Laverne Cox responds to criticism of her Rocky Horror role

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star Laverne Cox has spoken out about early criticism towards her portrayal as Dr Frank-N-Furter in the upcoming remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

The role of Dr Frank-N-Furter is traditionally played by a cross-dressing man, but has been revamped for the Fox TV special – news which is not being well received by some fans of the original show.

The teaser trailer for the special has so far racked up over 5,000 likes on YouTube, but has been surpassed by the 8,000 dislikes.

Laverne told ET Online at last night’s (May 22) Billboard Music Awards: “People can be very… challenging and critical, but I put everything I had into this. I gave 250 percent, and I hope people like what we came up with.

“Rocky Horror is sacred to people. It’s the longest-running movie in theater history, in movie history. For 41 years, people have been going to midnight showings and dressing up, with shadow casts all over the world. It means so much to so many people.”

She did, however, also comment that she has also received praise from original Rocky Horror fans, adding: “Hardcore Rocky fans seem to be on board with it.”

Watch the teaser trailer below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=outmDIi29Bo

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