Video: Rachel Bloom and Latrice Royale Channeled AIRPLANE! in STOP! THAT! TRAIN!

This Friday, the worlds of RuPaul’s Drag Race, cinema, and rail transportation all cross tracks in the new disaster comedy, Stop! That! Train! Filled with fast-paced humor and abundant visual gags, the movie follows in the tradition of 80s-era slapstick comedies like Airplane! and The Naked Gun.

Stop! That! Train! also features a star-studded cast consisting of many Drag Race veterans, including beloved drag queen Latrice Royale. She plays Barbra, a friend of the central protagonists who pops up throughout the film in one of its great recurring bits. Growing up with those movies herself, Royale immediately understood the tone required for the project.

“When we got the script and got the idea of what vein we were going for, it was a no-brainer,” Royale told BroadwayWorld. “I was like, ‘Okay, I know this. I know how to do this.’ So it was just a joy to be able to do. [It was] a hoot because it’s stupid.” 

Stop! That! Train! may be a “stupid” comedy, but the problem at the center of the film is deadly serious. As the title indicates, the plot follows the exploits of a runaway train, which is dangerously barreling ahead at full speed. With hundreds of lives at stake, only one person seems up to the task of saving the day: the resourceful Donna Dusk, played by none other than Rachel Bloom.

Like her co-star, the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend creator was also intimately familiar with the films of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, collectively known as “ZAZ”. “Airplane! is maybe my favorite movie. My husband co-wrote The Naked Gun reboot with Liam Neeson and so I had the pleasure of watching that process over the past couple years. The golden rule was, like ZAZ did… You play it straight. This is actually happening."

Watch the duo discuss the new film in the video interview, where they also share which Broadway artist they would personally recruit if they found themselves in an emergency train situation. Stop! That! Train! officially hits theaters on Friday, June 12.

Photo Credit: World of Wonder/Bleecker Street