KEY POINTS:
Tommy Lee is not the loudmouth larrikin you might expect.
The famous rock drummer and infamous former husband of Pamela Anderson spent years in hellraising metal band Motley Crue, starred in two reality TV shows and became as well known for his cheeky personality as his music. Yet for someone who loves attention, Lee is surprisingly reserved in person.
"I think the terrible misconception about anybody in the public eye is that you only get little snippets," he said at his Auckland hotel yesterday. "A rock gig here, a talkshow there. For someone to think they know you and form an opinion about you is a little unfair."
Lee arrived in Auckland on Sunday with Lukas Rossi, his bandmate from the reality TV show Rockstar: Supernova for a two-day promo trip, ahead of Supernova's concert at the Vector Arena on March 24. He says he doesn't give Rossi advice.
"I prefer the word guidance," he says. "I can just pull the covers back on some potential things that can blow up. Life has speed bumps. Sometimes you've got to hit them and crash, you know, flatten a couple of tyres. But I'm not trying to avoid those things because that can be dangerous as well.
"I am a little protective of him, of course. I want him to succeed, I think he's a very talented guy. A lot of the reviewers can't get past the fact the band was put together on a TV show. I don't really care about that. For me, I look out and see our fans, the 7-year-old kids, 50-year-old housewives who watch TV. It's bizarre but I think it's awesome there is such a wide variety."
Lee says he doesn't watch TV.
"I watch movies but I listen to music pretty much 24/7. I wouldn't touch another reality show, as a matter of fact I'm sick of all that, I can't take it, I want nothing to do with it. But film work? I think it would be really fun to do a totally unexpected character. Something really bizarre, a gay guy or maybe a kid with Down syndrome."
But Lee's most famous on-screen role was his leaked sex tape with Anderson, something he says he has yet to come to terms with.
"That's just very bizarre. I get people coming up to me all the time: 'Hey man would you sign the video tape?' All the time. I'm like 'No'. It was never meant to be publicly bought or sold or shown, Jesus Christ, we were on our honeymoon for God sakes.
"I'm slightly perverted like everybody else but that's really weird. People are curious, inquisitive, it is what it is. It's out and it can't be taken back."
As for promoting his new band, Lee might be the bigger star but he is happy to take a back seat to Rossi.
"He's the singer. I've always wanted him out front."
