Sutan Amrull – also known as Raja and Raja Gemini – was recently in Alberta, and we caught up with her at Pure Pride’s kickoff party for Edmonton Pride 2017. Raja is a familiar name and face – first as the make-up artist for nine seasons of America’s Next Top Model  and recently as a drag performer and winner from season 3 of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Having been to Edmonton on several occasions, Raja told us "I’ve always had a good time here. It’s one of those cities most people don’t hear about...especially in the States. We hear about Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal; you don’t really hear a lot about Edmonton...it’s become kind of a fun destination for me. Just a time to chill." Unfortunately, this time Raja was going to miss Edmonton’s Pride parade – she was off the next day to Baltimore.

The short visit was still exciting for Edmonton fans. Raja was flattered by the love she gets: "I like to be personable and approachable...I’m very fortunate to get to have the job I do...so when fans are excited to see me I’m equally excited to have a fan or more – it feels nice! Some queens don’t have fans, and I’m really appreciative and one day no one’s gonna care is how it works in my mind, so I just continually reach out and be cool."

To be fair, we have interviewed actors, musicians, drag queens, porn stars, etc. and many often remark the polite nature of Canadians makes meetings with fans so much more enjoyable on both ends. "In a smaller city like this you find people tend to be a lot more friendly...I don’t know. I just think that the country overall is a very polite place."

Getting back to Raja’s thoughts on Drag Race: asked about the evolution of the show and drag queens appearing on it over the last nine years, Raja was amused how in the later seasons you are seeing contestants who grew up on the show. "Violet Chachki was 14 years old when she first started watching ‘Drag Race’ and won it at 21." This compares to queens from the early seasons like Raja – who had been doing drag already for many years and had her ideas and style ready to go.

Raja is happy to see that over the years people are finding doing drag easier or at least more rewarding, but she is a bit wistful about the show as it is now. "We have created a template of what drag looks like. I do miss the earlier days of drag race when it was a little more bitchy and cutthroat – because none of us really knew the outcome other than we had to fight for a spot. I miss those days, seeing actual characters." In addition, the change in tone might be because they are making the cast selections a bit safer for the audience, Raja added. "Because it’s got such a huge fan base now a lot of the queens participating in it are safe. They don’t want to piss off anybody that’s out there watching, and I come from the school of who cares!?"

Which is a realistic attitude – something Raja gives off. Her time on America’s Next Top Model and RuPaul’s Drag Race was years ago, but she’s not just coasting. She’s working at maintaining her visibility, which, besides appearances at Pride festivals, includes her painting and writing (she has a one woman show going on in Provincetown MA this summer). "I feel like I still have a lot more to do in this so I’m just going to keep exploring what scares the shit out of me and that way I know I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing." She admits it can be easy to assume her fame and relevance with fans will always be there, but Raja says you do have to work at it "and as an artist it’s important to not be lazy, but it’s very easily done.".

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Contributor Evan Kayne | Steve Polyak |

Locale Edmonton |

Person Raja Gemini |

Topic Celebrity Interview | Celebrity Video Interview | Drag Queen | Drag Race | PurePride |

Photo Gallery Raja Gemini |