Dwayne Cooper | |
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| Other names |
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| Alma mater | University of South Carolina |
| Occupations |
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| Television | RuPaul's Drag Race (season 4) |
Dwayne Cooper, also known by thedrag personaMilan and asDwayne Milan,[1][2] is an American actor and entertainer who competed on thefourth season ofRuPaul's Drag Race. On stage, Cooper has had roles in multiple national tours, and he performed inBroadway productions ofHairspray andMotown: The Musical. Raised inFlorence, South Carolina, Cooper relocated to New York City.
Dwayne Cooper was raised inFlorence, South Carolina, and attendedWest Florence High School. Involved in many school activities, he wasstudent government president in 1993, during his senior year. Cooper attended theUniversity of South Carolina, initially planning to major injournalism but opting fortheatre instead.[3]
Cooper is an actor and entertainer who competed indrag as Milan on thefourth season ofRuPaul's Drag Race. Since appearing on the show, Cooper has only performed in drag for acting roles, such as when he played adrag queen in the filmSpoiler Alert. On stage, Cooper has acted in national tours ofShow Boat andSmoky Joe's Cafe,[4] and in a production ofSuessical.[5] He was among the cast ofSmoky Joe's Cafe which received the award for 'Outstanding Ensemble, off-Broadway' at theChita Rivera Awards for Dance and Choreography in 2019.[6] OnBroadway, Cooper performed as Thad inHairspray, in the ensemble ofMotown: The Musical,[3] and as a swing in the 2023 revival ofSweeney Todd.[7][8] He has been credited as the firstDrag Race contestant to land a role on Broadway.[9]
Cooper is also part of the Doo Wop Project, asupergroup of Broadway actors who perform pop songs from theGreat American Songbook.[10][11] According to Denise Leslie of thePagosa Daily Post, Cooper has been described as a "modern daySammy Davis Jr. meetsBarry White".[12]
OnDrag Race, Milan placed ninth overall. On the fourth episode ("Queens Behind Bars"), she placed in the bottom two of an acting challenge and defeatedMadame LaQueer in alip-sync to the 2003 song "Trouble" byPink.[13] For theSnatch Game challenge of the fifth episode, Milan impersonatedDiana Ross.[5] Her performance landed her in the bottom two again, and she beat Kenya Michaels in a lip-sync to the 1990 song "Vogue" by American singerMadonna. Milan was eliminated on the sixth episode ("Float Your Boat"), when she was placed in the bottom two of the design challenge which required contestants to create and wearpride-themedfloats. She lost a lip-sync againstJiggly Caliente to the 2011 song "Born This Way" byLady Gaga, during which Milan removed her dress, jewelry, and wig.[14]
During one of the runway shows, Milan wore atuxedo outfit inspired byJanelle Monáe.[15] Ethan LaCroix and Jillian Anthony ranked her eighth inTime Out New York's 2015 list of New York City-based contestants and opined: "Milan was never really a contender ... but she sure was entertaining while she lasted. She defied the judges week after week with her barely there makeup and her lip-synch performances that involved dress rending and wig tossing, leaving her spent and nearly naked on the runway."[16] Patrick Crowley ranked her number 23 inBillboard's 2016 list of Snatch Game performances.[17]
In 2018, Michael Cuby included the disagreement between Milan andWillam on the third episode of the companion seriesRuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked in American online LGBT magazineThem's list of the ten "messiest fights" onDrag Race.[18] InThe Spinoff's 2019 "definitive ranking" of 162Drag Race lip-syncs to date, Sam Brooks ranked Milan's battles against Jiggly Caliente, Kenya Michaels, and Madame LaQueer numbers 129, 73, and 69, respectively.[19] Chris Kelly included Milan's draggingsplit, described by Willam as "[swiffering] the floor with her taint", inQueerty's 2018 list of the show's ten best lip-sync "stunts, shocks and shenanigans".[20]
Cooper lived in New York City as of 2011.[21] He has creditedNashom Wooden of theelectronic dance music groupThe Ones for helping him break into the drag scene. He once staged a show for the group.[22]
