In this exclusive video, Laverne Cox, the ground-breaking transgender actress who earned an Emmy Award nomination for her work on Orange Is the New Black, reveals the inspiration behind her take on Rocky Horror’s Dr. Frank-N-Furter.
Watch above as Cox explains that she’s always wanted to take on the “Sweet Transvestite” at the heart of the cult classic and what she’s doing to bring new life to the role.
Rocky Horror will return to the screen in an all-new incarnation October 20 on Fox. This version of the cult classic, titled The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again, is directed by Kenny Ortega (Newsies, Hocus Pocus).
The two-hour special also stars Tim Curry as Criminologist Narrator, Victoria Justice as Janet Weiss, Ryan McCartan as Brad Majors, Reeve Carney as Riff Raff, Christina Milian as Magenta, Annaleigh Ashford as Columbia, Adam Lambert as Eddie, Staz Nair as Rocky Horror, Ben Vereen as Dr. Everett Scott and Ivy Levan as Usherette.
Unlike its recent prime-time predecessors, Rocky Horror will not be a live broadcast. Filming on the production is already complete.
The brand-new production is based upon the original screenplay by Jim Sharman and Richard O’Brien with lyrics and music by O’Brien.
Rocky Horror Picture Show, according to Fox, follows “sweethearts Janet (Victoria Justice, Victorious) and Brad (Ryan McCartan, Liv & Maddie, Heathers the Musical), who stumble upon Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s (Emmy Award-nominated actress Laverne Cox, Orange is the New Black) bizarre abode. Frank-N-Furter, a sexually ambiguous, flirtatious mad-scientist, is holding an annual Transylvanian science convention to showcase the birth of Rocky Horror – a muscle-bound specimen created solely to fulfill Frank’s desires.”