Jill Riley of The Current’s Morning Show talked with actor Barry Bostwick about The Rocky Horror Picture Show - 50th Anniversary Spectacular Tour. Bostwick, who is best known for portraying Brad Majors in the film, shared stories about the movie, the cast, and much more.

Use the audio player above to listen to the interview, and find a full transcript below.

Interview Transcript

Jill Riley: You are listening to The Current, I'm Jill Riley. You know, it doesn't have to be Halloween to enjoy the classic film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but it certainly helps. And it just so happens that The Rocky Horror Picture Show - 50th anniversary Spectacular Tour, will be stopping at the Orpheum Theatre on Halloween night. The original, unedited version of the movie will be screened with Minnesota's own Rocky Horror shadow cast called Transvestite Soup. There will be a costume contest, and some original cast members will be in attendance. Joining me on The Current's Morning Show to talk about it is actor Barry Bostwick, who played Brad Majors in the film. Barry, welcome to The Current's Morning Show. How are you?

Barry Bostwick: I'm doing great. Thank you. I wish I was in that soup right at the moment, I got to tell you. That was one of the funnest parts of the movie, when we were all jumping into the pool and licking and kissing in water that was 40 degrees. We couldn't wait to get out of the pool to dance on a wet stage in six-inch-high heels.

Jill Riley: You couldn't wait for it to be over, now you wish you were back there. Wow. Fifty years of Rocky Horror Picture Show. Barry, before we talk more about this big anniversary and celebration, could you talk a little bit about how you came into that role of Brad Majors?

Barry Bostwick: They just offered me the part. Fox was insisting on having a couple of American actors play the Americans, play Brad and Janet. And I think the rest of the cast was being cast, except for Meat Loaf, from the original cast that was on stage in London in the 60-seat theater up at the Royal Court Theatre. I'm driving to Seattle, and I'm sitting with Larry Viezel, who's the head of the fan club for Rocky Horror Picture Show. He knows more about Rocky Horror Picture Show than anybody should. And then we do this tour together, and he goes out and warms up the audience and gets everything going. And then I come out and do a few minutes, and there's a costume contest and a virgin ceremony, and the rules are read to the audience, and basically we just tell them to have a big party and have a good time. And then the shadow cast take over, and they do the movie in front of the movie, and it's a ball. I mean, it's anarchic. The audience has taken over this movie for the last 50 years, and we no longer own it. You know, it's all the celebration that goes in the actual audience. Most of them are looking at each other, not at the screen at this point.

Jill Riley: Well, it really is a movie that seems like it's the gift that keeps on giving. Through the years and the generations of the midnight showings, and people showing up in costumes and people showing up, really, for the movie, but to also have a good time. Barry, I wonder, have you seen any kind of changes in how audiences are reacting to the film throughout the years? I mean, it just seems like it becomes a phenomenon more and more.

Barry Bostwick: Yeah. I think the fans who discovered this, they were rabid. They were real, true fans, you know. They started the whole dressing-up thing and bringing in the shoutouts and the props and this and that. But now I sort of think of the audience as half of them are sitting there going, "Well, show me what this is all about," and they are our virgins, we can’t make them stand up and do something weird. And then there's the ones that have seen it 100 times. And we're on our third generation of Rocky Horror fans, and so the Gen-Zers now, I think are a little dismayed because they love something that their parents loved, which is very unusual. And what's even more unusual is they love something that their grandparents love, and it is just astonishing to me. But the social aspects and I guess you have to say political aspects of the movie, were never really thought of as being something outlandish or the reason to be the movie. I mean, the movie was just a spoof. And then it started becoming important to the gay community, the LGBTQ+ community, they saw it as a place that they could act up and sort of act out and think about who maybe they genuinely are in the world. It has become this place where everybody comes together to really embrace our differences and not politicize or distract from I think, where we've come with this movie and its importance in society. But again, that wasn't the original, real impact of it. I mean, it was the impact, but it wasn't why it was done. Richard O'Brien, who wrote it, said he was doing the Adam and Eve story, he was doing a fairytale and with that kind of lightness and color, and it's about the loss of innocence. All the characters, at one point lose their innocence. And I think that's why it has become this sort of passage, film experience for a lot of young teenagers who say to their parents, "can I go to see Rocky Horror now? Please, I'm 13. I've seen this stuff all over the internet since I was four." It's not shocking me anymore, you know.

Jill Riley: Well, we're talking about The Rocky Horror Picture Show - 50th Anniversary Spectacular Tour, it will be at the Orpheum Theatre Friday night, on Halloween night. And on the line is actor Barry Bostwick, who played Brad Majors in the film. Barry, I just want to ask you, when you were making the movie, 50 years ago when it was released, when you were making the movie, I mean, that cast, it's so fun to watch the movie over and over, of course, but to watch the movie now, and you see Susan Sarandon, and you see Tim Curry in this early role as Dr. Frank-N-Furter and Meat Loaf making an appearance. What was it like to work with the cast when you were making the film?

Barry Bostwick: Well, we didn't get to know them very well, because we made this movie in five weeks. Susan and I got off the plane for London, and we went immediately into rehearsals, pre-record all the music, fitting for our six-inch-high heels, and some rehearsal for the dance numbers. Consequently, it's been years after we made the movies that we really got to know everybody. Because it was a tough shoot, and they were long hours. And I must say that Tim Curry was the one that probably embraced us the most, but everybody else, it was like their first movie, too, so everybody was very nervous. I mean, they wanted to do right, you know? They wanted to learn how you make a movie from something that was so outlandish and over the top when it was on the stage.

Jim Sharman, who directed it brilliantly, he got everybody in on the same page in terms of the style of the movie, which was really difficult, because you had to take the character seriously, but you still had to have that edge of campiness, without going over the top and commenting on what is already a comment. And Jim Sharman was brilliant at that. He was able to tone some of us down and pull some of us up so that we were all making the same movie. It's taken me years of watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show where I can appreciate anybody else's performance than mine. That's what happens when you look at a movie, you're going, "Oh, I did I really do that?" And then all of a sudden I thought, “Geez, Patricia Quinn is really good.” She's there every second with every nuance of look and gesture and the same thing with little Nell [Campbell], and Tim was just a dynamo from the get go, and you couldn't take your eyes off of him. But I certainly tried to take my eyes off of Susan, but that was hard to do. You look at Susan, and she was just gorgeous and such a fine actress, playing a sexy character who's trying not to be sexy, and that was very difficult, because she is sexy.

Jill Riley: Well, this tour that you've been on, it all culminates on Halloween night, when you, and you mentioned Patricia Quinn, who played Magenta, and also Nell Campbell, who played Columbia, will all join together in Minneapolis on Friday night at the Orpheum Theatre. I mean, Halloween night, it's Rocky Horror. It's so cool that Minneapolis is going to be the spot for that for Halloween night.

Barry Bostwick: Yeah. It's a perfect place for us to be on the 31st, and we're looking forward to being there. And the three of us don't do a lot of shows together ever, so it's a good time for us to get together and have some fun on the stage and involve the audience in this nutsiness, this weirdness that is called The Rocky Horror Picture Show. 

Jill Riley: Yeah, actor Barry Bostwick is on the line, who played Brad Majors in the film. The Rocky Horror Picture Show - 50th Anniversary Spectacular Tour, Friday night at the Orpheum Theatre on Halloween. Barry, I want to say thank you so much for talking with us on The Current's Morning Show, for sharing some memories and talking about the legacy of the film. You take care and we'll see you on Friday night.

Barry Bostwick: You too. Thank you.

Jill Riley: You're listening to The Current.

Credits

Guests – Barry Bostwick
Host – Jill Riley
Producers – Nilufer Arsala
Digital Producer – Natalia Toledo

External Links

The Rocky Horror Picture Show 50th Anniversary Spectacular Show Tickets -https://hennepinarts.org/events/rocky-horror-picture-show-50th-anniversary-spectacular-tour