James Lee Williams spoke to the ECHO long before they became a familiar face to thousands
08:45, 07 Jan 2025Updated 08:45, 07 Jan 2025
Make-up artist James Williams before creating their famous alter-ego
The Vivienne was a household name whose death has shocked fans around the country and the world. The artist was known for winning the first-ever UK version of RuPaul’s Drag Race, among many other history-making career moves.
However, before The Vivienne captured the hearts of many on our TV screens, there was a young 20-year-old called James Lee Williams who loved working at Liverpool’s MAC cosmetics make-up counter and was ready to take on the world. With publicist Simon Jones confirming the death of the reality star, aged 32, over the weekend, the ECHO has taken a look back at the first interview we did with James in 2013 – before they had established their alter-ego.
At the time, James, who then lived in the city centre, had just been shortlisted as a finalist in Illamasqua’s Distinction in Make-Up Artistry Awards. By this point, the teenager had passed his GCSEs, moved to the city, landed a job at Debenhams in Liverpool ONE and was devoting themselves to honing their skills both professionally and personally.
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They told the ECHO: “I remember on my birthday I went to the MAC counter, I got my make-up done, and I just fell in love with it. From that day, I started buying loads, and I’d sit in my room at night playing around with it and trying different looks out.
“It’s so much a part of me now that I don’t think I look like myself without make-up. I do try and take it off every night before I go to bed, even on a Saturday night, but when I wake up, I always think I look weird without it, especially since I shaved my eyebrows off a few years ago.”
The Vivienne at The National Lottery’s Big Eurovision Welcome at St Georges Plateau, Liverpool. (Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
In 2013, James said they were aware how make-up on men would “raise a few eyebrows”, but admitted they had never come across any problems up to this point because of it.
They said: “Even at school, it was never an issue. I was at a private school, so I suppose we were quite sheltered from the outside world, but I was quite confident, so when I started wearing make-up, it wasn’t really a big deal, and people just accepted it.
“I was already out as gay at 14, which is quite a young age, and I’d walk around with a big Louboutin bag and Chanel glasses and my make-up on, so I really didn’t care.
The Vivienne performs at Fabuloso In The Park during the Brighton & Hove Pride 2023.(Image: 2023 Lorne Thomson)
“If the teachers confiscated it, I’d just go to the toilets and put it back on again. Actually those years were good for my confidence, though, because everyone was fine about it, and my mum and dad were very supportive.
“I think it was a shock at first, especially as they’d paid for a private education, but as soon as they knew I was doing well and it was a good career, they were happy. It’s such a big industry, and there’s so much you can get out of it, and they realise that now.”
James explained how they got their fashion and makeup inspiration from icons belonging to a generation before his birth – which is now hardly surprising given that they named themselves after Vivienne Westwood.
The Vivienne played The Wicked Witch of the West in the UK tour of Wizard of Oz alongside JLS’ Aston Merrygold(Image: Marc Brenner)
They added: “I love the club kids of the 80s in New York, and there’s an American artist called Jeffree Star who I think is amazing. I saw photos of him, with his bright pink hair and really mad make-up, and I just wanted to be like that.”
James admitted they rarely left the house as a 20-year-old without a basic half-hour application of foundation, powder, eye shadow, liner and mascara. It was at nighttime when James said they really went to town, working as a drag artist in Garlands and as a Cher impersonator: a transformation that takes about two hours to complete.
They added: “I’d love to do Cher’s make-up. She’s had a little bit of help, but she still looks fabulous.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race’s The Vivienne(Image: John Lamparski/Getty Images)
At the time of the interview, James was training to be a hairdresser at Voudou on Bold Street because, in a recession, “most people prefer to hire one stylist for both jobs”.
They said: “Women want to look nice and be made to feel nice, and they know they’ll get an honest reaction from a gay man. They trust me not to lie to them.
“I think I still get the odd negative response from people, but I don’t notice as much anymore. At first, I’d walk out of the house and think, I’ve got make-up on, everyone’s looking at me. But now, if they look I hardly ever even register it, and if I do, I just think, whatever.”