Matt Rogers on working with RuPaul and his favourite LGBTQ+ hotspot (EXCLUSIVE)
We caught up with the Stop! That! Train! star about his travel highs and lows
Actor and comedian Matt Rogers plays an important role as the press secretary to RuPaul’s President Judy Gagwell in Stop! That! Train!, out now in UK cinemas.
In addition to his acting roles, which also include a part in Fire Island, Rogers has co-hosted over 500 episodes of podcast Las Culturistas with Bowen Yang. On the pod they map out the Rules of Culture with A-list celebrities including Lady Gaga, Nicole Kidman, and Michelle Obama.
And the American performer will be bringing his annual Christmas musical show to London’s Islington Assembly Hall on 18 November.
Here, he’s in the hot seat to discuss his travel habits.
Attitude: Has a “stormaganza” like the one in Stop! That! Train! ever ruined one of your holidays?
Matt Rogers: When I was about 14 years old, my family was going on a big vacation to Hershey, Pennsylvania, to visit Hersheypark amusement park. And it was the single most rain that Pennsylvania had ever recorded. This literally was a stormaganza. But it actually ended up being really good because instead of going to the theme park, my parents took us to see the movie Anchorman. And that ended up being really formative for me. When I got back to school, the fact I could quote a Will Ferrell movie ended up being really good for me socially as a little closeted kid who wanted to be friends with the boys. They were like, “Oh, he can quote the Will Ferrell movies. He’s all right.” So, I was really thankful for that stormaganza in retrospect.
If you had the opportunity to take RuPaul on holiday with you, where would you take them and why?
I think Ru would be really fun on an Alaskan cruise, just sitting and watching the icebergs go by, and talking about life. I would love to sit there in a quiet, mystical environment and hear Ru wax poetic about everything he thinks. I just want a quiet atmosphere, because Ru parties all the time, like, Ru dances, Ru is always out there being bombastic, but I’ve actually been lucky enough to have some quiet moments with Ru, and I’ve really appreciated them.
What was your first holiday where you experienced a location on your own terms as a gay man?
I was in the Fire Island movie, but it’s really interesting the relationship that at least gay men that I know have with Fire Island, because it’s very intimidating. It does take you out of your comfort zone in so many different regards. But then when you find the right people to go with, and you find the right community, and you know yourself well enough to understand the kind of vacation that you’re going to have, I find that it’s been such an amazing venue to unlock many different kinds of experiences. So, I’ve got to show love to Fire Island.
Is Fire Island your top LGBTQ+ destination?
Not anymore. I think that I’ve now had so many experiences there that I’m looking to have new ones. I’m really into Provincetown now. I like that it provides all the chaos of Fire Island, but also there’s food. And by that, I mean amazing sit-down restaurants. Also, you can’t get more beautiful than Cape Cod.
What is the most iconic gay bar or nightclub you’ve ever stumbled into while travelling abroad?
Let’s just say this: I stumbled into a lot of places in Berlin and had an amazing time – Berghain included.
What has been your most over-the-top hotel experience?
I was at the opening of the Tryst Hotel in Puerto Vallarta. And I will say there’s almost always a drag queen giving everything on the first floor. And there’s this incredible little pool in the middle of the restaurant just for decorative purposes, but the drag queens get into it. I saw an absolutely insane performance of The Pussycat Dolls’ ‘When I Grow Up’ that incorporated the water.
If you had to invent a Rule of Culture specifically for travel, what would it be?
It’s Rule of Culture number one: AirTags. Because, babe, I have been that person that’s lost their bag. Let me rephrase that, the airline lost my bag. We had a stopover in Milan on our way to Sicily and something about the Italian agency to get your bags back was lacking. I did the first two days in Sicily without my luggage, and I really think I could have helped myself by just having an AirTag in there so I could at least know that my bag was still somewhere on this plane of existence.
We’ve booked you a middle seat on a long-haul day flight. Which two past guests of Las Culturistas podcast would you like either side of you?
Kesha and Slayyyter. I think we would have an incredible time. And I say that not only because they were just recently on the podcast, but also, I feel like they kind of are like big sister, little sister in a way. We would be cranking it and being animals. I would love to party with them. And I think that wherever I brought them, the gay community would be happy I did.
Can you tell me what it was like being on set with RuPaul in presidential drag?
I truly love Ru. It’s so funny because Bowen and I did our Culture Awards, [and] sitting in the front row was Will Ferrell and RuPaul next to each other. And I’m like, wow, that’s really my mother and father of comedy because I’ve always looked up to Ru’s comedic sensibilities.
I’ve always loved and followed what Ru said about how we’re all born naked and the rest is drag that was actually really, revolutionary for my comedy in my 20s when I started watching Drag Race and hearing what Ru was saying about how there really were no rules and you could be and do anything you want. That really creatively set me free.
So over the years, I’ve had little interactions with Ru, like I’ve been a guest judge on Drag Race and I was on Ru’s podcast, What’s the Tea, a long time ago. But to be able to come full circle and be able to look at Ru in the Oval Office, which by the way was a reality I would strongly prefer to the one we are living in right now, was really amazing.
And just in terms of the way that Ru delivers lines, it’s just always so delicious. She knows how to say words. It’s the only way I can put it. And there’s a spirit and sense of fun in everything she does, otherwise I don’t think she would even be there.
So being around that is just very inspiring in an artistic way because you’re just following the fun. And that’s what we did the two days I was on set.
Will there be a Stop! That! Train! sequel?
I hope so. I mean, stop that plane. I think what we got to do is make sure it brings in the dough at the box office in the UK so that we can make a sequel. Because I think every single person would be down to come back.
Stop! That! Train!, is now playing in UK cinemas. And Rogers’ annual Christmas musical show to London’s Islington Assembly Hall on 18 November.