John Barrowman Talks Marriage, "Miracle Day" and Going Kilt Commando

When I walk onto the Los Angeles set of Torchwood: Miracle Day, John Barrowman is in full performance mode, but the cameras aren’t rolling. Everyone’s waiting for the next scene to be ready, so in the meantime, Barrowman is entertaining the crew and his fellow cast members with an elaborate anecdote that involved two perfectly-executed pratfalls and a dead-on impersonation of Carol Channing.

With that kind of showman’s instinct, it’s no surprise that Barrowman, 44, has become an international sensation for his starring role as Torchwood’s Captain Jack Harkness, a bisexual, immortal con man who spends his days chasing down aliens and other bizarre phenomena. But even when he’s not topping the bill on the hit BBC series, which has traveled Stateside for its new season, co-produced by the Starz network, the Scottish-born, Illinois-raised Barrowman keeps his fanbase busy with multiple projects in his adopted United Kingdom – he’s a TV presenter, musical theater star, and even the co-author of a series of young adult sci-fi novels.

When we spoke on set (in a conversation that was interrupted two or three times so he could shoot scenes for Miracle Day, which premieres July 8 on Starz), he shared his thoughts about the show, his career, his longtime relationship with Scott Gill, and even his mock rivalry with Neil Patrick Harris, with whom he battled over AfterElton.com’s Gay/Bisexual Man of the Decade poll. (Note: British TV uses the word “series” in the way that Americans use “season.”)

AfterElton.com: Bringing Torchwood to the U.S., does it feel like you’re starting over again?
John Barrowman: Ironically enough, it doesn’t, because it’s what I’ve known, it’s what we’ve known as a team for the past four series. What was interesting was that when we came here, a lot of people working on the crew thought we were a new show, and someone said, “Oh yeah, working on this show is tough because of blahblahblah,” and I said, “Dude, I’ve been working on this show – this is my fourth series.” And he went, “Really?”

But Torchwood is continually evolving; every series, we’ve done something different, so why not bring it to this side of the Atlantic, which I’m chuffed about and raring to go.

AE: You mention people thinking it’s a new show – with the move to Starz and the expansion to, presumably, a larger audience Stateside, is this series designed to accommodate first-time viewers?
JB: I’ll tell you the standard answer: This series, if you’ve been a loyal follower – which we appreciate you being – you’ll be able to pick up and know where we’ve left off, because there are some references to the back stuff in it and other things that have happened; we’ve got references to Ianto [Captain Jack’s lover, who died at the end of the third series, Torchwood: Children of Earth], we’ve got references to [Doctor Who], we’ve got references to The Hub.

But if you’re a new audience member who wants to see what Torchwood is all about and you want to come and join the Torchwood family, you will be able to pick up and things will be explained to you as we go along. It’s one of those series where you will not have to know what has come before. But what will be interesting is that once you’ve seen this one, you’re going to want to go back and watch [series] one, two, and three to see where it all evolved from. This is a stand-alone series, but also a continuation, and that’s what’s so brilliant about the writing, with [creator] Russell [T. Davies] and our team of writers this series, they’re able to capture that in both ways. It’s the best of both worlds, really.

AE: You guys are coming off of a really dark story…
JB: And we’re going into another really dark story. In Miracle Day, a massive event happens – everybody wakes up one morning and everyone’s immortal. And immediately you think that’s a fantastic thing, nobody can die, but actually it could also be a terrible thing: Think about the population problems, or if you’re ill – because if you’re decapitated in a car accident, you’re still alive, right? You’ll still feel pain. There’s medical issues, there’s drug issues, and what’s really interesting about this series and that event that happens is that it’s kind of mimicking what’s going on in the world today, but at a heightened scale.

The questions that are asked in Episode One will be answered in Episode Ten, so you’re not gonna be four series down the line and still not having an answer. But within that storyline, there’s all these other issues and questions that are raised that get answered also, and lead you in a different direction throughout the series. So yeah, it’s dark. One thing that I love about Torchwood, and that I love about Jack and Gwen and what we do with this – we go to the areas that other shows won’t go to, and we raise those issues and questions, and it shocks people a little bit. And that’s what we’re gonna do again.

Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto) and Barrowman in Torchwood: Children of Earth

AE: How are we finding Jack after all that’s happened?
JB: You find Jack somewhere on planet Earth, you’re not told where, and he’s in a little dark room on his computer, and he’s actually trying to keep the Torchwood name off the radar. Every time it pops up, he’s killing it, because his philosophy is that Torchwood and himself have caused a lot of pain and trouble, and that’s why he needs to wipe it out.

But he’s also protecting Gwen, who has been hidden away somewhere on planet Earth. But then this event happens, and Torchwood’s name starts coming up and Jack realizes that he can’t control it. This little snowball starts to get bigger and bigger, and he has to come out of hiding, and he has to protect Gwen, has to go to her rescue, and that’s how the team comes back together.

AE: And whatever happened to Alonso from the Titanic?
JB: Oh man, you know! [laughs] This is Russell’s answer on that one, because I would have loved to have had a nice scene with Russell Tovey, that would have been great. But Russell T. Davies says he couldn’t have gone to a network and said, “Here’s this character, Captain Jack Harkness, the hero of our show. He’s already got a boyfriend, he’s already got this, he’s already got that, blahblahblahblah. This is what you have to accept.”

He couldn’t really do that. And also Russell [Tovey]’s got his own career on Being Human; if he wants to bite me at any time, he can. And he knows that, because I text him every so often just to keep in touch with what’s going on. In fact, I hope to see him at Comic-Con this year, because I don’t get to see him as much in the UK as I would like to. I say that like he’s my best mate, but hopefully I’ll see him at Comic-Con.

Barrowman and Russell Tovey as Alonso