Ab Fab movie looking to cast 96 drag queens and ‘camp, fantastic queers’
By Will Stroude
There is no doubt in out mind that the upcoming Absolutely Fabulous movie will be nothing short of, well, fabulous – but that seems even more of a dead cert after reports that a casting call has been put out for close to one hundred drag queens and some “camp, fantastic queers”.
Talent scouts have been on the lookout for “polished queens who can sing and act” to perform individually, as well as a host of others to form part of an audience of extras, The Spectator reports.
On top of eight drag queens to perform individually, and seventy to be in an audience, the production team are also hoping to cast eighteen celebrity drag lookalikes – including a Cher lookalike, a Christina Aguilera and a Tammy Wynette.
In a word: amazing.
Joanna Lumley confirmed earlier this summer that production on movie would get underway this month, with the “same old gang” all returning and some filming set to take place in the south of France.
Lumley and show creator Jennifer Saunders last reprised their iconic roles as Patsy Stone Edina Monsoon for a trio of special episodes shown in 2011 and 2012. Saunders revealed back in January that she had completed the first draft of the film’s script, and has since announced that the movie will also star male supermodel David Gandy and interior designer Kelly Hoppen.
Teasing more details earlier this year, Saunders said: “[The film] involves all the main characters and virtually everyone that’s ever been in the series – all those characters – and we’re in London, and sometimes we might go to the south of France, I’m hoping.”
She added “I’m waiting for the budget! It could be anywhere – if it’s a big budget, it will be the Bahamas!”
She went on to joke that Lumley allayed her fears about potentially damaging the show’s legacy, saying: “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be awful if it was awful’, but we’re all so old, and Joanna said to me, ‘Do it before we die!’ We’re all on the brink.”
We recently drew up our ultimate wishlist of things we want to see from Patsy and Edina’s first big screen outing – click here to find out our five most important demands.
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