Mrs. Kasha Davis: From 'RuPaul' Runner-up to Big Screen Realness

Season 7 "RuPaul's Drag Race" contestant Mrs. Kasha Davis – the creation of drag artist Ed Popil – is deeply involved with the drag scene in Rochester, New York, where she also helps support local Pride celebrations. That – and her hugely supportive husband, Steve – has been a touchstone for Davis, who maintains a busy full-time career as a drag performer.

Davis was sent home about a third of the way through the seventh season of "Drag Race," after being dissed by one judge as a "workhorse queen." But the jibe – and being told to "sashay away" – didn't puncture her invulnerable glam; it just gave her more to work with. So did the not-so-subtle ageism she's encountered.

"I've been called basic,' and I created a song about "basic,'" the drag performer told EDGE in a recent interview. "I've been called 'a seasoned queen,' which means that you're old, so I released a song about that," she recalled.

And, not incidentally, she now stars in"Workhorse Queen," a documentary by filmmaker Angela Washko that brims with Davis' wit while showing how much heart, sweat, love, and joy goes into a drag career. Now on the film festival circuit., the doc cheekily draws its name from the judge's diss.

"A 'workhorse queen' is meant to be sort of a dig, and I am proud of that," Davis affirmed. "I grew up in the coal mining town of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and I am proud of the fact that my parents taught me to work for whatever it is that I'm aspiring to. I think it's that idea of, yes, it's a bit blue collar, it's a bit get down and dirty, rather than sit and wait for life and your dreams to happen, and to work at them."

And work she has. It was an uphill climb – never easy in heels – just to get on the show; Davis sent in audition tapes every year, starting with the first season of "Drag Race," and didn't give up until he had secured a spot. Being sent off the show midway through didn't slow her down, and didn't stop doors from opening. Soon enough, she was off to Australia and other far-flung destinations, where she played with gusto to crowds large and small – sometimes very small.

But as they say, it's not the size of the audience – it's the buzz you bring to the room. For Davis, that starts with the person in the mirror, as Popil transforms in his alter-ego.

"When I get into costume and character I feel like the process begins and I look into the mirror and I think to myself: 'It's me, but it's some other dimension of me.' "

That experience of transformation is something Davis is eager to share with her audience, which, she told EDGE, include "a lot of young women."

"There's this whole expectation in the fashion world, and in general, of how a woman needs to portray herself," Davis went on to add. "Drag smashes that, and exaggerates it, and celebrates all shapes and sizes, which I think is wonderful, because it's not all about just the svelte runway model. And now we have even more celebration of drag where we have beards and hairy chests and the whole bit – that whole fantasy aspect.

"I think what it comes down to is that all genders have expectations, and what drag does is open up the spectrum more for people."

To read more about what Mrs. Kasha Davis had to say, check out her interview with EDGE.