HBO reality show ‘We’re Here’ earns Emmy for its Hawaii episode

The HBO reality show “We’re Here,” created by Stephen Warren and Johnnie Ingram, follows show stars Bob the Drag Queen, Eureka O’Hara and Shangela Laquifa Wadley as they go to small-town America recruiting residents to become their “drag daughters” and perform with them in a one-night drag show.

In 2021, the series went to Kona on the Big Island. Bob, Eureka and Shangela presided over the makeovers of Lanakila Mangauil, Kekoa Kealoha and Jaquelynn Collier, respectively, while they shared the drop-dead beauty of the island and a sense of Native Hawaiian culture with the HBO audience. Mangauil is a gay, Native Hawaiian farmer immersed in Hawaiian culture and curious about exploring his feminine side. Kealoha, also gay and Native Hawaiian, is a former drag queen who quit dancing to get his life together; clean and sober for six years, he wanted to give the art a second try. Collier is a woman who recently came out as bisexual.

Behind the stars were professional makeup artists Jeremy “6” Austin, Martin de Luna Jr. “Lushious Massacr” and Tyler “Laila McQueen” Devlin, who worked their magic on the hosts and their “children” alike.

The episode, which aired November 2021, won Austin, de Luna and Devlin a Creative Arts Emmy in September for outstanding makeup for a variety, nonfiction or reality program. The trio had been asked to choose an episode to be nominated; they chose the Hawaii episode. The third season of “We’re Here” premieres Nov. 25 on HBO.

Austin, Kealoha and Devlin were interviewed in separate calls.

Conversations have been edited for length and clarity.

Congratulations on the Emmy win. Tyler, what stands out about it for you?

Devlin: We worked very hard, and I’m very grateful. … It’s a lot more difficult than a standard show, when you travel to shoot something, especially to small towns with little (of the) resources that you’re usually accustomed to in a studio lot in a big city. So it felt really nice that people in the industry could see the work that we were putting into it and saw that it paid off. I think that’s very special.

Jeremy, what was it about the makeup for this episode that made you and Lushcious and Leila feel that this was the one to go for?

Austin: I think Hawaii was just such a destination spot. We had been through middle America and we had seen all that middle America had to offer. … Hawaii was just such a magical, distant place from what we had shown in the episodes prior. … I think that we just got to be a little bit more creative than we had been in prior episodes.

What was the experience of doing the show in Kona?

Austin: All of the locals in Kona really made us feel welcome and made us feel like we understood the culture much more than we had prior to getting there. We were very fortunate to have all the locals be so open with their culture and to share that with us.

Kekoa, what did you expect when you decided to do the show, and how did it turn out for you?

Kealoha: I didn’t really know what to expect. It went a lot smoother than I would have expected, (but) I don’t think I anticipated what it looked like to see a full production happening behind the scenes. That was different for me. … When we watched the airing I felt it was really well representative of the areas that we were in, and so I know personally I felt really well represented.

You were a hit in your return to the stage. Where are you now?

Kealoha: I moved to Oahu (in December) to finish my degree. I haven’t been in any drag shows. … I did participate in a play at UH-Manoa called “Ho‘oilina,” which was a Hawaiian language play, about half of it was in Hawaiian. And in that play I played the character of Mrs. Ellis, who is the matriarch of the family — kind of in the style of Tracy Turnblad in “Hairspray.” I was silent but very present.

OK, Tyler, looking forward to Season Three: What do you want people to know about “We’re Here?”

Devlin: The thing I really do love about the show and stand by is that we really are showing a lot of diverse stories that just aren’t shown as frequently — or sometimes ever — on mainstream television. It technically is reality TV, but it’s not like a competition. It’s not like we are filming something to get a storyline to get people shocked. We are using the powers of drag to tell stories, to show representation (and) to maybe — for certain participants — help them get out of their shell a little bit, but it’s also a really important show that really shows representation and I really stand by that. … Is this just a makeover show to put dudes in drag? No, it uses the art of drag as a tool to bring people together and to tell a story.