Laganja Estranja reflects on 9 years of her Drag Race dip that 'upped the game' for Werk Room entrances
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RuPaul's Drag Race season 15 knew we wanted a twist (eh) for the show's 200th episode, and we got it — thanks to a strong hit of Laganja Estranja's legacy dipping back into our collective consciousness.
After referencing her iconic "I feel very attacked!" line during a previous week's Daytona Wind acting challenge, season 15 death-dropped another Laganja moment into its milestone installment, as Salina EsTitties — one of Laganja's friends from the Los Angeles drag scene — was tasked with posing for a comical photoshoot that would eventually see her edited into a still from Laganja's season 6 entrance, where she memorably dipped herself (and the audience's jaws) to the floor in what would become one of the most beloved moments in the show's her-story.
"I did actually rehearse my entrance," Laganja exclusively tells EW's Quick Drag podcast (above) in a new interview reflecting on nine years of her entrance's impact on the Drag Race franchise. "As someone who grew up watching the show, it was a dream of mine to be able to enter the Werk Room, so I took it very seriously. I come from a musical theater background; we're used to rehearsing for months and months before presenting our final presentation, so that's what I did. I workshopped what I would say and how I would do it."
Laganja, who came out as trans in an exclusive interview with EW in 2021, reveals that she wasn't the only one who devised the bit; she had an entire army of collaborators working with her on most of her gags from the show, also including that time she sat underneath one of the Werk Room tables to write jokes, and when she came to set wearing a turban.
"I had a bunch of friends in college who were Team Ganja, I like to call them, so we did work on it," she says. "I was one of those people back in the day, before it was popular on Instagram, to tag every person on your team. I was doing that.... I had a team of stylists that came up with every single look I wore, both as a boy and girl in the Werk Room, I had people who were managing me and helping me figure out what sorts of shenanigans."
She knows that the stunts rubbed many the wrong way at the time, but she feels it all rang true to who she was at the time at age 23.
"In my humble opinion, I think it upped the game for everyone else," she continues. "Now, having a tagline and having a catchphrase or catch movement is super popular, and I'd like to think I was one of the catalysts for that."
Every antic that earned criticism, however, also assured that the fandom was still talking about her — and, consequently, show producers still eyeing her up — for years to come.
While Laganja isn't ready to come back for an All Stars season as a contestant — despite her drag mother, Alyssa Edwards, still urging her to do it ("It's still something I mull over from time to time.... maybe, when I'm further along in my transition, a small percentage [of me] might entertain [it,]" she says) — her season 6 entrance secured her a spot on All Stars 6 as a returning lip-sync assassin.
World of Wonder/Logo/Paramount+ Laganja Estranja reflects on her iconic 'RuPaul's Drag Race' season 6 entrance.
After she got the call to make a guest appearance for a lip-sync against All Stars 6 queen (and fellow season 6 competitor) Trinity K. Bonet, Laganja's mind began puffing with creative clouds.
"I told them that one of the only ways I'd do it is if I could do the big entrance I'd planned for years," she explains. "I wanted to do something that would top what I'd done before, and I also wanted to pay homage to Tandi Iman Dupree['s ceiling drop.] I asked production if they could build a platform or a ladder or suspend me somehow, so that I could drop from the ceiling. When I got to the Werk Room, the platform was on the left side of the stage, and I'm a left-splitter, so we had to move the platform to the other side of the stage so I could do my split. It required the whole crew to drill up this platform and move it. It was definitely an orchestration."
So, too, was the move she had planned: A massive jump-split from an elevated position just out of frame, all while remixing her famous catchphrase: "Ya'll wanted a twist, eh?" she squealed before leaping into frame — a move that was captured by production from multiple angles, like a Hollywood blockbuster. "Come on All Stars 6, let's get sickening!"
"I literally did that seven times," Laganja remembers. "I did it six times without anyone in the room to make sure we caught it, and I did it one final time when everyone else came in the room. So, needless to say, my coochie was on fire."
Laganja says she tackled the instantly legendary undertaking the same way she's navigated — and will continue to navigate — her ever-evolving career since dipping and diving onto the Drag Race set back in 2014: "I launched off it and prayed to God," she says. "And that's G-A-W-D."
RuPaul's Drag Race season 15 continues Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on MTV. Listen to Laganja's full interview with EW in the podcast above, and check out more interviews with drag superstars in the EW's Quick Drag feed below.
Subscribe to EW's Quick Drag podcast for recaps of RuPaul's Drag Race, including reactions with the cast, special guests, and more.
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