Dylan Mulvaney And Drew Barrymore Have Heart-To-Heart About Dealing With Hate
By Melanie VanDerveer on March 13, 2023 at 6:30 PM EDT
Dylan Mulvaney is ready to celebrate day 365 of being a girl!
Before heading to her big event, "Dylan Mulvaney's Day 365 Live!," a one-night-only cabaret show at New York City's iconic Rainbow Room on Monday night, Mulvaney sat down with Drew Barrymore on her show to discuss her journey from day one to day 365 and everything in between.
Dylan Mulvaney Was A Guest On "The Drew Barrymore Show"
Mulvaney began her TikTok series on March 12, 2022, with "day one of being a girl" and has documented each day since for her more than 10 million followers. Now that day 365 is here and she's gearing up for a grand event to celebrate the milestone, she's talking about how the eventful year has been.
"This is very personal for me, in a world where we're all trying to figure out who we're supposed to be, the risk, the bravery," Barrymore said before Mulvaney jumped in to say, "I had no idea how vulnerable I was even willing to get. And honestly, that day one video that I made, it was kind of supposed to be a comedy video because I think coming out can be so intense and I kind of wanted to add some humor."
Mulvaney explained that a lot of things came up during the year and vulnerability became something she had to deal with. She's opened up about a lot of things that maybe she didn't expect to do as quickly as she has.
"I think back to my childhood self and I think about if I was following myself on TikTok as a young kid, what would I want to hear," she said.
"So much of my audience is a younger demographic and I sort of would love to show transness in a way that we haven't seen it before because I figured when I came out that I might have to go into hiding and do all my surgeries privately and change my name, and I instead decided hey, let me see if the world is willing to accept me this way from day one, and they did."
Dealing With Negativity Entered The Chat
Barrymore brought up dealing with negativity and hate. When asked how Mulvaney deals with it, she said, "There's so much hatred directed at the trans community right now, it's everywhere, and I think the greatest weapon that I can contribute is trans joy, and comedy, and talking about hard subjects and really intricate moments of a transition and try to let everybody in to see that I'm not a monster, I'm not somebody that is trying to do anything but be myself and be happy."
Not only was Mulvaney showing vulnerability for others to connect to, but Barrymore also did as well. "It's interesting because I look at someone like you and I can't imagine anybody disliking you," Mulvaney said, to which Barrymore responded, "Oh please. Do you wanna know, ironically, who dislikes me the most sometimes? Myself." Mulvaney agreed that she feels the same way at times.
The two hugged, and then sat on the floor together to open up more about the tough topic. Mulvaney then asked Barrymore what she does to combat the hate. Barrymore explained how film reviews have always made her feel as an example. "If you read reviews, just like on social media, you are pretty much guaranteed a 50/50, some like it, some don't. So you've got to be willing to bear down and brace for it," she explained.
Mulvaney added, "Sometimes, I think the greatest response can just be in the next joyous video or in the next win that you have because that just goes to show that you are continuing on and whatever those people are projecting onto you, it isn't actually penetrating."
Dylan Mulvaney's Big Day 365 Celebration Is Monday Night!
The day Mulvaney has been so looking forward to has finally arrived. The event will be live-streamed for $5 with proceeds going toward The Trevor Project. There will be music, dancing, special guests, and lots of wardrobe changes during the event that's being held at The Rainbow Room.
More information about how to live stream the event at 8 p.m. Monday can be found HERE.
The celebration is the culmination of a year of exciting moments that can be found on Mulvaney's TikTok page.
"When I pictured this day, I saw it as a coming-out debutante ball, but I also saw it as a birthday party, a talk show, a standup show," Mulvaney told PEOPLE. "I put it all together into a one-night-only, 1960s-style variety show at the top of Rockefeller Center. And I’m not going to lie, I can’t think of anything better to do that day."
For Mulvaney, who's performed on stage many times in the past, this time on stage marks a big first. "This will actually be the first time that I’m back on stage, but in my proper gender identity," she said. "Hopefully my followers will be really excited to see me do the thing that I want to do most."