This interview was published on the March's issue of Paper Magazine.
Paper Magazine
March 2003
by Mickey Boardman
MB: Can you remember the first time you saw Leigh Bowery?
Boy George: When I first saw him and his friend Trojan, their look was Paki from outer space. You know, Pakistani with face and bottom painted blue. I was fascinated by what he was doing. Actually, I got more fascinated when he started wearing less clothes. He defied all the stereotypes about looking good. You would see him in a sea of gym-toned gay men, and he´s there in a vagina wig prancing around practically naked. I would never go out with my bum out. The roman-ticism I was involved in was all about covering your defects. [laughsl
MB: Did he influence your looks during Culture Club?
BG: Back then he was in Australia looking in magazines and dreaming of coming to London to meet all these weird and wonderful creatures. He came and realized a lot of stuff had already been done - he had to take it to the extremes. You´d see him with a toilet seat on his head, and you´d say, ´That´s it! He can´t top that look!´ [laughs] But he would. The most interesting thing about Leigh was that up until that point if you were a punk or romantic they could label you. If they could recognize what you were, they could attack you. A group of youths would come up to me on the street, and they´d just insult me, but they saw Leigh and ran. They thought, ´What is it?´ [laughs]
MB: The people who go to the theater in America are often very suburban. Is the world readier now for the craziness of Leigh than it was years ago?
BG: The weirdest things in the world go on in suburbia. That´s where all the perverts are. Someone who puts their head on the fashion chopping block like Leigh is going to attract fear, amazement, so many things.
MB: How did Rosie O´Donnell get involved with the show?
BG: Rosie came in by accident. She hadn´t known who Leigh was. Then her girlfriend gave her a list of shows to see, and Taboo was on it. She said she wanted to meet the cast. When she did, she said, ´Oh my God, I love this show and want to bring it to New York´ I thought, ´I´ll never see her again.´ But she´s been back four or five times.
MB: How did you go about re-creating Leigh´s looks?
BG. The makeup artist and the costumer were part of that scene. A lot of people who were around are involved in Taboo, which is why it doesn´t look like a theatrical show. We managed to create looks on a shoestring. That period wasn´t about designer clothes anyway It was very DIY.
MB: Will there be any changes to the show for the American version?
BG: Yes. It´s a bigger country, and people won´t know certain characters. It will have to be explained without being too retarded. Plus, there´ll be more looks, more money - everything bigger. [laughs]
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