‘Rocky Horror’ Star Says Tim Curry Is ‘Exactly What You Want Him to Be’ (Exclusive Video)

“He would come to rehearsal when he didn’t even have rehearsal, and just sit there and talk to us for hours,” Ryan McCartan tells TheWrap of the original Dr. Frank-N-Furter

Fox’s “Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again” is set to introduce a whole new generation of fans to the cult classic musical tonight, and one of the stars can’t wait.

Ryan McCartan plays the role of the Brad who, along with his fiancée Janet (Victoria Justice), is a straight-laced young man caught up in a strange night of debauchery after the couple’s car breaks down in the middle of a storm.

“What I’m more excited for is the Brads and Janets of the world who probably were never brave enough to go to the movie theater and see it at midnight, who maybe don’t even know what ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ is, especially my younger fans,” McCartan said, referencing his large following amassed from Disney Channel programming. “I’m really excited for them to be thrust into this wonderfully weird madness that is the ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show.’”

As Brad’s inhibitions are loosened over the night, he ends up dancing in a musical number in fishnets and heels, which unsurprisingly ended up being one of the hardest parts of the job for McCartan.

“It was like, you know, develop a nice relationship with these death devices that you’re going to be wearing on your feet for the next five months,” the actor quipped about being first introduced to heels. “It’s not just walking in heels, it’s dancing in heels, and actually it’s not just dancing in heels, it’s doing Kenny Ortega-level dancing in heels, and he expects you to look fierce when you’re doing it. I’ve never worn a heel in my life, so that was a really steep learning curve.”

McCartan and the cast, which includes Laverne Cox as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, Adam Lambert as Eddie, Christina Milian as Magenta and Reeve Carney as Riff-Raff, also got to meet the original iconic Frank-N-Furter, Tim Curry.

“He would come to rehearsal when he didn’t even have rehearsal, and just sit there and talk to us for hours. He was so generous with his time,” McCartan said. “He told us about people he partied with, he told us about stories from his career, he sang for and with us just for fun, like … He’s so sharp and he’s so funny and he’s exactly what you want him to be.

“That was another permission grander for us, having Tim Curry there. ‘OK,’ he says, ‘we can’t mess this up,’ so we can’t mess this up! He gave us the blessing and Tim Curry arguably is the ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show,’ so that was awesome.”

“Rocky Horror Picture Show” airs Thursday, Oct. 20 on Fox.

Comments