Alexis Stone, photographed by Lucia Brown
Alexis Stone is a master of disguise. Somewhere between inhabiting the bodies of Kim Kardashian and Jim Carrey, the celebrity impersonator par excellence added necromancer to her repertoire, bringing “Joan Rivers back from the dead” for one night only. Stone is a shapeshifting aficionado, building an Instagram following of 1.4 million thanks to her insane doppelgänger prosthetics that solicit double takes everywhere she goes. In her hotel room, where I was greeted by two hunky security guards ahead of the stunt at M.A.C’s downtown store on Tuesday evening, Stone sat down with me for a 10-minute chat about her most personal transformation yet. A year-in-the-making, she spilled exactly how one turns a “Hell’s Kitchen muscle twink” into one of fashion’s biggest icons.
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LUCIA BROWN: Oh my god. Hi! How has today been and how’s the prep gone?
ALEXIS STONE: So, we started Joan [Rivers] last year. I asked Melissa [Rivers] first and she said yes. She said it was the weirdest thing she’s ever been asked, which was a shock to me because people have dressed up as Joan for years.
BROWN: But no one’s done the full get-up?
STONE: The copy and paste, no. And before the fire happened in LA, she was going to send across a bunch of her belongings. When the fire happened, it all got destroyed. So we’ve had to source everything really strategically, from her fragrances, her jewelry—which she obviously sold and made millions doing through QVC. We sourced her wig. We’ve got her handbag. Just all these little details that help bring it to life. And because we started last year, it’s given me more time than I usually would getting ready for a fashion show. Because, you know in fashion, it’s two weeks before, “Hey, do you want to come dress as Cher?” So it’s been a nice personal project where I’ve just been able to show off and throw my heart and soul into this one.
BROWN: Does it usually start with a brand and this one’s fully you?
STONE: All me.
BROWN: Wow.
STONE: It was produced ahead of time, at least with what I look like just so I didn’t have to jump through those loopholes of creative nos and yeses that I was used to. So yeah, it’s been a nice creative one.
BROWN: How do you land on a look?
STONE: I knew if we were doing Joan, it would be Joan Rivers back from the dead as the Fashion Police. So, we worked backwards. We got the stretch Cadillac. We’ve had that wrapped to look like a police car. We had the uniform custom made. We had a couple of other looks just to make sure that we approached it with the attention it deserves because Joan was a style icon. We have what we’ve referred to as “The Pedestrian Joan,” which you just saw, which is what you would see her pussy stunting around Times Square or [Central Park] in. And then, this is very much Fashion Police back from the dead to read everyone to filth.
BROWN: I love it. And the scent, as well…
STONE: The scent is Joan’s fragrance. She released her own perfume and it’s called Now and Forever, which I just thought was so beautiful.
BROWN: It helps you get into character?
STONE: I think so. I think it goes from just being a digital, visual thing you see to an immersive experience. My life for the last three months has just been Joan Rivers. The house looks like FBI most wanted meets Jeffrey Dahmer. I have to warn my friends before they come over. But I love the divas and I always think to myself, if they were here now what would they think of everything that’s going on?
BROWN: I’m sure they’d be gagged. They’d love it.
STONE: Right.
BROWN: What did Joan mean to you?
STONE: I feel like humor died when Joan did. She was the last foundation block of what we encapsulate, at least American visual pop culture. She was the last of that sort of, dare I say, aggressive feminist. It was like a heightened masculinity from Joan, which I found daring, especially in a place like America. I’ve always resonated with her taking herself as a character and leaning into it. Joan always said that she was an actress before anything else. And you can see that with the way that she dressed and the way she navigated her way through media. It was a performance.
BROWN: Totally.
STONE: So, I gravitated more towards that element. But everyone has a different experience of Joan, which I also find so beautiful. Whenever I do these, everyone has a different story that means something to them. Whether it’s Robin Williams and it’s watching [Mrs.] Doubtfire with their family every year or, [with] Joan, their grandparent or their mother watching Fashion Police laughing or cringing at how shocking things are. It means something different for everyone. And I think it should be a nice reminder because we forget so quickly and it breaks my heart. My role is just to remind everyone.
BROWN: Did you do a lot of mental prep, like talking to different people [in her life] to help you get into the character? Obviously, the aesthetics are all there. But is there anything that gets you in Joan’s headspace?
STONE: There’s this amazing journalist and writer called H. Alan [Scott], who’s a friend of mine, and he wrote jokes for Joan years ago. When I told him we were doing Joan, he sent me a catalog of jokes that he’d just come up with and they’re so funny. So, humor-wise, my life for the last three months has just been [Joan]. I’m not Joan Rivers. I’m not in Joan’s financial bracket. But you best believe, [I am] at least visually. I’ve redecorated the house to look somewhat more rock.
BROWN: That’s so fab.
STONE: There’s nothing else to do in life but to throw yourself into dressing up as old women.
Alexis Stone, photographed by Jasper Rischen
BROWN: How do you keep it under wraps for a year?
STONE: It’s difficult. I do say, I love the gays and theys, but it is very difficult to be secretive.
BROWN: People love to yap.
STONE: Very that. I dunno, I throw things like Jim Carrey into the mix. It’s just a distraction.
BROWN: Wait, can you talk to us about Jim?
STONE: No. I will say, even if I was stood in front of you and I told you the truth, you wouldn’t believe it.
BROWN: Try me.
STONE: You’ll see at a later time and date. It will be more transparent [Laughs].
BROWN: Can you talk me through today’s process? What did your morning look like?
STONE: Woke up at 5:00 AM jet-lagged.
BROWN: When did you fly in?
STONE: Two days ago.
BROWN: Okay.
STONE: Today’s been a nice day actually. It’s normally be ready by 11:00 AM to be in a car, which is hell. This has been a little bit more lived-in and it feels more steady. I feel like everything that’s happened over the last two years has been like the Olympics. It’s been my Drag Race. It’s been getting me ready to be able to do slightly more flexible, larger productions like this. Woke up, got ready, had breakfast.
BROWN: What’s a Joan breakfast?
STONE: I had 150 bucks—two poached eggs and sourdough bread because we’re in New York.
BROWN: As you do.
STONE: And some fruit, which I didn’t touch. I have resumed vaping as of probably five hours ago. And I’m still a little medicated from 4/20 yesterday. So, today has been a dream so far.
BROWN: Love that. So you’re a little dazed. Keep it calm.
STONE: Very. And Joan was a fond marijuana user. So life imitates art, I guess.
BROWN: Then the actual makeup prep, that took a couple hours?
STONE: Yeah, so we do screen tests ahead of the activation itself. MAC and I have been bouncing lots of creative ideas, but makeup specifically is something we focus on back at the studio. And we really fixate on the lipstick shades, the direction we want to take it. Because when you imagine someone, you have to really condense what that looks like visually to most people. So, lots of referencing. MAC have been amazing with this. It’s funny, the first makeup product I ever bought when I was 16 and had teenage skin was a concealer from MAC and I still have it in a drawer at home. The first transformation I did way back when with just 2D makeup was Joan. So it feels nice being in New York doing Joan, which for me has always been the visual reference for what I do with the transformations of going from looking like a Hell’s Kitchen muscle twink to an old lady. There is no in-between. Joan, really, for me, is just the crème da la crème.
BROWN: It’s very full circle.
STONE: A hundred percent. And with MAC, too.
BROWN: That’s awesome. You’re emotionally getting into these characters, how do you get out of it? You’ve been working on this for a year and then it’s like, “Okay, that’s it”?
STONE: I think I keep a little bit of all of them in me. I don’t know. My life is gorgeous. But I think people that have to deal with it after, it’s a little hellish. I keep a little bit of all of them. I mean, I look at Joan’s wig every single day. There are things all around the house that I’ve accumulated from when I do these projects. It becomes a part of the way [I live], just surrounded by good energy.
BROWN: Do you do anything to decompress after?
STONE: A hot bath [Laughs]. No, I give myself a week to decompress. It’s not just the ending of a project. Today in particular is going to be such a sensory overload from every direction that it just inevitably knocks the wind out of you. We’re all chasing dopamine and serotonin. This, for me, is where we’re at with the dopamine addiction. So, I’ll decompress. I’ll start working on the next project.
BROWN: Get right to it.
STONE: It doesn’t feel like work. For me, I get to walk around New York dressed as Joan Rivers.
BROWN: Yeah, it’s so fab.
STONE: I manifested a little too hard.
BROWN: Do the reactions online get to you? Are you scrolling tonight and going through the comments?
STONE: I think so. Do you know what? It takes a lot to rustle my feathers, I’ve grown up on the internet from Tumblr, MySpace, Facebook, you name it. I’ve done it all. But the comments act as such a source of inspiration because we live in a generation now where people thrive off seeing the failure of others because it’s more relatable watching someone fall down than it is to watch them rise. So the negativity, it really just inspires the next project. I do one thing and they say, “This is so controversial.” I think, “You want to see a controversial transformation? Alright, let’s do that.” Someone, I’m sure, will inevitably tell me I look more like Caitlyn Jenner and that will inspire the next project. And it goes on and on and on. I try to work with it rather than against it. But I dream of the day that I deactivate, disappear off social media. I look forward to it.
BROWN: Real.
