IT’S OFFICIAL: THE LESBIAN CHAOS SUMMER IS HERE, COURTESY OF KING PRINCESS. THE SINGER AND SONGWRITER IS ABOUT TO BACKDROP THE MESSY WARM NIGHTS WITH HER MUSIC FROM THE UPCOMING GIRL VIOLENCE ALBUM, AND THE TENSION IS BOILING. BUT FIRST, SHE’S TAKING US ON A JOURNEY TO THE LAND OF SNOW, MOUNTAINS AND MAGIC MUSHROOMS. IN HER ACTING DEBUT, SHE JOINED THE CAST OF THE SECOND SEASON OF NINE PERFECT STRANGERS, STARRING IN THE SERIES ALONGSIDE SUCH VETERANS AS NICOLE KIDMAN, CHRISTINE BARANSKI, AND MURRAY BARTLETT. PLAYING A PIANO MUSICIAN STRUGGLING WITH HER CAREER, WHO IS TRICKED INTO TAKING PART IN THE CONTROVERSIAL HEALING METHOD, KP PROVES THAT SHE WAS BORN FOR THE SCREEN. FOR BTB DIGITAL, SHE CALLS US FROM BROOKLYN TO TALK ABOUT SHOOTING THE SERIES IN THE ALPS, FANCYING KIDMAN IN HER MASHA DRAG, AND HER NEXT ROLE COMING LATER THIS YEAR.

Coat **McQueen**, briefs **Sportmax**, boots **Coperni**, tights **Falke**

I’m so happy that I get to speak to you. I have been obsessed with your song Cursed again, thanks to a recent episode of Hacks that featured it in the final scene. I have been listening to it on a loop, I love it!

Thank you! I love Lucia [Aniello] and Paul [W. Downs], who created the show, and Hannah [Einbinder] is a friend of mine. It’s the second time they’ve included my song in the series, it’s always amazing to be a part of it.

It’s one of the best comedy shows out there right now! Speaking of TV, you just recently made your acting debut in the second season of Nine Perfect Strangers. How did this project come your way?

I auditioned for it. I think they were initially going to go with someone else, but that fell through, and they asked me to audition again. I was actually really enjoying the audition process – all of a sudden, I was doing this thing that felt really different from music, but at the same time, it kind of connected. I mean, it’s not a huge reach to go from music to acting, I feel like they are quite similar.

I just needed something to free my mind and chill, look in the mirror and do some investigative journalism about somebody other than myself. And the idea of being a character really sang to me. Also, the role was perfect because it showed a lot of what I was feeling, as far as just having done music for so long and taking a little break as I changed labels and started writing a record. I needed a break, and I was like, “I could do this girl. I understand this girl.”

Left Coat **Celine**, tank top **Calvin Klein**, skirt **Fendi**
Right Coat **McQueen**, briefs **Sportmax**, boots **Coperni**, tights **Falke**

What are the similarities that you see between these two art forms?

Well, in both of them, it all has to come from you, from a place of truth. That’s what I've learned from my castmates, which really is my only point of reference, but it’s an amazing one. Christine, Murray, Dolly, Annie – these are veterans [of acting]. We talked a lot about it, and they were like, “It’s about finding pieces of your own truth, or of people you know.” It’s about building this infrastructure to play within the character. And with building a song, it [often] feels discombobulated at times, you don't know if it's going to come together, and then something comes together, and it feels like a full picture. That’s kind of what acting felt like, too. As you practice this character, it gets better and better, and then all of a sudden, it was easy for me to be like, “Oh, that's something Tina would do; she would probably respond like this.”

What was it like to watch these masters of the craft on set?

To be on set and observe Christine Baranski – her line delivery, the way she’d rattle off jokes, the way she would acknowledge the camera without acknowledging it, the way she positioned her body in space… Oh, I just caught a mosquito in the air.

Top and briefs **Sportmax**, socks **Calzedonia**

Wow!

That’s lesbian sports abilities right there. And it’s full of blood. It definitely sucked on me last night.

Well, you got it in the end.

[Back to the question] Also, everyone made me feel so welcome. They were just so generous. If I ever had a question, they took it upon themselves to answer. And there was no ego [involved], it never felt like I was overstepping.

How long was the shoot?

Six months.

Coat **Celine**, tank top **Calvin Klein**, skirt **Fendi**, tights **Falke**, shoes **Miu Miu**

That’s very long! It must have been an amazing experience, considering that the Alps were your surroundings.

It was magical. Also, I had my dog with me, and that forced me to go outside, which was good because I can [usually] sit on the couch and play video games all day. I could bring my dog when we were on location as well, and in one of the towns that we shot in, there was a hike down into this valley. And every day, we just walked through the woods down there, and I would watch my dog play in an Austrian stream.

Your character, Tina, is at first apprehensive about the mushroom therapy that the show centres around. Would you be open to doing this form of therapy? Or maybe you have done it already?

I mean, I’ve never tripped balls for the purpose of having a realisation, but I’ve definitely microdosed before in a therapeutic manner. I did it over the course of six months. It was so helpful. You know, I’m terrified of big pharma because they’re trying to force pills on you all the time. And now I’m on pills. But actually, I think that mushrooms led me to pills. They were like, “Hey girl, there’s something imbalanced in here.” When I took the mushrooms, I would take my dog for a walk or go to the coffee shop, and I could literally stop and smell the flowers. Like my brain finally could take a load off, and I could be like, “Oh, it's a beautiful day. Maybe I'm just going to stare at this bush for five minutes.” I think it just told me that my brain is hyperactive – I have OCD, so it never stops. Yeah, it was really helpful because it showed me what life could be, and I was like, “I'm truly not living that way right now. I would love to have a little bit more of that in my life.”

I feel you. I’m also on medication for OCD, so I know exactly what you’re talking about.

Are you on Zoloft?

Yes, I am. [Laughs] We’re both Zoloft queens.

We’re the Zoloft girls. It changed my life. But back to mushrooms, the thing with this show is that I wouldn't recommend going to Masha for therapy. I feel like she’s definitely running some severely illegal practices. But as far as the mushrooms go, I'm a huge proponent of anything that comes from the ground. And fungi are a highly intelligent form of life. They are so smart. I trust fungi.

On the subject of Masha, I read somewhere that Nicole Kidman was acting quite method-y on set. Is that true? And if so, were you scared of her?

Was I scared? I have waited my whole life to meet Nicole Kidman. So yes, I was terrified. And my first scene with her was of me fully crying and yelling. So I was extra terrified because I was about to yell at this iconic woman. But she was so nice about it, really kind and supportive, she didn't make me feel like this was my first time. But yeah, she was giving method, so there were moments where I was like, “Whoa…” It was Masha vibes, she would be lurking. But it was hot too because it's Nicole, you know? It was like the sweet spot for gay people: being horny and a little bit scared. The blunt bob made it even more intense.

I love that. Has this experience of being on set made you want to act more?

Yeah. I have a movie coming out in December. I got home from Austria, and I was like, “I want more.” And then I did a bunch of auditions, and I landed this movie. I found it to be so freeing and fun and challenging. You know, I want to be a forever student. If I find something interesting, I want to learn about it because I don't go to school, and I don't have structure in my life. You take that for granted when you're a kid. And then, as an adult, you have to find things that interest you and learn about them on your own. It's the same thing for me with Photoshop. I love making collages and flyers for my parties, so I learned how to use the program.

What’s the movie about? Was it more of a leap, acting-wise?

Yes, because I’m playing a 17-year-old girl, and that’s more of a leap for me than a 26-year-old angry musician. The movie is called Song Sung Blue, it’s with Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson. It tells a real story based on a documentary of these two blue-collar Midwestern musical impersonators, who play at fairs or small restaurant gigs. Kate plays a Patsy Cline impersonator, and Hugh plays a Neil Diamond impersonator. It’s a really tragic, beautiful and sweet story of this family, these people that are just trying to get by, who really enjoy music and desperately need to perform. And I play Hugh’s daughter. I just watched the film recently at a screening, and I was fully sobbing.

I can’t wait, it sounds super touching.

It’s super heartwarming. It’s coming out on Christmas, so you can go see me and sob then.

Perfect. [Laughs] I have to ask you about music – when can we expect some new material from you?

It’s coming. It’s going to be a KP summer.

Amazing, we need that since Brat Summer is on the brink of death.

I know, so I’m going to bring the sad lesbian vibes. Actually, I can already tell that it's going to be a feral summer because I am in Brooklyn right now and I've been seeing all my girls – I just got back from LA, so I went out last night. I saw my girls, and they're so chaotic. There's just absolute chaos. The Lesbian Chaos summer is about to ensue, and hopefully, my music will backdrop for it.

Interview by Martin Onufrowicz

Photography by Wish Thanasarakhan

Fashion by Mauricio Quezada

EIC Michael Marson

Casting by Imagemachine cs

Make-Up by Tatyana Makarova at at The Wall Group

Hair by Ben Jones at The Wall Group

Set design by Bradley Armstrong

Photographer’s Assistant Richard Saralertsophon

Fashion’s assistant Salma Elagizy