told. You don’t have to put the bells and whistles on. It’s important to show the journey, the highs, and the lows, and we came to an understanding. So we made this decision right from the get-go, and that’s why 16 years later, you have that much footage of me. So did doing the documentary with that footage come from an idea as simple as “it’s the pandemic, things have stalled, let me tell my story”? The pandemic was definitely the “aha” moment for us. There have been plenty of times when we try putting the movie out. We’re like, “Okay, let’s put it out after you won Drag Race. Let’s put it out after you move to New York.” There were always moments we thought were the best time just to wrap up the movie. But there was always something that was always missing. It wasn’t always feeling completely right with us. But when the pandemic happened, we all took a break. We were breathing, and everything else was happening other than just the pandemic. We felt that that was the moment to really get to tell the immigrant story, to tell the Black story, to tell the story of an artist. So it felt right at that moment. The documentary involves you watching the footage that Emily filmed and reacting to it. Had you watched any of that back before it was documented? That was reliving the past for the first time. That’s why you got to see all the different emotions that I was going through. I had never seen any of the footage until that time. So you’re watching it just as I am, for the first time. Another key part of the film is bringing in the LGBTQ+ experience in Cameroon, where people in the community are alienated and even imprisoned for being gay. At what point in the process did you decide to include that in the documentary? When we started the journey, it wasn’t really about painting the landscape of the community. It was just about just me and my journey. But I credit Emily for this. She said that it was very important to mirror my life as well as the community in Cameroon for people to actually get it and understand that we do live a life of privilege being here in America. As much as there are so many issues still here that we need to deal with, we still get to live a life of privilege. We still get to be who we are; we still get to be the kind of artists that we are. We still get some level of freedom, which is not seen in many other places. I think it’s also very important for people to know that while we’re here and living this kind of life, many other places don’t have that opportunity or have those privileges. So I think being able to see the landscape of Cameron, where I come from, puts it into perspective. And then talking to people from there makes you really understand the differences between the world we all live in and how much work still needs to be done, so we don’t take our freedoms here for granted. What was it like to watch yourself back? Did you find any main similarities or differences between BeBe then and BeBe now? The big difference that really caught me was how very vulnerable I was. The truth is that when you are going through life experiences, you don’t worry about how you’re going to be perceived. When you’re going through a low, you’re going through a low, and when you’re on a high, you’re on a high. And that’s just the reality; that’s the human journey. So it was very interesting to see myself back and see when I had my notes how very vulnerable I was, though necessarily caring how I was seen. People always see me as the lion queen, or they see me as very regal and put together. They almost think I don’t even have emotions. So it was very interesting to have people notice how vulnerable I was. People relate to that side of me, which I think is also important. With regards to similarities, watching it back, I realized I’ve always been a dreamer. And I feel like dreams are what keep hope alive. It’s what keeps me moving. It’s what keeps me motivated. It’s what gets me up in the morning to be able to keep moving through this journey of life. I’m also such a go-getter. I’ve never ever been that person who waits for someone to present opportunities to me. I’ve worked so hard to always try to create my own opportunities. And most of all, I’ve always been in my culture. They’ve always called me a “gatherer of people.” I’ve always had a way up to gathering people together to believe in my vision because it takes a village. It takes so many people to make it happen. And I’ve just been fortunate that I was able to gather other dreamers to help me through my journey. One particular moment I thought was interesting was you discussing how you didn’t identify as either gay or straight. I felt that was almost ahead of its time, considering how the range of sexuality has opened up in the past several years. Absolutely. I remember many years ago, when I would say that, people would say, “Are you just not wanting to identify as something? Are you trying to run away? Are you trying to be discrete?” They never understood. And I’m happy that we’re having these kinds of conversations now. It’s not about who we love; it’s about how we were brought here on this earth by just showing love and respecting each other and not putting so much emphasis on how we label ourselves. Because that’s a very little tiny part of who we are as human beings. So I’m happy that we can now have all these open conversations. You tragically lost your father a few years back. What was it like to rewatch footage of him and re-experience losing him again? I don’t think it reopened wounds. For me, I think it was more about the loss. It was still so fresh when I was watching the footage. I was crying, but the emotions were happy tears in a sense. And happy sounds very weird to say. But it was someone that I love very much, that I miss now very much. So being able to see him in his glory and see him when he was here was something that just struck a chord with me. The documentary pretty much starts with you winning the first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race. But after a certain point, you say you’re over being considered a Drag Race winner and just want to be BeBe. And then you end up coming back onto the show at a time when you were struggling to get big projects off the ground. Talk to me about your relationship with the show and how it’s changed over the years. I will always credit Drag Race. It has always been part of my history and will always be part of my history. But I will emphasize part of my history. It came at the time when my vision of what I wanted to do as an artist aligned a lot with when Drag Race was happening. And I feel like the higher power just granted me a favor at that moment. If you look at the footage prior to me being on Drag Race, I was trying to make myself a brand. I was trying to get into many different things like music, fashion, and entertainment. Then Drag Race came. And even though it was so new at the time, it helped propel a platform for us entertainers to be able to know that we could do other things other than just being in a bar and performing a routine. So I’m always very grateful for the platform. But when I said, “I’m tired of being the first winner of Drag Race,” I wasn’t dissing what my journey has been. But before there was Drag Race, there was also me. I was an artist. And if you take away the title of winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race, I’m still going to be BeBe the artist. There are so many people that come from talent competition shows and are like, “Oh, I always want to be known as just this.” But there are so many layers of who we are. And I would love just to be known as BeBe Zahara Benet, and then all my accomplishments that follow after that. That being said, I’d be remiss not to bring up that you were the first Drag Race winner to return for a second season. And now they have a whole all-stars season full of winners! [Laughs.] Yes! That’s where we’re at. I appreciate it. I mean, when I meet people, they’re like, “Oh my gosh, I was just two years old when you won!” It is so interesting to see how much time has passed. To hear how many young people watched the show at a time when they probably shouldn’t have, the stories are crazy. But it was so crazy to see how much impact that had even back then. And even more so now. So I don’t take it for granted. Next, here’s everything you need to know about the all-winners season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars Season 7.
