After 50 Years, Pennywise Legend Tim Curry Finally Names His Favorite Movie
After nearly 250 roles across five decades, Pennywise icon Tim Curry crowns one film as his favorite — and says he’d jump back into that franchise in a heartbeat.
Tim Curry has done just about everything over the last five decades, but when he looks back, the one that sticks for him has felt and fur. Honestly, not a bad pick.
The one he keeps coming back to
Curry, who has racked up close to 250 credits since the 1970s, says his favorite role in all that time is Long John Silver in 1996's Muppet Treasure Island. While talking to The Guardian about his new memoir, Vagabond, he lit up about the gig and made it clear he is not finished with that crew.
"I would love to work with the Muppets again."
Why that set was different (and delightful)
He loved the way the performers worked. According to Curry, once a puppeteer had a Muppet on their hand, they only addressed you as that character. No breaking. He was all in on that bit of process magic.
The joke that sailed too close to the sun
Curry, now 79, also tried to sneak in a spicy ad-lib. The idea was that Long John and Miss Piggy had a history, so he tossed off a line to Jim implying that once you have been with Piggy, there is no going back. Studio said: cute, but no. It was cut, to his disappointment.
Quick refresher: what Muppet Treasure Island actually is
- Release: 1996; a musical adventure comedy pairing the Muppets with live-action actors
- Source material: Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 classic, Treasure Island
- Story: young orphan Jim Hawkins finds a treasure map and goes hunting for pirate gold with Muppet pals Gonzo and Rizzo
- Curry’s role: Long John Silver, a charming, conniving pirate posing as the ship’s cook on the Hispaniola, plotting a takeover while forming a complicated mentor bond with Jim
Big career, felt favorite
Fans have long treated his turn as Long John as one of his best big-screen performances, which says a lot considering he is also the iconic Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the clown that haunted your sleep in Stephen King’s miniseries It. If the Muppets call, he is clearly ready to hoist the sails again.