John Leguizamo Reflects On ‘To Wong Foo’

Nearly 30 years after its original release, actor John Leguizamo has reflected on the iconic and groundbreaking To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, one of the first mainstream productions from Hollywood to depict drag queens. 

In a recent appearance on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy, Leguizamo said he still holds a lot of love for Chi Chi Rodriguez and To Wong Foo three decades after release as an important movie for queer youth.

He said: “The film was very important because a lot of transgender kids [and LGBTQIA+] kids come up to me, who are now I guess a little older, [and they say] because of that [movie] and my character, they felt confident to come out to their parents. And I felt like, ‘Wow, that’s what art’s supposed to do.’”

To Wong Foo, which starred Leguizamo, Wesley Snipes and Patrick Swayze as three drag queens from the Big Apple on a road trip, has received praise for its then-groundbreaking depiction of drag queens and the queer experience. 

Although released a year after Australia’s own The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, another comedy-road movie about three drag queens, To Wong Foo remains an important film for its open depiction of the LGBTQIA+ community on-screen.

Behind-the-scenes tension

Although speaking about the overall experience positively, Leguizamo revealed that there was behind-the-scenes disagreements between him and Patrick Swayze during the film’s production. 

“Rest in peace, I love him,” Leguizamo said. “[Swayze] was neurotic… and, you know, I’m neurotic too, but I don’t know. It was just a bit difficult working with him. Just neurotic, maybe a tiny bit insecure.” 

Leguizamo diagnosed the issue as the two actors having completely different approaches to the script, commenting: “I’m an improviser, and [Swayze] didn’t like that, he couldn’t keep up with it.

“He goes, ‘Well, can you just say the line the way it is? I go, ‘I can’t,’ and the director didn’t want me to… it would make him mad and upset sometimes.” Leguizamo also claimed that he brought a lot more to the character than there was in the script, thus proving the necessity of improvising. 

However, the actor had nothing bad to say about his other co-star Wesley Snipes, saying that they “vibed because, you know, we’re people of colour and we got each other.”

\If you’re feeling an urge to rewatch To Wong Foo, it’s currently streaming on BINGE in Australia.