Craig McLachlan is such a charmer that at times an interview with him feels more like speed dating - even when he is dressed as a transvestite.
Launching the Perth season of the 40th anniversary Rocky Horror Show on Valentine's Day, McLachlan handed out roses and kisses on the cheek to journalists as he strutted around the stage in his high heels and fishnet stockings.
It has been 22 years since McLachlan first played the iconic Frank N Furter, but he is as comfortable now as ever in the clothes and role, shifting effortlessly between being the character and himself.
"Not looking bad for an old boy," the 48-year-old joked with reporters on Friday.
"Lots of hours in the gym, girls - that's how Mr Mac did it this time."
McLachlan said when he was filming the ABC series The Doctor Blake Mysteries before starting work on the show, he had consumed too much coffee and chocolate, gaining almost 22 kilograms.
"When I joke about the effort required to get back into the gear - it nearly killed me," he said.
"Thank God, they're asking me to do the 40th anniversary and not the 50th."
McLachlan said he was excited to be part of a "great rock and roll show" and perform songs like Sweet Transvestite.
"It's just a cracking song and a great theatrical entrance," he said.
Richard O'Brien's Rocky Horror Show is about a couple getting stuck in a storm and taking shelter at the home of a mad transvestite scientist who has created a muscular man named Rocky Horror.
It co-stars Christie Whelan Browne as Janet, Tim Maddren as Brad, Erika Heynatz as Magenta and Kristian Lavercombe as Riff Raff.
McLachlan said there was practically a Rocky Horror "nation" of people who felt like they did not fit in and enjoyed the show's message and at times shocking entertainment value.
"They celebrate the show," he said. "They celebrate being individual."
Of course, it would not be an interview with McLachlan without mentioning his '90s pop hit, Mona.
He said when The Rocky Horror Show was in Brisbane, there was a group of men from Vanuatu with ukuleles and a guitar playing Mona outside the theatre.
"They just delivered the most spectacular version of Mona in four-part harmony - brilliant," he smiled.
The Rocky Horror Show opens at Crown Theatre in Perth on Friday and will later travel to Adelaide and Melbourne.
