Plastique Tiara Talks 'RPDR All Stars' Season 9: "I'm Very Proud of What I Did" (EXCLUSIVE)

Since her days strutting down the RuPaul's Drag Race Season 11 runway, serving face, soft beauty, and polish, Vietnam-born drag performer Plastique Tiara — whose birth name is Duc Tran Nguyen — has become a TikTok sensation, putting her Vietnamese culture and ability to fully transform front and center. Her sickening TikTok content has earned her over 11.6 million followers on the platform.

Placing eighth on Season 11, little 21-year-old Plastique sashayed away with one Maxi Challenge win (aka the "Farm to Runway" design challenge), a memorable hug from Mama Ru, and newfound confidence in herself. Five years later, the "global It Girl" is returning to the Drag Race stage to slay the house down boots once again.

"Asian excellence has arrived," Plastique announces as she enters the Werk Room on RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 9, which premieres on May 17, 2024.

Alongside sisters Angeria Paris VanMicheals, Gottmik, Jorgeous, Nina West, Roxxxy Andrews, Shannel, and Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, Plastique will compete for a spot in the Drag Race Hall of Fame and $200,000, which will go to the charity of her choice: The Asian American Foundation. Yes, the All Stars Season 9 queens will be snatching wigs and reading each other for a good cause.

Compared to Season 11's big personalities, including Vanessa Vanjie Mateo and Silky Nutmeg Ganache, Plastique was considered a fairly quiet queen. In April 2024, she revealed on Instagram that fans can expect something fiercer this time around:

"As a young Vietnamese boy, I shied away from speaking up, fearing I’d be too loud. Drag allowed me to find my voice. [During] Season 11, I was timid of using that voice. Now, back for All Stars 9, I’m determined to roar as loud as possible for all the Asian kids who, like me, once feared speaking out."

Itching to know what Plastique has in store for us Drag Race superfans, we exclusively spoke with TikTok's favorite drag superstar via Zoom about how she's grown since Season 11, her closest Drag Race sisters, and hints about what to expect ahead of the AS Season 9 premiere. Read on to experience the fantasy.

Plastique is surely tired of being told she struggled to keep her wig above water while battling Season 11's loudest queens for airtime — not that this was a priority. In fact, being the "loudest" is not her goal.

"There were very, very big voices, small voices, [and] somewhere in between," Plastique exclusively told Distractify of Season 11. "Growing up, I was never one to talk over another person. That's just how I am, that's just how my personality is. Sometimes it's not the best for TV."

For Plastique, actions speak louder than words.

"It's always been me to never put impact on my words, because words are fleeting. I don't like to get loud to get my point across. It's what you do that really matters," she continued.

With this in mind, we asked Plastique what "roaring" looks like to her.

"This season, I wanted to roar as in make an impact on our community," she said of the Asian community. "I'm very proud of what I did."

Considering Plastique's viral TikTok transformations and overall career growth have been incredible to witness — as she joined Madonna onstage during her "Celebration Tour," toured with "Werq The World," and performed for Las Vegas' "RuPaul's Drag Race Live!" show — we couldn't help but ask what we should expect.

"I think you can expect something very unexpected," she said with a smile. "And one of the best packages to ever come on the runway."

As for being onstage with Grammy winner and pop music legend Madonna, Plastique described it as "an out of body experience."

"A major, major, major, major legendary artist is just out here having drag queens on their stage, and another drag queen hosting every single night, like, the the world is changing, y'all!" Plastique said. "It was amazing to be in her presence."

Tensions often rise throughout a Drag Race season, but All Stars is typically all love.

"I'm very close to Roxxxy, Miss Thick and Juicy," Plastique told us with a giggle. "She was my best Judy on the season."

She also touched on her longtime friendship with Southern sister Jorgeous.

"Jorgeous, oh my gosh, I've known since I was like 18 or 19. We started drag together in Texas. So it's a full circle moment, for all of us, for sure" she said.

And though the seasoned queens are bound to rub each other the wrong way as the competition heats up, Plastique noted that everyone had warm intentions.

"This cast is really cool because we don't nitpick with each other, we kind of know who we are. So when we see something, we just kind of internalize and then try to make ourselves better," she detailed. "We're just pushing each other to be the best that we can perform at."

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season 9 premieres on Friday, May 17, 2024, on Paramount Plus.