Vlad Bunoan

Article (news)

Yong Chavez

ABS-CBN News North America

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1781249699053STOP! THAT! TRAIN! Still 1.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>A scene from &#x27;Stop! That! Train!&#x27; Bleecker Street/World of Wonder</div>For decades, queer stories on screen have often carried the weight of explanation. Characters often come with a wound and a lesson for everyone else. “Stop! That! Train!” takes a different route. It throws a cast of drag superstars onto a speeding locomotive headed for disaster, fills the cars with hilarious and highly quotable jokes, and reveals its most delightful idea: Drag queens save the world, and they have fun doing it.The film follows best friends Tess and DeeDee, played by Ginger Minj and Jujubee, two overworked train stewardesses who leave behind the dreary Stank Rail for the glamorous Glamazonian Express. When a catastrophic “Stormaganza” threatens to send the train hurtling into Florida, coach and first class are forced together, with RuPaul as the president managing the chaos in style.Director Adam Shankman saw the story’s potential almost immediately, although he also recognized that its original version was headed down a different track.“When I read the script, it was so funny,” Shankman told me. “But it was set on an airplane, and I was like, ‘Wait, this is “Airplane!” then. It’s actually “Airplane!” If you put it on a train, I would be interested.’ And they said sure, and I said yes. That’s how fast it was.”<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1781249725032STOP! THAT! TRAIN! Still 2.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>A scene from &#x27;Stop! That! Train!&#x27; Bleecker Street/World of Wonder</div>For all the outrageous set pieces in the film, the friendship between Tess and DeeDee drives the story. Watching Ginger Minj and Jujubee together, it becomes clear that the chemistry on-screen was built long before the cameras rolled. The pair had spent months touring together and are very close.“I don’t even think I’m acting,” Jujubee said. “I think DeeDee is an extension of Jujubee, Jujubee is an extension of (Jujubee’s real name) Airline, and in this world of art, you pull from your real life, because that’s going to be the most brave way to tell the truest story.”Ginger Minj approaches performance from a similar place. “I come from the school of acting where I don’t act, I react,” she said. “I think our friendship is really what dictated how those characters ended up being portrayed.”Even Shankman was surprised by what he had stumbled into. “I didn’t know that you guys were friends when I cast you,” he said to the pair during our interview at L.A.’s Union Station. “It was just based on auditions.”At one point during our conversation, Ginger revealed that Jujubee had convinced her to audition for “RuPaul’s Drag Race” years ago. “It was a rainy night,” Jujubee remembered. &quot;I looked at her, and I said, ‘You need to audition for “Drag Race.”’<div>Ginger’s answer at the time was simple: “Really? I don’t think I could ever do that.” But Jujubee convinced her. “I was like, girl, you would kill it, you could probably win. And here we are, a winner.”<img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1781249758730STOP! THAT! TRAIN! Still 3.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>A scene from &#x27;Stop! That! Train!&#x27; Bleecker Street/World of Wonder</div>The movie’s depiction of life-changing friendships also surfaced when I spoke with Brooke Lynn Hytes, Symone, and Marcia Marcia Marcia. Asked what advice they would give aspiring drag performers, none of them talked about fame or perfection. They talked about patience and growing into oneself.“Take your time,” Symone advised aspiring drag performers. “Don’t feel like you have to be at the top of your game when you first do it. Discover who you are. Have fun with it.”Hytes reflected on coming up in drag before endless YouTube tutorials and social media. “We were boogers,” she laughed. “The booger stage is very short now, but looking back and seeing the progression and how far you come, that’s a beautiful thing.”Symone spoke about finding her chosen family after growing up in Arkansas, where queer culture felt far away. “They helped me become who I am,” she said. Hytes described the comfort of working alongside her best friend and manager, someone she trusts to protect her interests in an industry that can feel isolating. Marcia recalled forging a lasting friendship backstage during a demanding run on Broadway, carrying that support system into every new project.Shankman encouraged his cast to experiment once the scripted takes were finished, and some of those improvisations made the final cut. Ginger loved those moments. “We would do the strict takes, we would get out what we needed to, and then we’d do a fun run where he would let us play,” she said.For Jujubee, that creative trust meant even more. “What I find really beautiful and genuine is Adam let us be us, and that’s a gift.”<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1781249785510STOP! THAT! TRAIN! Still 6.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>A scene from &#x27;Stop! That! Train!&#x27; Bleecker Street/World of Wonder</div>At a moment in America when drag performers have found themselves at the center of political fights and cultural anxiety, “Stop! That! Train!” refuses to shrink them into symbols. Instead, they’re encouraged to be ridiculous, glamorous, vulnerable, mischievous, and deeply human.Jujubee told me that starring in the film fulfilled a dream she had carried for years. “I don’t think that many people saw the version of Jujubee as an actor,” she said. “To act on film is completely different. This is something I’ve always dreamed of.”Ginger sees the opportunity through the eyes of the people who will come after her. Growing up, she rarely saw herself reflected on screen, and she understands what visibility can offer to the next generation. “Being able to do this and be in this position,” she said, “it shows that next generation, you too can become a movie star, no matter who you are or what you want to do.”

‘Stop! That! Train!’ is packed with camp, comedy and catastrophe, but its biggest surprise may be how warmly it celebrates friendship, chosen family and queer joy.

‘Stop! That! Train!’ is packed with camp, comedy and catastrophe, but its biggest surprise may be how warmly it celebrates friendship, chosen family and queer joy.

Here in Hollywood: ‘Stop! That! Train!’ celebrates joy, friendship of drag queens

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Here in Hollywood: ‘Stop! That! Train!’ celebrates joy, friendship of drag queens

Yong Chavez,

ABS-CBN News North America

Published June 12, 2026 04:59 PM PHT

Read More:

Stop! That! Train!

drag

LGBT

Yong Chavez

Here in Hollywood

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