I agree with you JBradshaw. In any case, it's a moot point.
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
It almost seems like they're playing it safe by casting a woman in the role since a woman in that get up is somehow less offensive but then Laverne is transgender so that confuses it. I don't know what to make of it.
No one will ever touch Tim Curry, so on one hand, non traditional casting probably makes a great deal of sense - a way to step out of Curry's shadow. On the other hand, as much as I like Laverne Cox's public persona and her activism and the visibility she's brought to trans women of color, I think she is an actress of limited talent. She is, by far, the weakest actress on OITNB and, despite the lovely wigs and beautifully tailored dresses, she's never struck me as a charismatic presence.
Rocky Horror is, with the exception of one f-bomb, extremely mild by today's standards. It's the audience participation that makes it so racy, not any of the content.
I am more surprised that Cox, who was uncomfortable with some of Hedwigand serves as a LGBT role model, wouldn't be uneasy playing an amoral rapist and murderer who self-identifies as a Queer Messiah and sees no problem with brainwashing and sexual violence.
darquegk said: "I am more surprised that Cox, who was uncomfortable with some of Hedwigand serves as a LGBT role model, wouldn't be uneasy playing an amoral rapist and murderer who self-identifies as a Queer Messiah and sees no problem with brainwashing and sexual violence."
Hedwig is human. Frank is an alien. You're welcome.
HorseTears said: "No one will ever touch Tim Curry, so on one hand, non traditional casting probably makes a great deal of sense - a way to step out of Curry's shadow. On the other hand, as much as I like Laverne Cox's public persona and her activism and the visibility she's brought to trans women of color, I think she is an actress of limited talent. She is, by far, the weakest actress on OITNB and, despite the lovely wigs and beautifully tailored dresses, she's never struck me as a charismatic presence."
THANK YOU FOR SAYING THAT. I like her as a person, but seriously on OITNB she is so dull. I feel like she got so much press because she is trans. Like we get it. We really do. But there are so many actresses on that show that do so much better than her. The actresses who plays Pentatusky, Poussey, Tastee, Murello, etc. They have each made such specific, memorable roles and have done such a great work on the show. I think there are other people who are more interesting than the character Laverne Cox's Sophia. She is lackluster in this show. I haven't seen her in anything else to make judgement of her as an actress
darquegk said: "Rocky Horror is, with the exception of one f-bomb, extremely mild by today's standards. It's the audience participation that makes it so racy, not any of the content."
Not if they do the show as written. Frank's lust for Rocky, and the "bedroom" scenes involving Frank, Janet & Brad are still pretty racy. (I seriously doubt we'll see Frank picking a pubic hair out from between his teeth.)
Personally, I think that Justin Vivian Bond would have been a better choice. My favorite thing about Frank is the low baritone (almost bass) range of his songs. Bond can sing in that range. I also wonder about the blend of masculine and feminine in Frank's character; although Cox was born male, she's not got a lot of masculine quality about her. Maybe she's a better actor than she's been able to show thus far and will be able to bring that out (so to speak).
Re Cox, I truly admire her activist work as a trans woman of color and I'm so in awe of how unabashedly political she is. But I don't think she's a good actress at all. Her line deliveries in particular tend to be inconsistent and somewhat artificial. I'm also not sure how I feel about the casting of a woman in the role. I'd be all in if it were a man, trans or not, but casting a woman here seems off.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"