Peppermint Plays Peppermint and Has Her Dream Wedding

Drag icon Peppermint is many things – singer, actor, "RuPaul's Drag Race" and "Traitors" reality TV icon. A veteran of films like "Fire Island" and "Glitter & Doom," she is not just out and proud, but also a fierce advocate for transgender rights. But one thing she is not is married, despite People Magazine's coverage of her splashy, but fictitious, wedding, which featured a performance by House of Balenciaga, a celebrated hairdo, and a gorgeous bridal gown.

The source of the confusion? Peppermint – the actor and drag star – portrays a very different Peppermint – also transgender, and also a drag entertainer – on the Netflix series "Survival of the Thickest," Michelle Buteau's razor-sharp comedy about a plus-sized woman making good in the skinny-obsessed world of fashion.

In a recent episode from the second season of the show – which is based on Buteau's memoir of the same title – the fictional Peppermint married a cisgender, straight hunk named Harrison. The real Peppermint, by contrast, is good friends with "Younger" star Dan Amboyer, the openly gay actor who plays Harrison, but she hasn't got wedding bells in her immediate future. (Amboyer, for his part, is already married to husband Eric P. Berger.)

Perhaps a certain level of mix-up between the two Peppermints is inevitable. Indeed, the drag star recalled to EDGE how she first learned about the part – and came to realize she was going to have to audition to play herself.

"I received the script, and I saw the description of the character before I saw any of the details, which was a Black trans woman who works in drag and lives in New York," Peppermint recalls, "and I was like, 'Oh, that's me.' And then when I saw the script, I saw the name Peppermint. I was like, 'Oh, it is me.' I was like, 'Oh no, what if I don't get it?' But obviously I did, thank goodness!"

Where others might have a meet cute story to share about how they met their spouse, Peppermint offers the story of how she learned that Amboyer was to be her onscreen love.

"I was at a party for a Broadway event in New York City, and I knew that the hunt was on between seasons for whoever was going to play my husband. And Dan, this tall drink of water, comes up to me and says, 'I think I might be playing your husband on this season of "Survival of the Thickest,'" and that's kind of how we met.

"He's just been wonderful," Peppermint adds. "It was really important for me to do this right and show folks a different version of what a trans narrative could be, and he was along with that."

EDGE caught up with the drag icon to hear her thoughts about the continued importance of such upbeat narratives, the joys of TV weddings, and the artistic freedom that comes with playing a fictional version of oneself.

EDGE: Congratulations on your fictional nuptials.

Peppermint: Thank you!

EDGE: The buildup to the wedding takes a few episodes. As you were trying on the gown and getting ready in this fictional world, did it feel as exciting as the real thing?

Peppermint: Yes and no. I mean, I had none of the stress of having to book any of the places, or [do the] organizing, or figure out who's gonna sit where. But a lot of the excitement was around the dress, and just finding the dress for costuming purposes did mirror, probably, what it would be like in real life. I guess the only difference would be, maybe, my mom wasn't there to see me. But once I came to set, they treated me like the princess of the day. People were like, "The bride's coming!" It wasn't, like, "Oh, the actor's coming. Just don't step on [the dress]." It was like, "Oh, the bride is here!" It felt like I was coming to my wedding every single day.

EDGE: It feels so right to see Peppermint, the TV version, getting married to the straight man of her dreams. Did that wedding episode validate the message that trans women are women?

Peppermint: I hope so. We didn't necessarily say it in so many words, but I hope so, because the truth is there's a lot of discrimination going on. A lot of things that are being said about the trans community, and particularly trans women, are unfair and untrue. All these things that are happening result in us losing rights, losing protection, losing access to medical care, being treated unfairly, and essentially being legislated back into the shadows. You can't do that unless you dehumanize the group that you're doing that to.

A Pew poll recently said that most people admit that they don't know someone personally who's trans, which means it's kind of easy to think of trans people as these "villainous headline" people. I think we are on a mission, thanks to Michelle. The entire creative team are fighting back against that in a heartwarming way.

EDGE: With members of our Supreme Court openly itching to take marriage equality away, does it feel like you're making a statement on marriage rights as well?

Peppermint: I do. Obviously, I believe in equality, and I believe that that should apply to everyone being able to marry who they want. When we think of marriage and the LGBTQIA community, we tend to think of two men or two women, not a trans woman – and if you do, then a lot of people still think of trans women as men. Yes, this [TV wedding] is queer love, and queer love and queer relationships are under attack, which means two gay men, two gay women, but it also means a straight couple, one of whom [might be] trans.

Hopefully it sends a message to everyone who watches the show that trans people deserve to be fought for right now. When we allow them to say that trans women should not be able to use the women's restroom, they shouldn't be able to play in women's sports, and we think through how that's going to be enacted, it usually means someone calling the police officer on a woman who's too tall, or a woman whose hands are too big, or a woman who might have a little bit of chin hair. Nine times out of 10, if you see a tall woman or woman with little chin hair, it's a cis woman. Suddenly, we're saying that women should not be tall, women should not have a little chin hair. We've seen several attacks on [cisgender] women in women's spaces because of these anti-trans policies.

EDGE: What is it like to play a fictionalized version of yourself?

Peppermint: It's great, because it allows the inner child, the person inside of me, to envision this fantasy world. She's a trans woman, she works in drag, but that Peppermint owns and runs a drag bar and restaurant. That Peppermint just got married. I don't know if those are all things that I want for myself, but it shows folks that possibilities are more than just what we are currently hearing – that trans women should be legislated, [or] the terribly lopsided rate of violence and murder that trans women face. This shows us the truth that trans folks and queer folks and people of color and disabled folks are just here intermingling and making everyone's lives richer and better, and we are celebrating ourselves and experiencing joy, and we want everyone to join us in that.

EDGE: Between the show and the article on the TV wedding that People Magazine ran, do people think that you really did get married?

Peppermint: [Laughing] I have had a conversation like this every single day since that episode aired. It kind of tickles me. When you're in a wedding dress for a TV show, or for anything, you're going to take pictures. The team from "Survival" collaborated with the team at People [Magazine], and People said, "Let's release them as if it's a real wedding."

I can see how people were confused. And Dan and I have become really close friends, so anybody who goes on social media, you can see pictures all over my page. It is totally believable, and that we released the pictures on Trans Day of Visibility was significant. It showed people "Here's a trans person being visible." It showed trans people in the community, "If you haven't had any great news about the trans community lately, here's some."

The next day being April Fools kind of threw a wrench in the plan as well, because that's the day that more of the behind-the-scenes pictures came out, and I think that's when people started to say, "Oh, there's still people on my social media making comments on the behind-the-scenes videos" – saying, "Oh, Netflix came and filmed your wedding!" And I was like," Oh my gosh, it's over."

"Survival of the Thickest," Season Two, is streaming now at Netflix.