If youve been hoping to get a friend, family member, or co-worker on Netflixs infectiously uplifting reboot of Queer Eye, you are not alone.
Since the shows first season debuted in February with a new Fab Five— Antoni Porowski (food and wine); Tan France (fashion); Karamo Brown (culture); Bobby Berk (design); and Jonathan Van Ness (grooming)—the shows Emmy-nominated casting masterminds, Danielle Gervais and Gretchen Palek, have been besieged with requests by friends and family.
“The floodgates have opened,” laughed Gervais. “The beautiful thing, at least for me, is that most of my family is in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. So I just say, Were not shooting there, Im so sorry.”
The third season—which will debut in 2019—is set in Kansas City, Missouri. As in the first two seasons, set in Atlanta, Georgia, the casting team scoured the city for “heroes” with fascinating backstories who needed a transformation in each of the categories covered by the Fab Fives experts. In both cities, the casting team surveilled car shows, small-town carnivals, Waffle Houses, and bodegas—looking for locals and community leaders who knew of someone deserving of a makeover.
“We did a twofold approach,” explained Palek. “We had casting people on the ground looking, scouting within the circumference of where we would be shooting. Then we also had people in the office in New York working the phones, and also sort of scouring social. One of the things were really proud of is were really proactive. We definitely accept applications and nominations, but we also know that sometimes the best stories may not submit themselves.”
Once Gervais and Palek have isolated a candidate, they begin the vetting process—determining just how much help they need.
“We will have people do home tours on their cell phones,” said Gervais. “Well say to them, Take us around your house, show us some of the problematic areas within your home. Show us your refrigerator, open up your cabinets. Show us your closet. And thats when we know, O.K., they could use us.”
Have they seen some truly nightmarish homes and refrigerators?
“We have, but we dont judge,” said Palek diplomatically. “Were casting.”
Asked whether theyve encountered potential heroes who need more work than the Fab Five can offer during a four-day transformation, Gervais said, “I have to tell you, there have been times where we may have thought, Oh my gosh, I just dont know [if we can pull this off]. And then well share it with our field team, and the interior-design team that is helping Bobby, and they dont flinch. Theyre like, We can do it.”
Occasionally, they will happen upon a candidate who is so ideal that he or she is fast-tracked. Palek and Gervais said this happened with Remington Porter, the Season 1 hero who had been living in his grandmothers 1970s-decorated home.
“You just dont see homes like that,” said Palek. “He was very open and easy to guide into the process, and I think thats usually what takes a little bit longer. Certainly, once we saw that house we were like, Oh, we need to get Bobby in there, stat.”
Arguably, Bobby Berk and Karamo Brown are responsible for the most intensive elements of the makeover. Berk and his team have dramatically redesigned homes and yards within that four-day window, while Brown has gotten the heroes to open up about their insecurities and admit what is holding them back in life. One key in casting is making sure that the potential heroes are ready for change.
“There are people who have lost interest [in appearing on the show] because theyre not ready yet, and that is fine,” said Palek, “and were hoping in subsequent seasons maybe they will be. But we are very, very respectful of the vulnerability of our heroes, and never pressing them to go in a direction theyre not quite comfortable with or not ready to share yet. So well hear from an amazing nominator, for example, and then well reach out to the person being nominated, and they just dont seem ready.”
“In Seasons 1 and 2, we had people who were reluctant,” added Gervais. “They may not have known the show really and [we didnt have episodes to show them]. Now when were casting, though, we can send a tape of the first season. And people who are unsure, theyll see one episode and theyll say, Oh my gosh, yes, Im in.”
Because the first two seasons have been received so well, Gervais and Palek found that casting in Kansas City was considerably easier.
“We have been received by the city of Kansas City,” said Gervais. “Its been incredible for us. And its allowed us to really focus on the most powerful stories that we can tell. And all I will tell you, because Im not gonna tell you more about this next season, is were very, very excited about the stories that we get to tell.”
Asked if they had a casting highlight, Palek and Gervais reminisced back to a moment while casting the Fab Five themselves. They had narrowed down their pool of experts to a group of 60 candidates who were summoned to a Glendale hotel ballroom for a chemistry test. “It was like The Hunger Games meets American Idol, plus RuPauls Drag Race, and Americas Next Top Model meets rebooted Queer Eye,” Jonathan Van Ness has said of the experience.
Explained Palek, “We asked them questions like, Whens the last time you cried? Whats your favorite type of music? And the [potential Fab Five members] had a choice to answer a question or toss it. I remember our five being very vulnerable, opening up, laughing, supporting, engaging, having shared experiences. I really did feel like I was watching five strangers become friends. In that moment, for me, I was like, those are our guys.”
“This is a show thats a lot of laughs, and a lot of tears,” said Gervais. “I will say, the chemistry test for the Fab Five, having 60 wonderful men, all experts in their categories, together, going through this process . . . I think I got a six-pack from laughing so hard.”
Get Vanity Fairs HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Julie MillerJulie Miller is a Senior Hollywood writer for Vanity Fairs website.
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