From American Idol to RuPaul's Drag Race, to releasing three studio albums to touring the world with her original music, Adore Delano has conquered the spheres of music and reality TV. Now she is reemerging not only as a trans woman, but also as a new artist who's setting her sights on the silver screen.
"I always have poetry in me, and I put melody to it, so I always write songs. I've always written, since I was seven, and that's never going to go away," Delano says. "But this transition has forced me into a direction of thinking, 'What is going to fulfill you? What have you not sharpened in your life that you want to explore?' And I'm going in a direction with acting. That's something that I used to do in my teen years. I love my Angel Baby character. I love putting on characters. I always wanted to be on Mad TV when I was a kid, or Saturday Night Live. That's my vibe."
"I want to explore that avenue while still maintaining my music career," she elaborates. "We'll treat ourselves like an economy. I'm going to be making music, and touring, because that fulfills half of my heart. And then I'm going to utilize all of that and put into my acting classes, like my dialect coach and my acting coach. I want to really take this seriously and start going into a direction where I'm not put in a box. I've always been so different from a lot of the girls, and I've never really understood it. There's just a really huge part of me that needs to be explored. And that's acting."
Next year, Delano is embarking on a seven-city tour titled Under the Covers Tour that she describes as a "Y2K experience" of covering songs that "spoke to [her as] a child." She also has new music in the works, but wants to "save those bangers for the summertime." Most of all though, Delano wants to fully lean into her acting career. "I don't know what genre I'm going to start, but whatever finds me, I'm going to really take it seriously and try to prove myself in that world."
Shaun Vadella (@vadellaphoto)
Before diving into acting, Delano, who came out as a trans woman in 2023, has a few things to cross off her to-do list.
"I want to legally change my name first, and my gender marker, before I start entering these spaces as my full self," she explains. "I want to just enter there; I don't want to come with a story. I don't want them to be like, 'Oh, why does it say this on your ID?' I don't want that. I'm going to show up as me, and I'm going to eat these f*cking roles down. I'm going to show them what I can do. My dream is to join the Groundlings."
Delano highlights that her passion for acting isn't a new development in her life, but a dream she's had ever since she was a little kid.
"Even on Drag Race, the acting challenges were some of my favorites. I was excited to do Snatch Game. I was excited to do the challenges that they were scared of, because I love doing it. When I'm in those spaces, it just feels correct. I even keep accidentally matching the backgrounds to these carpets. I'm like, I didn't even mean to do it! I was just like, 'Yeah, I'll come,' and then even the dress I wore for [the Smile 2 red carpet] looked a little bloody and stuff."
Shaun Vadella (@vadellaphoto)
When Out last spoke to Delano August 2023, she had just come out as a trans woman and was still navigating the early days of her sobriety. A year later, she's still the same incredibly talented and charismatic person we've always known, but now feeling even freer and looking more stunning than ever.
"I feel like everything has just been naturally blossoming," she says. "It's like the universe is sprinkling little blessings in my little pathway and seeing if I'm ready for it. This was a year for me to curate everything and feel my womanhood, almost like my teenage years were — just very ramped up, all in one year. It was a lot, but also a lot of fun. I'm excited about life."
Delano's trans journey has taken over all aspects of her life. She's been setting new goals, identifying new ambitions, making new friends, and interpreting the world in different ways.
"It's a sped-up process of looking in the mirror and being like, 'This is your life now, and you have to catch up,'" Delano explains. "My therapist told me, when I got this surgery, that it would expedite my growth process… and it did. It's like society is now seeing you the same way that your spirit has seen you most of your life. People are treating me how I feel, but I had to catch up with that as well, because I still feel like a weirdo. I'm always going to be a weirdo. There's always nuance in my brain. It's truly been a ride, and I'm just riding it full speed."
Shaun Vadella (@vadellaphoto)
Notably, Delano's love life has also been in a state of transformation and exploration.
"My taste in men changed!" she says, giggling. "I've been on dates with all types of different guys and allowing them to treat me like the woman that I am. That's what this year has been. Every type of guy you can think of… a guy who's not known, a struggling musician, a famous dude, the comedians… And it's like, 'Do I like that? Do I like this?' I'm taking note of what my body responds to and how they treat me."
Unfortunately, beyond the excitement of being treated as the woman she's always been, Delano is also aware of the new obstacle course she's navigating.
"When you think you covered a base with something, there's another thing behind the gate," she explains. "It's like, 'Okay, he's cool with it, but his friends don't know.' We go out to dinner, and we end up playing pool at a bar to meet up with his friends, and he feels like he doesn't need to tell a couple of his homies. Because maybe one of them clocks it, and it could be the one who's not cool with it."
Shaun Vadella (@vadellaphoto)
Delano highlights the importance of befriending other trans women in this process — and taking precautions.
"The shared location is another huge thing that I talk about with the girls, because all it takes is one wrong step," she notes. "You could be feeling your oats and berries, and they'll tell you you're porridge. It's a different ball game. It can be one thing, and then it can just switch."
"There's a lot of fetishizing as well, and a lot of it is wild, dude. It's crazy! I've never experienced anything like this. I'm really trying to own that RuPaul quote. I'm figuring out what it means to love myself right now. I didn't even know what that meant. And now I'm like, 'Oh, I do know, b*tch. I'm not going to be treated like that.' Would I let my 15-year-old self be treated like that? F*ck no! Get out of here, bro. Nope. I've worked way too hard on myself. There's no way. It's loving yourself within."
Ultimately, though her transition is recent, Delano has been a superstar touring the world for many years now, which helps her in certain tricky situations. "I've already played all those levels, babe," she teases. "I've tasted all the flavors. Get out of here. Don't even try me."
Shaun Vadella (@vadellaphoto)
Looking forward to her acting career, Delano lists the films, TV shows, and franchises that speak to her as projects she'd love to be (or have been) a part of.
"There's so many I can name to you right now!" the Libra diva says. "If we were just talking hypothetically like a franchise… of course Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Like, those types of urban legend. I love those 1990s, 2000s horror movies. There was a movie called The Rage: Carrie 2 that came out and had very lesbian undertones in it. I love those types of horror movies, but also just a campy type of Jawbreaker horror. Oh my god, are you kidding?! That's one of my favorite movies in the world."
But it's not all horror for Delano, who would love do romance and comedy too.
"I also love Never Been Kissed, but we will talk about that another time, she says. "And even Scary Movie, I heard they're coming out with a new one. The Wayans Brothers are now on it again. I would love to be a part of it because you can show your range with films like that. I think the thing that's cool about studying with the Groundlings, or doing comedy and improv first, it's like doing karaoke for the first time. You have to shake out the things that make you uncomfortable and nervous in order to access the serious parts of yourself."
Adore Delano, the movie star. Feels correct, doesn't it? Stay tuned!
For tickets and more information about Adore Delano's Under the Covers Tour, visit AdoreDelano.com.
