Laverne Cox is living her dream in 'Rocky Horror Picture Show'

The cast of Fox’s new adaptation of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is shivering with anticipation over the musical’s premiere on Oct. 20. EW recently had the opportunity to sit down with several of the show’s stars as they opened up about their fellow cast members as well as the cultural significance of the musical.

“The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a very important piece of musical theater history,” says Annaleigh Ashford, who plays Columbia in the TV musical. “So I think [we] were so excited to be a part of celebrating the history and the heritage of the American culture classic that is The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

Nickelodeon alum Victoria Justice, who will be playing Janet, credits the casting of Laverne Cox as Dr. Frank-N-Furter to being what makes the remake of the musical so culturally relevant.

“It was the right time to do something like this because of where we are in our society today, and having a black, transgender woman playing the lead role, I think, is such a sign of the times and is so cool. She’s incredible,” Justice explains.

“This was a dream come true for me,” Cox admits. “I grew up dancing and singing and wanting to sort of do musical theater. When I moved to New York, I was a dance major at Marymount Manhattan College and I wanted to act and I wanted to sing and I wanted to do musical theater and it didn’t work out. I was transgender and there was nothing for me. So I kind of just let that dream go. It’s rare that black actresses get to play parts like Dr. Frank-N-Furter on film, and that’s not lost on me.”

Listen to all of the cast’s commentary above. The Rocky Horror Picture Show premieres Oct. 20 on Fox.

— Additional reporting by Robyn Ross