Cole Escola as Dr. Frankenfurter — Page 2

He just won a Tony for playing a robot. As far as I can tell, he’s never come out as a robot. Let an actor act.

Another name to throw into the ring: Wayne Brady. He came out as bi recently, and was an audience favorite in Kinky Boots. Plus, given Rocky Horror’s long standing link to improv elements, having a Mount Rushmore improviser in the cast can’t hurt.

TheQuibbler said: "Criss on playing queerroles;

“But I want to make sure I won’t be another straight boy taking a gay man’s role.”

Here's Why Darren Criss Says He Won't Play Gay Characters Any Longer"

You said “queer” but the quote from Darren is about “gay” roles. Those are different things.

Cole as Riff would interest me more than Cole as Frank and I can’t put my finger on why, exactly. If we’re only allowed to cast actors matching a fictional characters sexuality now, then let Criss play Brad. Totally straight but when seduced, he loosens up a bit. Sounds about right for him (maybe).

But really, this show needs people who can think on their feet in all the roles in order to handle the audience interaction. My dream Brad and Janet - Marla Mindelle & Constantine Rousouli.

In normal times, you’re 10000% correct. That was always the beautiful thing about “Rocky”. But we’re not in normal times anymore.

I think Cole would make a better Janet than Frank, but they are a star now. I'd think it's Frank or nothing.

As for Criss - he'd be a smokin' hot Frank and can certainly act the role.

I'm not going to stipulate as some others have done here that personal identity is an appropriate metric for casting. It's not. I watched FLAWLESS (the film) last night and was aware that Hoffman wouldn't have been cast in the drag / trans role today (and no, I'm not mistaking the two - it's something the character wrestles with in the story). Casting whomever brings the most to a role is more important and artistically essential than indulging the popular but crass commodification of personal identity.

I agree. That's always been a sort of tension with Rocky Horror - yes, it was progressive and subversive for its depiction of sexuality and gender when it debuted, but Frank is also unambiguously a villain who isn't doing this to liberate mankind from their rigid lifestyles and views, he's doing it because... he can and he takes pleasure out of it, regardless of how many people get hurt.

The plot is barely coherent as it is, so it isn't surprising its themes and messages are barely coherent too. It's just a fun time.

Updated On: 7/3/25 at 01:45 PM

darquegk said: "I honestly think of Rocky Horror’s plotting as Gilbert and Sullivan gone seventies: an eccentric but square world gets inverted and all rules of status and conduct go topsy turvy. What happens isn’t as important (or coherent) as the theme of All Fools."

What a great observation. And thus, it would also be The Bacchae.

BorisTomashevsky said: "TheQuibbler said: "Criss on playing queerroles;

“But I want to make sure I won’t be another straight boy taking a gay man’s role.”

Here's Why Darren Criss Says He Won't Play Gay Characters Any Longer"

You said “queer” but the quote from Darren is about “gay” roles. Those are different things."

You cited one line to make your point about "queer" vs "gay" but if you look at it in context of the whole interview, you can see Criss more or less equated those terms.

"There are certain [queer] roles that I'll see that are just wonderful," Criss explains when we speak at a recent event for Clorox's What Comes Next in New York, a few days after he returned from an overseas tour with his Glee co-star Lea Michele. "But I want to make sure I won't be another straight boy taking a gay man’s role."

Although Criss says it's "been a real joy" playing queer characters like Blaine, Cunanan, and Hedwig in the Broadway musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, he now doesn't feel comfortable taking those roles, which is "unfortunate," he says. "The reason I say that is because getting to play those characters is inherently a wonderful dramatic experience," he adds. "It has made for very, very compelling and interesting people."