From Kinky to Lwaxana - Warped Factor - Words in the Key of Geek.

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From Kinky to Lwaxana

Gail Williams is going for those kinky boots, kinky boots, (boop, boop). Kinky boots.


Now I will admit that “Kinky Boots” isn’t exactly the kind of film that I was ever expecting to write about for Warped Factor, but after watching it again recently, I realised that while something of a niche movie, it has a lot of interesting links.

“Kinky Boots” is a it's-grim-up-north tale of a shoe manufacturer (Charlie) who’s rapidly going out of business, but revives the company’s fortunes by manufacturing sexy heels for men as designed by Drag Queen Lola (aka Simon). It’s actually a surprisingly feel-good movie, easy to watch and enjoy, I recommend it. But the last time I watched it, I saw a load of links that I’d not noticed on previous viewings – yes this movie does bear multiple views.

Produced in 2005, the stars of Kinky Boots have gone on to some odd and good roles since, many of which you’re bound to have heard of.


Ladies first then, Linda Basset (above centre) plays factory worker Melanie. This is a woman you will recognise from all sorts, “Larkrise to Cangleford”, “Sense and Sensibility”, “Calendar Girls” and the real curve-ball “Colour me Kubrick: A True… ish Story”.


Jemima Rooper (above left) plays Nicola, the girlfriend of wet lettuce Charlie. You’ll probably know her better as Medusa in the BBC series “Atlantis”. You might remember her as Thelma in "Hex", or even know her as Amanda Price in “Lost in Austin” if your into Georgian revisionism - that’s another fun romp that’s easy viewing.

After those two, who there’s a good chance you’ve heard of, but let’s face it, neither are about to set the world on fire with their careers, we take something of a gear shift into the male actors.


I had completely forgotten that Nick Frost was in “Kinky Boots”, but his role as the mans-man arm-wrestling champion Don is fun to watch as he is challenged by his phobias on meeting Lola. Now Nick is an actor of odd-ball characters, many of which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching. No one can ignore the fact that he was in “The Corneto Trilogy” – “Hot Fuzz” is my favourite, PC Danny Butterman is a boy-man you just want to cuddle up and mother. Most recently he played Nion in two The Huntsman movies. He was Santa Claus in the least plausible or satisfactory Doctor Who Christmas Special for years. He's also in two movies I would thoroughly recommend you watch, “Paul”, which I thought I’d hate but enjoyed anyway, and “Attack The Block”. “Attack The Block” is much under-rated to my mind, it’s a really good movie; well written, well-acted, good cinematography and a base of realism that so often gets lost in sci-fi film making. You’ll even notice the Star Wars link unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last couple of years.


Next up is Joel Edgerton (above left) who plays Charlie. Now Charlie is a limp lettuce, that’s his character, but Joel has certainly gone on to play many a character who isn’t: Rameses in “Exodus: Gods and Kings”; Squadron Team Leader Patrick in “Zero Dark Thirty”, he voiced Metal Beak in “Legend of the Guardians”, and was Conlon in “Warrior”. However my favourite of his roles has to be Sam Carter in the 2011 film “The Thing”. I loved the original Kurt Russell version of “The Thing” and I was initially horrified when I heard there was going to be a new film. I thought, well that’s going to ruin a good movie. Oh how wrong I can be. The 2011 “The Thing” is actually a prequel to the 1982 “The Thing” and I think it’s dead cool (yes pun intended) that John Carpenter gave them unused footage from the original movie to use in the end sequence and better tie the two films together. If you get the chance it’s well worth sitting down and watching these movies, preferably in the chronology of the films order rather than the order they were made.


Last, and most certainly not least, there’s Lola, or Simon if you prefer. Played wonderfully by Chiwetel Ejiofor, this character bursts unashamedly onto the screen and demands the viewer’s attention whether dressed as a man or a woman. Then I looked at the actor and thought ‘Oh my God, that’s the bloke from “Serenity”!’ I had to do a check, but I was right, Chiwetel is The Operative who’s coming after Captain Mal and his crew through the final instalment of Firefly. But Chiwetel has done so much more than just that, he’s been in some outstanding movies: “2012”, “Inside Man” (well okay maybe not outstanding, but certainly worth watching), “12 Years A Slave” (all those awards), “The Martian” (fantastic movie) and he’s in the upcoming “Doctor Strange” which I’m rather looking forward to.

All of which probably leaves you wondering what the title of this article is all about.

Well, some of you may have read my article from last year titled Six Degrees of Sepeartion to Lwaxana Troi. In it, I swapped out Kevin Bacon for Majel Barrett and her beloved Star Trek character, because, as we proved, she's pretty much the centre of the universe when linking any actor to another.

To be fair, Lwaxana and kinky were never exactly a million miles apart, so if you want to play the game of degrees, “Kinky Boots” is surprisingly useful. This is a movie with a great British cast that can spread its tendrils faster than The Thing can split a dog’s face into four – love/hate that moment!

But how can we get to Lwaxana? So easy you’ve probably spotted it already.

Nick Frost is in any number of movies with Simon Pegg. Simon Pegg plays Scotty in the 2009 “Star Trek” movie. Majel Barrett is, of course, the voice of the computer in that movie. There you go, Kinky to Lwaxana in three simple high-heeled steps. Enjoy!


Gail lives in her own private dungeon populated with all the weird and the wonderful she can imagine. Some of it’s very weird, and the odd bits and pieces are a bit wonderful. Well okay, she lives in Swansea with her husband and daughter. And the world’s most demanding cat. To find out more about Gail, check out www.gailbwilliams.co.uk - Dare you!

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