Alexander Skarsgard's 'Diary' Premiere Drag Was Homage to 'Rocky Horror' and San Francisco Drag Scene

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The moment Alexander Skarsgard stepped out in full drag, with Farrah Fawcett-inspired hair at The Diary of a Teenage Girl premiere in San Francisco, it went viral.

Two days later, everyone is still gushing over the True Blood actor’s head-to-toe makeover, even his Diary co-star, 23-year-old Bel Powley. “He looked amazing,” the actress tells ETonline during an interview at the Crosby Hotel in New York City.

While many speculated as to why Skarsgard stepped out in drag, Powley reveals it was nothing more than an inside joke between the two actors and the film’s director, Marielle Heller.

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In fact, they were paying tribute to the city where Diary was filmed and to the drag queens -- including first assistant director Brian Benson aka Cousin Wonderlette -- who worked on and appeared on screen during a Rocky Horror theater scene. “I feel like I’ve gotten to know all of those drag queens now -- like Lady Bear and Peaches Christ, who is amazing,” she says, adding that Benson is “a prolific” performer. 

”So we were like, let’s get them all together and do [the premiere] at The Castro,” Powley explains. “I’ll dress in femme drag and he’ll dress in real drag. It’ll be hilarious. It was just something we were doing for ourselves.”

The party didn’t stop after the premiere. Powley and others continued the fun at the Oasis, a gay cabaret nightclub, where Skarsgard was joined by the city’s other queens, including Heklina.

“It didn’t feel like a stuffy, serious premiere,” Powley adds.

No, it certainly doesn’t sound like it.

The Diary of a Teenage Girl -- starring Powley as Minnie, a 15-year-old girl who discovers her sexuality through a relationship with her mother’s boyfriend, Monroe (Skarsgard) -- opens in theaters on Friday, Aug. 7.

 

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