Actor John Larroquette reveals he was compensated for his first film role, the narrator of classic slasher The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, in marijuana.
John Larroquette, the star of Night Court and The Librarians, was paid in weed for one of his first film roles, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
During an interview with Parade, Larroquette was asked about a longstanding rumor that he narrated the prologue of the 1974 slasher film in exchange for some marijuana from the movie’s director Tobe Hooper. As it turns out, Larroquette confirmed the rumor is totally true. “He gave me some marijuana or a matchbox or whatever you called it in those days,” he said. “I walked out of the [recording] studio and patted him on the back side and said, ‘Good luck to you!'”
How Did John Larroquette End Up Narrating a Classic Slasher Film?
According to the Emmy Award-winning actor, he first met Hooper in Colorado in 1969, when Larroquette was bartending and Hooper was in town for a shoot. The two became friends, and four years later, Larroquette moved to Los Angeles to start acting. “Tobe heard I was in town and asked for an hour of my time to narrate something for this movie he just did. I said ‘Fine!’ It was a favor,” he said. That movie was a low-budget slasher produced for less than $140,000 called The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which jump started a franchise and became an influential part of the horror genre.
The original 1974 movie was loosely based on the real serial killer Ed Gein, but the film is otherwise entirely fictional. The story follows a group of teenagers who stop at a small house in Texas after their van runs out of gas, only to be killed off one-by-one by a Leatherface, a chainsaw-wielding killer with a mask made of skin. The film received mixed reviews when it came out due to its extreme violence, and it was banned in several countries across Europe and South America.
Despite an initially cold reception, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series now includes nine films as well as comics and video games. Hooper directed the first two films and produced a prequel movie in 2006, and after he passed away in 2017, a Texas restaurant set in the house from the original film was renamed Hooper’s in his honor. However, Larroquette has remained involved in the franchise in a minor way. While he never appears in person, he’s provided narration for four movies, including the most recent entry, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, in Feb. 2022.
Larroquette will also be returning for the reboot of his 1980s sitcom Night Court, reprising his role at prosecutor Dan Fielding. The new Night Court premieres on Jan. 17.
Source: Parade
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