Crossword Genius

Comic actor student's seen in drag (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

palin

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'comic actor' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'student's seen in drag' is the wordplay.
'student' becomes 'l' (as in L-plates for learner drivers).
'seen in' is an insertion indicator.
'drag' becomes 'pain' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'l' inserted inside 'pain' is 'PALIN'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for palin that I've seen before include "Michael - - (TV comedy, travel)" , "Michael --, Python" , "Michael - - (TV traveller)" , "Michael --, comedian" , "US politician" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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