Jinkx Monsoon (Hera Hoffer, born September 18, 1987) is an American drag queen, singer, comedian, and actor from Portland, Oregon, and formerly based in Seattle. She came to international attention by winning the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race in 2013. In June 2019, a panel of judges from New York magazine placed her 18th on their list of "the most powerful drag queens in America", a ranking of 100 former Drag Race contestants.
In 2022, she won the seventh season (and first all-winners one) of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, therefore becoming the first Drag Race contestant to win twice. Later that year, it was announced that she would be joining the cast of Chicago in the role of "Mama" Morton, becoming the first drag queen in a major Broadway production.
Selected Filmography:
- Waxie Moon in Fallen Jewel (2011) as Themself/Davey
- East of Adin (2013) as Anthony Johnson
- RuPaul's Drag Race (2013) as Herself
- RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars (2022) as Herself
- Drag Becomes Him (2014) as Themself
- Steven Universe (2018) as Emerald
- Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts (2019) as Herself
- The Queens (2019) as Herself
- AJ and the Queen (2020) as Edie
- BLOOD & MAKEUP: Part 2 (2020) as Eddie Oswald's mother
- Happiest Season (2020) as Em K. Ultra
- The Jinkx & Dela Holiday Special (2020) as Herself
- Helluva Boss (2020) as Martha
- Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake (2023) as Lemongrab and one of the Lemoncarb twins
- Doctor Who (2024) as Maestro
Selected Theatre Credits:
- Chicago (2023-24) as Matron "Mama" Morton
- Little Shop of Horrors (2024) as Audrey
Discography:
- The Inevitable Album (2014)
- The Ginger Snapped (2018)
Jinkx Monsoon provides examples of the following tropes:
- Ascended Fanboy:
- For Steven Universe: they were such a fan of the show that campaigned online for a guest spot for quite a long time before finally landing the role of Emerald.
- For Grey Gardens, they were lifelong fans of the documentary and of Little Edie specifically and are now quite famous for their Little Edie impersonation that they made famous on RuPaul's Drag Race's Snatch Game.
- Character Catchphrase: "Water off a duck's back", a Survival Mantra she often says to remind herself not to let what other people say hurt her.
- Gender Reveal: After competing on Drag Race Jinkx came out as non-binary and has said she prefers singular they/them pronouns out of drag and she/her pronouns when in drag.
- Handicapped Badass: Although she suffers from narcolepsy, it did not stop them from being a fierce and threatening queen when competing on Drag Race. The producers allowed her to take rests from time to time whenever she felt it coming on.
- Last-Second Word Swap: "Just Me (The Gender Binary Blues)" gives us these lines:Or if i'm at airport security, and they send in some chick
To start patting me down until she notices my
Dic-tion and my grammar correct, I am what I elect to be. - Named After Somebody Famous: In addition to being named after the destructive tropical storm, her last name was chosen after the character of Edina Monsoon from Absolutely Fabulous.
- Overly Narrow Superlative: See the page quote.
- Shout-Out: The music video for their song "Cartoons & Vodka" is one extended homage to various nostalgic cartoons. Among the cartoons shown are Adventure Time, Sailor Moon, Doug (the Nickelodeon series), and Dexter's Laboratory among others.
- Those Two Guys: Fellow Seattle queen and Drag Race Season 6 and All Stars 3 alumna BenDeLaCreme is one of Jinkx's closest friends and collaborators, and the two have worked together on many projects.
- Toothy Issue: Has a chipped tooth, but has been urged not to get it fixed since it adds to her charm.
