What made The Rocky Horror Show so epic? Original Star Barry Bostwick AKA Brad Says It Was All Tim Curry (Exclusive)

“Nobody can match the genius of Tim Curry,” says actor Brad Majors in the 1975 cult classic.

Let’s do the time warp again!

Several decades have passed since its release in 1975 Rocky Horror Movie, and the film’s original actor Barry Bostwick looks back on his experience as it nears its end special 49th anniversary tourwhich has its final stops in Baltimore and Brooklyn, New York

His co-stars Patricia Quinn and Nell Campbell also went on respective tours.

In the film Bostwick and Susan Sarandon play a young couple who visit a mysterious castle after their car breaks down, where they meet the disguised mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter, played by Tim Curryas well as his female fans and his latest experiment.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Bostwick, now 79, talks about working with Curry, filming the dramatic transformation of his character Brad Majors, and the film’s lasting legacy.

When asked what makes the film timeless after nearly five decades, the actor gives Curry a lot of credit, saying that “his performance is the foundation of the film.”

“No one can match the genius of Tim Curry,” he says. “I think that’s one of the reasons why people flock to the theaters.”

Although he was impressed by his co-star, Bostwick was no stranger to the scene when he was cast in the provocative film. In fact, he already won a Tony Award for playing Danny Zuko in the Broadway production Oiltherefore, he felt the film was in his “wheelhouse”, given that it was based on a stage musical.

However, there was still a scene he was “not as comfortable” with as his colleagues.

Towards the end of the film, Bostwick has to dance in high heels after his character’s transformation in the musical number “Rose Tint My World”.

He remembers the scene being quite difficult, but notes that the musical’s creator Richard O’Brien, who adapted the screenplay with director Jim Sharman and played Riff-Raff, gave him “a lot of lessons on how to walk in six-inch shoes stilettos and dance on them.”

Bostwick says the scene’s setting posed another challenge, as it takes place on the stage floor as well as in a swimming pool.

“The hardest part was that we were dancing on a wet stage in high heels and I don’t think they put rubber on the bottom (of our shoes),” he explains. “So we didn’t dance, we just slid and slid.”

Bostwick continues, “I think at one point someone said I stepped on Susan’s (Sarandon) toes, and she had this grimace on her face. I can imagine it happened because we just got out of the pool that we hadn’t warmed up and then we had to get up and do this dance number.”

He adds, “But thank God the music was hot.”

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The actor remembers the experience fondly and says the entire team was motivated by adrenaline during the fast-paced “five weeks or so” of the film’s production.

Through it all, Bostwick found a companionship with Curry, 78, who first played his legendary character on stage in London before bringing the show to Los Angeles and then reprized the role in the short-lived original turn on Broadway.

The actor saw Curry during his run at the Roxy Theater in Los Angeles before they became stars, saying he was “enthralled by the show because it was so hip and different” and “Tim Curry was just incredible.”

Bostwick continues, “Tim Curry’s magic on stage was indelible. I’m serious. I just wanted to be a part of his world as much as I could because he was so unique.”

Of their time together on the set of the classic film, he says, “I would just sit and watch him in rehearsals and on set. I wish I had his talent and understanding of how to play and just be someone else. because (Dr. Frank-N-Furter) is not really Tim Curry.”

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Bostwick adds, “His acting skills were first and foremost. If you’ve seen his career since then, he’s played so many different characters brilliantly. I was just there for Tim.”

He notes that they had a “pretty close friendship” on set and says another actor “embraced the Americans a lot faster than the rest of the cast.”

“I think he was the only one of the group who probably didn’t think I was really Brad Majors deep down,” says the actor, referring to his more conservative nature.

As part of the anniversary tour, Bostwick is participating in screenings of the original, unedited film with live actors and audience participation.

The theatrical format traditionally involves audiences dressing up to attend evening screenings of a film, where “actors” mime and lip-sync to the film playing behind them. There are also many rehearsed challenges and moments of participation with props.

“I love going to all these cities and meeting the people who cast the shadow because they put their heart and soul into it,” says Bostwick. “Some of them are about 20-30 years old. Some of them just formed a year or two ago and need support not only from us who are in the original film, but (from) their communities. They have a quest and they want to save this movie.”

The actor remains surprised by the number of young people he sees at his tour stops. “We now have a third generation of fans and they are just as passionate as their grandparents,” he says. “The point of the new generation is to reject everything that has happened socially, politically or in any other way, but this film continues to attract people.”

Bostwick continues, “I can’t even tell it’s a movie anymore. It’s a movement. It is a movement that gathers followers. We are like a church Rocky Horror – the church of liberation. The whole ‘Don’t dream it, be it’ syndrome, and it’s becoming more and more important.”

At this point, he believes that the original film still has something to offer the audience and that it does not need to be copied. He notes the failures of past attempts — in particular Fox 2016 remake.

“It was always just raucous and scandalous and naughty,” the actor says of the film’s legacy. “And the one time they tried to remake it on Fox, they cleaned it up too much. They tried to make it too high. It’s a dark, dangerous little film, as well as being funny and a throwback to ’60s sci-fi and sex escapades – not something to aspire to.”

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Bostwick especially thinks of the film’s closing line: “And crawling across the surface of the planet, some insects called the human race, lost in time and space and meaning.”

“This is a very important line,” he notes. “When it was first made, Fox wanted to cut that ending. I think they found it too boring, too controversial and not as much fun. They went back to Time Warp and all that, and then all of a sudden, “Oh, wait, this movie is actually about something other than just having a good time and throwing around rice and toilet paper.” “

For him, this line conveys the overall message of the film. “It’s a warning,” he says. “Susan (Sarandon) and I sing ‘There’s a light over at the Frankenstein place,’ and I think that light has become very important over the years.”

“It showed a space for people to explore who they really are, so that we can embrace all of our differences. I think the light gave the audience alternative ways of seeing the world and things that weren’t really shown on film. So if it’s controversial, it’s that we’ve presented the world with another way of potentially existing in the world.”

Tickets for Rocky horror movie Spectacular tour for the 49th anniversary now on sale.