The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a classic of slasher horror. It was such a trailblazing film that theaters didn’t know how to handle it and the movie was literally banned in many places due to its extreme violence. Still, the movie was a massive hit, especially considering it’s incredibly low budget. Perhaps it was because the movie had basically no money that it turns out narrator John Larroquette was paid in marijuana.
It’s been something of an urban legend that John Larroquette, who would go on to star in the hit sitcom Night Court but would get his start in Hollywood by acting as narrator for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, got paid for his work by director Tobe Hooper in pot, not money. Speaking with Parade (via Yahoo) ahead of the Night Court reboot where he will reprise his original role as Dan Fielding, Larroquette confirms that the rumors are completely true. Upon finishing the recording, Hooper gave him some pot, and Larroquette wished his friend luck and left.
Apparently, John Larroquette met Tobe Hooper in New Orleans in 1969 and the two became friends. A few years later when Laroquette was in Los Angeles trying to get his acting career started, his old friend reached out and asked him to come help him with a movie he was working on. Larogquette says he was doing a favor for a friend, so it doesn’t sound like he was expecting to get paid at all. Hooper, however, apparently decided he didn’t want his friend going home completely empty handed.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was almost certainly a movie that ran on the smallest of conceivable budgets. It wasn’t the first “slasher movie” ever, that accolade is usually paid to the original Black Christmas, but the movie was still a very early part of a genre that studios weren’t sold on yet. The Texas Chainsaw cast was also made up of complete unknowns, many of whom would not go to careers like that of Larroquette. One assumes Larroquette’s narration was done near the end of production and so whatever money the film had was mostly gone.
While The Texas Chainsaw Massacre wasn’t the thing that made John Larroquette a star, the franchise became a hit which has seen numerous sequels over the years. And because Larroquette played the narrator in the first film, he has returned to play that role in other Texas Chainsaw entries since, despite the fact that the actor has apparently never seen his work in the franchise, as he’s not a horror fan. The good news there is that his subsequent appearances have resulted in him being paid in actual money.
