John Barrowman Rocks the TCA House

The highlight of the first week of the Television Critics Association (TCA) was -- not surprisingly -- getting to meet and talk with John Barrowman. Turns out he's every bit as handsome, dashing, and ribald (to say the least!) as his Torchwood character Captain Jack. Check out this exchange at the BBC America presentation at the TCA:

John Barrowman (in response to a question about a previous answer): You're not going to let it go, are you?

AUDIENCE MEMBER: I'm letting you dig yourself out of the hole --

JB: No. I quite like being in holes. (Laughter.)

JULIE GARDNER: Oh, my God.

JB: There's a little bit of Captain Jack in me.

And that's hardly the most risque comment made by John.

The rest of what follows is from the Torchwood panel, questions asked by myself and other journalists afterward, and then, when I had John to myself for a few minutes of conversation. Alas, this is a PG-13 blog so I can't print all of what John had to say, but enjoy!

ON OUT ACTORS

Don't make a big issue out of it. If somebody does come out and it's really no big deal, and the fact is that I do think America is more uptight in that aspect than Europe and the U.K. For instance, my partner and I have been together for sixteen years and in the U.K. we are recognized as a couple and a partnership and we have equal rights as married couples do. It's difficult for me to comment on because I'm a gay man, I'm proud to be gay and I have no issue with it. And I don't have time for people who do.

ON OUT ACTORS AS ROMANTIC LEADS

Hopefully I'm starting something because I know, and I could name a few, but I'm not going to, but there are quite a few romantic male leads ... But it's not my responsibility to out people. Because people might not want to come out. I hope they don't not to come out because they are discovering things about themselves they need to resolve before they do it, but if it's solely because you're afraid you're going to lose your job or the public aren't going to like you, well, my reaction to that is f*** you, and you're not helping at all.

ON WHETHER HE ENCOUNTERED HOMOPHOBIA AFTER COMING OUT

No. Not at all. The only thing I ever got is that I was I too straight to play the role of Will in Will & Grace. The producers told my agent I was too straight.

ON THE SECOND SEASON OF TORCHWOOD

One thing I can tell you is that James Marsters who was Spike on Buffy is on one of the episodes of Torchwood and the scene where we meet, all I'll say in blunt terms -- in John Barrowman and Captain Jack terms -- for all of the sci fi fans out there, it's going to be a scene of extreme excitement you're going to have to go and finish yourselves off afterward because it's so wonderful and horny and sexy and wild.

I've only had two days with him so far and those two days were that scene which took twelve hours and we were just on set. But I go back on Monday and he's an absolute dream to work with.

ON WHETHER OR NOT AMERICANS WILL RELATE TO TORCHWOOD

I really don't know. I hope it relates because to be honest with you I think the American public is smarter than the censors who try to cut things out for them. I think they're smarter than the politicians who put them in office. I wish they'd show that in their voting next time. I hope they like it because Torchwood mimics real life. People might get up and say about how the sexuality thing -- everybody does it in their bedroom. I don't care if you're a man or a woman, we all do exactly the same thing, but just to different people.

ON WHETHER PLAYING THE OMNISEXUAL CHARACTER OF CAPTAIN JACK IS ESPECIALLY GRATIFYING TO HIM AS AN OUT ACTOR

It is gratifying, but I'll explain something to you. I was doing another kind of signing thing at a press conference where I was signing autographs and a little boy came up to me with his father. The father said do you want Captain Jack's autograph? The little boy [said] "Oh, yes, Daddy. I don't care if he likes boys or girls, he's my hero."

That for me, whether its because of what I'm doing or because of what the show is doing, that for me -- and I said to the dad, "Either you're an amazing father or you have a very special young boy there." Because he didn't care. It's we adults who have hang-ups. Kids don't. The other thing I think we have to stop doing and I would love if this message gets across ... one of my big things when I do interviews in the U.K. because they do still do it, they call me gay actor John Barrowman, but if you're interviewing Brad Pitt -- I'm just using his name as an example -- you wouldn't say "heterosexual actor Brad Pitt". So let's drop the label. It doesn't matter and audiences in the U.K. and Europe are proving that.

ON HIS UPCOMING BIOGRAPHY WRITTEN BY HIS SISTER

We're collaborating. I'm dictating into an iPod, and she takes it away and puts it onto the page ... I just talk into the dictaphone. She does all the work. She's penning it, basically. But they actually wanted me to say I was writing it, but I wouldn't have anything to do with that. I said, it's about me, but it will be -- my sister will get the credit as the author on the book. ... I'm from a very kind of close, tight-knit family, and my sister knows everything about me, as do my family, so I have no problem telling her all this stuff and sitting, listening to it. There's a couple of times she goes, "Eww, I don't want to know," but I think she's slightly got ... got over that. I think it will be an interesting read. It's not going to be written in your classic style of, "On the day of March 11th, 1967, I was pressed out of the womb," nothing like that.

Torchwood will debut on BBC America in September and we'll have more with John then! (And I'll have a little bit more in Friday's BEST.GAY.WEEK.EVER! To read even more about John right now, check out my friend Maureen Ryan's interview with him over at the Chicago Tribune.)