1989-08-23 · Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. · Male
Brian Michael Firkus (born August 23, 1989), better known by the stage name Trixie Mattel, is an American drag queen, television personality, singer-songwriter, DJ, and entrepreneur originally from Marinette County, Wisconsin. She is known for her exaggerated, 1960s-influenced style, distinctive eye makeup, and musical repertoire that blends comedy with acoustic pop and folk-country music, with skills in guitar and the autoharp. In 2015, she competed in the seventh season of the drag reality television competition series RuPaul's Drag Race and returned to win the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. Mattel has also made guest appearances in various iterations of the Drag Race franchise, additionally appearing as a judge on the spinoff series Queen of the Universe (2021–2023).
Mattel formed the popular comedy duo known as Trixie and Katya alongside fellow drag queen and frequent collaborator Katya Zamolodchikova. Together, they starred in the World of Wonder web series UNHhhh (2016–2023) and its Viceland spin-off The Trixie & Katya Show (2017–2018). The pair also host the Netflix review web series I Like to Watch (2019–present) and the podcast The Bald and the Beautiful (2020–present).
Mattel's music style began as primarily folk and country, with her first and second studio albums, Two Birds (2017) and One Stone (2018), both charting on the Billboard Folk Albums chart at No. 16. She went on to star in the documentary film Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts (2019). Her third studio album, Barbara (2020), featured an "electro-folk" sound, while her fourth studio album, The Blonde & Pink Albums (2022), was a double album featuring a "power pop" sound. Her musical comedy special, Trixie Mattel: One Night Only (2020), was nominated for a Critics' Choice Television Award. She also produced and starred in the renovation docuseries Trixie Motel (2022–2024), which chronicled the opening of her own Palm Springs resort of the same name.
Co-published with Zamolodchikova, Mattel's first book, Trixie and Katya's Guide to Modern Womanhood (2020), became a New York Times bestseller. She appeared on New York Magazine's list of "The Most Powerful Drag Queens in America", ranking fourth. She also operates a YouTube channel focused on beauty, featuring frequent collaborations with fellow drag queens and various celebrities such as Iggy Azalea, Nicole Byer, Brittany Broski, Rebecca Black and Margaret Cho. Mattel's business ventures include being the founder, sole owner and CEO of Trixie Cosmetics, a cosmetics brand launched in 2019. Her persona is inspired by her love of Barbie dolls; she owns a large collection of Barbies that she has shared in videos on her YouTube channel.
Life and career
1989–2014: Early life and career beginnings
Brian Michael Firkus was born on August 23, 1989, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and raised in Marinette County, Wisconsin Firkus is Ojibwe; his maternal grandmother was a member of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians. He had an abusive stepfather who would call him a "Trixie" when he acted feminine, which later inspired his drag name. His last name was inspired by his affinity for the Barbie doll and toy company Mattel. Before deciding on "Trixie Mattel" as his drag name, he originally considered the name Cupcake. He moved in with his grandparents at age 15, after his stepfather threatened him with a gun to the head. His grandfather was a country musician who taught him how to play the guitar.
After graduating from high school, Firkus studied at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (where Max Malanaphy, another season 7 contestant, attended and worked with Firkus) where he received a BFA in musical theatre and was introduced to drag while attending a screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Oriental Theatre. He first performed in drag at LaCage NiteClub in Milwaukee, becoming a regular performer in Milwaukee's drag scene. Firkus would perform with fellow drag queens Kim Chi and Shea Couleé in Milwaukee and occasionally in Chicago. He attended beauty school in 2014 before withdrawing to participate in RuPaul's Drag Race. Outside of drag, he worked in cosmetics, freelancing at Sephora and working at Ulta and MAC.
2015–2017: RuPaul's Drag Race, UNHhhh, Two Birds, and The Trixie & Katya Show
Mattel first gained widespread attention as a competitor on the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race (2015). She was initially eliminated in episode four but later re-entered the competition in episode eight by winning the "Conjoined Twins" challenge with Pearl Liaison. Mattel was eliminated again in episode 10, ultimately placing sixth overall and becoming the first queen to last more than one episode after returning to the competition. Mattel, who is of Ojibwe descent, was the third Native American queen to compete on Drag Race. After her run on the show, Mattel performed her stand-up comedy tour, Ages 3 and Up, from 2015 to 2017.
In October 2015, Mattel guest-starred in a special edition of WOWPresents' Fashion Photo RuView with fellow seventh season contestant Katya Zamolodchikova. World of Wonder later launched UNHhhh, a comedy web series featuring the duo. The series became the most successful show on the WOW Presents YouTube channel and earned them their first Streamy Award nomination for Show of the Year at the 7th Streamy Awards. In November 2016, Mattel had a guest appearance as herself on American Horror Story: Roanoke. She self-released her debut studio album Two Birds on May 2, 2017. The album debuted at number 2 on the Heatseekers Albums chart, number 6 on the Independent Albums chart, and number 16 on the Americana/Folk Albums chart. In December 2017, Mattel released Homemade Christmas, an EP of three recorded Christmas songs that featured Zamolodchikova.
In October 2017, it was announced that UNHhhh would end after its second season. Shortly after, a television spin-off of UNHhhh for Viceland called The Trixie and Katya Show premiered. The show ran until March 2018. Midway through the season, Zamolodchikova suffered a mental health crisis triggered by a relapse into addiction, which caused her to be replaced by Bob the Drag Queen for the remainder of the season. Mattel and Zamolodchikova reunited in October 2018 for a third season of UNHhhh.
In November 2017, Mattel and Zamolodchikova starred in a drag stage adaptation of the 1997 cult film Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, titled Trixie and Katya's High School Reunion. Also in November 2017, Mattel produced a video for GQ Magazine called Trixie Mattel Makes a PB&J (and More Importantly, a Cocktail), earning a nomination from the James Beard Foundation Awards in the humor category.
2018–2020: All Stars, One Stone, and Moving Parts
Mattel later returned to the Drag Race franchise for the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, which started airing on January 25, 2018. On March 15, 2018, her fellow competitors voted for her to advance to the final two, where she ultimately won against runner-up Kennedy Davenport in the final lipsync battle. She became the first winner of Drag Race to be of Indigenous descent. In December 2018, she competed in the television special RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-slay Spectacular and won in a tie with the other competitors.
On February 3, 2018, Mattel released an acoustic version of her song "Moving Parts," which is also the name of her documentary, as a tease for her upcoming album. It became her first charting single, peaking at number 83 on the Scottish Single Chart. She released her second studio album, One Stone, on March 15, 2018, the same night as the All Stars finale. The album peaked at number 16 on the Folk Albums chart, number 10 on the Independent albums chart, and number 1 on the Heatseekers chart, becoming Mattel's first album to reach the top spot on a Billboard chart.
In April 2018, she launched her new comedy world tour Now with Moving Parts, followed by the Super Bowl Cut tour…