For fans of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, this has been a banner year. The legendary film has played a big part in the 2025 movie schedule, as it turned 50 years old this year. Tim Curry has had a lot to say about the cult film. Recently, the Rocky Horror cast member released a memoir titled Vagabond, and in it, he tells a hilarious story about getting asked to leave one of the famous midnight screenings of Rocky Horror. Here’s how it went down.
Curry Wanted To See What The Fuss Was About
Rocky Horror, which you can watch with a Disney+ subscription, was a minor hit when it was released. But of course, it’s gone on to be perhaps the most enduring movie theater experience of all time. For decades, the movie has been legendary for its many midnight screenings that include a ton of audience partici…pation and shadow casts acting out the film from the front row of the hundreds of theaters where it has played over the years.
As Curry writes in his book, via People, the buzz was already spreading across New York City, and he found a theater near his apartment in the city that was doing a screening. As Curry writes:
I was curious, however hesitant, about this new incarnation. I'd called a day ahead of time, to let them know that I was a member of the cast and to ask if they would be so kind as to reserve a few tickets for my friends and me.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the person at the theater simply didn’t believe Curry when he told them who he was, and she dismissed him as the “third Tim Curry to call today.” The movie was becoming a cult juggernaut, and it seems all sorts of unscrupulous people were attempting to use the star’s name to gain entry into the sold-out shows.
Undeterred, Curry and his friends came up with some tickets and headed to the musical horror classic, trying to keep a low profile and taking in the spectacle from the back of the theater. Of course, he wasn’t going to be able to hide for long in a theater filled with Rocky Horror superfans, and as word spread through the theater, fans began greeting Curry, and he politely greeted them back.
One person, however, wasn’t having it. A woman from the ticket booth, presumably the same woman who had told Curry off on the phone earlier, approached Curry and let him have it. As Curry puts it, she called him “an imposter,” and told him to leave, adding:
‘You're a nightmare! And you are not Tim Curry at all — you don't even look like him!'
According to Curry, he stood up and handed the angry ticket taker his passport, proving his identity. She was instantly embarrassed, obviously, and backed off... but Curry did not. He didn’t want to be anywhere he wasn’t welcome for just being who he was, a wonderful analogy for the crowd at Rocky Horror. The woman apologized and told him to enjoy the show, but Curry simply replied:
I took my passport back and gestured to my friends. 'I wouldn't dream of it!' I said, and promptly strode out of the cinema.
Rocky Horror is famous for its inclusiveness, and Curry shares the sentiment, both his words and his actions.
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