Sexy, talented and charming make for a lethal combination in a man, and John Barrowman has all of those qualities in abundance. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Barrowman was raised in the United States only return to British soil to pursue a career in musical theatre. Now he has found himself at the center of a fan-driven whirlwind on the runaway cult hit BBC series Doctor Who and its spin-off, Torchwood. On both series Barrowman plays Captain Jack Harkness, an openly bisexual (or omni-sexual if you prefer) space and time traveler out to save the day … and hopefully get lucky on the side.

In real life Barrowman is an out gay actor who recently married his long-time partner, British architect Scott Gill. Barrowman continues to set industry standards at new levels playing not only leading men (something which out gay actors in the States seldom have the opportunity to do), but also enjoying tender same-sex on-screen relationships with some of his very attractive male co-stars.

With Torchwood entering its second season in the UK and its first season coming this month to the States via the BBC America channel, Barrowman sat down with AfterElton.com to discuss what it means to be an out gay actor and made us blush more than once with his famously raunchy sense of humor.

Warning: This article contains some mild spoilers for the first season of Torchwood.

AfterElton.com: The “Captain Jack Harkness” episode of the first season of Torchwood was a great, unapologetically gay episode with men expressing love for one another. As an out gay man who is married to his partner, how was that episode to film?
John Barrowman: It was good. It was emotional. The whole fact that the guy he loves is going to go off and die and Jack takes his name made it emotional. Also, the period it was set in, because a lot of the older people have said they didn't do that [engage in homosexuality] in their day. No, actually they did, they just didn't talk about it. That's like saying, “We didn't have suicide in our day.” My response is to tell them to shut up because they did, but they just didn't talk about it. It was touching on material that was there and not being dealt with at the time and it was a romantic episode and I think it worked beautifully.

AE: On the Torchwood panel you said it would be interesting to see how an American audience responds to the sexuality of the characters in comparison to how the British audience responded. Can you expand on that?
JB: American audiences are a little uptight. Sorry, actually I take that back. A lot of the time I think it's the network executives and the people who chose the programming. One thing I think American networks don't give the viewing audience is the benefit of the doubt. They think an audience can't handle something, and you know what, they actually can. I think they're ready to handle it, and if it's taking BBC America to make that choice for audiences, then hopefully the other networks will pick up on it and follow.

AE: One of the biggest “mainstream” gay TV programs out there was Queer as Folk, but that was sexually explicit and was on Showtime late at night. So something like Torchwood being a little more primetime is nice to see.
JB: Well, to be honest, QAF should've been on late at night. In the UK after nine o'clock when most children should be in bed, that's when they start showing more adult-themed programming. That's what they should do over here. The thing with all of these groups that come on and protest saying programs shouldn't be on because of this, that, and the other; they can just turn their f**king televisions off.

AE: There's a Captain Jack figure for Doctor Who, so would you like to see Torchwood toys?
JB: We can't have Torchwood toys because we can't market to children, because it's an adult show. [Laughs] We could do Torchwood [lists assorted sex toys].

AE: Well, you could do figures for the adult collector's market like we have here in the States.
JB: I have suggested that for BBC Worldwide, but we'll have to see.

AE: Are we going to see more of Captain Jack's past in series two of Torchwood?
JB: Yes, you will. You will definitely. Without telling you what, there are things revealed in series three of Doctor Who that will be reiterated in the second series of Torchwood.

AE: Freema Agyemen is joining the Torchwood cast this season?
JB: Yes, Freema will be. She's coming to us from Doctor Who.

AE: You have said before that Captain Jack to a certain extent was a lot like you, so how much input do you have into the character?
JB: Not a lot of input. I can ask them things of where I'd like to see it go and put in requests, but I trust Chris Chibnall and Russell T. Davies because they know me, and they know how I play and interpret things. Chris and Russell write perfectly for me because it's something that I have no problem interpreting for them. They get my humor, and I feel if I get too involved in saying what I want it becomes less of a challenge to play it. The great thing when you get a script is figuring out how to make things work. If I always put in my input before, it would just be too much of an easy thing to do.

AE: So on Torchwood in the second season, does Captain Jack get to be a little bit more fun … a bit more of the “star-whore” he is on Doctor Who?
JB: Star whore? [Laughs]

AE: Sorry, that's what I nicknamed your character … don't hold it against me.
JB: I won't, don't worry.