“I JUST WANTED TO GET IN THE ROOM”

This month, you’re starring in the TV remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. What drew you to the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the “sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania,” which Tim Curry memorably played in the original? I became obsessed with Rocky Horror when I was in college. I connected deeply to the message of the film; the song “Don’t Dream It, Be It” became a personal mantra. And Tim Curry’s iconic performance just transformed me. At the time, I was gender-nonconforming: I had a shaved head, and I wore false eyelashes and makeup, but I didn’t identify as female yet. So this movie and its gender fluidity were everything to me.

There’s a lot of singing in this role. How did you prepare for it? I really started working on my [lower-range] chest voice again. For a long time, after I