Almost three years ago The CW favorite Greg Berlanti was tapped to direct a big screen reboot of Little Shop of Horrors for Warner Bros. Pictures. Though filming on the project has been delayed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the cast is still eager to get in front of the cameras, or in the case of Emmy and Tony Award-winning Pose star Billy Porter, lend his voice to its villain. Porter previously signed on to voice the ever hungry Audrey II in the film, and in a new interview has opened up about his love for Little Shop of Horrors as a whole and what he’ll be bringing to the man-eating plant.
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“This was one of the musicals that is from my generation, from the 80s, so I’ve known it, the songs have been my audition songs for years,” Porter told Collider. “And I was also in the out-of-town revival tryout before it went to Broadway back in 2002, and I got let go from that so I’ve already played the voice of the plant. And I just approached it from the standpoint of what it truly is; it’s kind of like the Faustian story. It’s kind of like the devil story. Like, ‘Sell your soul to me and I’ll give you everything you want.’ He’s a villain! And I don’t get to play villains very often, so get ready because he’s gonna be everything. All of the things! I’m gonna use all of the different ranges of the voice!”
It was previously reported that Kingsman and Rocketman star Taron Egerton is in talks to appear in the film as Seymour Krelborn (previously played by Rick Moranis in the 1986 feature adaptation of the musical) with Black Widow and Jojo Rabbit star Scarlett Johansson up for the part of Audrey, Seymour’s love interest and the namesake for the musical’s carnivorous plant. This pair and porter will join Chris Evans, who will make a heel turn in the film and play the abusive Orin Scrivello, aka “The Dentist” (the character was originally played by Steve Martin in the 1986 feature film).
Little Shop of Horrors has a very unique history on the big screen and elsewhere. The film first began as a movie (sans musical numbers) in 1960 from legendary filmmaker Roger Corman. Up until the musical it was only notable for being one of Jack Nicholson’s early movies. In 1982 the stage musical opened Off-Broadway to critical acclaim and was adapted in 1986 for the big screen with Frank Oz directing. Since then it has been revisited on the stage in many forms and even became the basis for short-lived animated series in the early 1990s.
