Tim Curry has given his official stamp of approval to the ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ reboot, with Laverne Cox starring in Curry’s classic role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter.
Kenny Ortega, the director, producer, and choreographer of the reboot said, “I’ll never forget the first day of rehearsal. Laverne was standing at the piano getting ready to sing ‘Sweet Transvestite’ for the first time. And Tim [was] sitting next to the pianist. And when she finished [singing], the first voice that came up was ‘Brava,’ from Tim Curry. And that is what we have felt throughout this whole experience working with Tim Curry.”
About Laverne Cox, Ortega commented on how important the role was to her:
“A trans woman wanted to play this role ever since she was a little child, which we discovered when [Cox] came in to do her screen test—which…was one of the greatest screen tests they had ever [encountered]…She’s a force. Five-octave range. A degree in dance from a major university, acting her heart out in New York and studying for over 15 years. Walking in and bringing something into this room that made us all realize there was no B plan—if we could land this person in this role, that she would have so much to give this…She was an absolute joy. She was the person who gave us reason, really, to make this movie.”
As for the rest of the cast, Victoria Justice plays Janet Weiss, Ruan McCartan is Brad Majors, Christina Milian is Magenta, and Adam Lambert plays Eddie. As for Tim Curry, the iconic actor, who is recovering from a stroke, will be included as well—he plays the narrator. He said:
“Just doing it again, but in a different role…it was a lot of fun. I remembered quite a lot of the original film because it was my first movie…it was fun to do it again. I actually offered myself as Dr. [Everett] Scott, because I was already in a wheelchair…They thought the narrator was a better fit, and I enjoyed it a lot.”
The new, two-part reboot of ‘Rocky Horror’ will premiere on October 20. Until then, here’s the trailer:
