Report
written in German by Nicole Oebel @ my fanbase
http://www.myfanbase.de/serien/veranstaltungen/?pid=16376
Any feedback on the translation is welcome (be kind, English and German are not my native languages ;-))
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John
Barrowman had already proved his skills as an entertainer on Friday evening (so
had he during the commented screening of Starship Troopers on Thursday evening
and the concert on Saturday evening), which is why expectations for his joint
panel with Torchwood co-star Eve Myles were exceptionally high. They were
actually exceeded! John Barrowman and Eve Myles on stage together is the
perfect recipe for a true festival! They are like a well-oiled machine and like
their characters on Torchwood, they behave sometimes like brother and sister
and sometimes like an old married couple. They tease, they laugh, they
cuddle... or they suddenly launch into an interpretation of the stool dance
from the musical "Cabaret". The warmth and friendship between the two
actors and their fun factor hit the audience like a lightning bolt. There were
very few moments over the next hour when people were not in stitches. It
actually began when Eve came on stage and asked everyone in the packed room to
greet John with a standing ovation and loud cheers to exorcise the hangover out
of him. He took it very gracefully, however it must be said that he was already
looking better at that point.
Very
quickly, the discussion turned to Torchwood and the balance between actor and
character. John said the reason why the fans love Gwen and Jack so much is
because they each put a lot of themselves in their characters, while Eve
explained that she and John are amongst those actors who give everything they
have when shooting a dramatic scene, without worrying about how they might look
(which they might end up regretting later!). Such emotional scenes, Eve
explained, can become an actor's obsession and be at the front of their mind
for a long time. John added that these are hard times for their partners, as
they are difficult to be around after they've shot this kind of scenes.
A fan
mentioned season 4 and Jack Harkness' shift to a fully gay character. John
disagreed with her to some extent. He clarified that change is necessary for
any drama, otherwise it does get boring. However, for him, the change in Jack
in season 4 is due to him becoming mortal and thus wanting to explore other
things, like sex with strangers. But all in all, the character's essence and
soul remain the same: he misses Gwen and he misses Ianto. Regarding the
latter, they both spoke a bit about the character's death and the filming of
the scene, the heartbreak their characters were going through and how, as
actors, they felt the same sense of loss as they were parting from their
colleague with whom they had worked for so long. John added a nice detail: the
body bags in which Ianto and Jack lay in that scene are respectively numbered
11 and 13, both of which have to do with John's lucky numbers. His birthday is
on the 11th of March and his mother's is on the 13th of July.
When asked
what skills they acquired during the filming of Torchwood, they replied that
they learned how to shoot. Both are strongly opposed to firearms; however their
roles required they learned how to shoot with guns. John also learned how to
shoot a bow and arrow. When asked what kind of Torchwood-related project they
would like to be involved in, John spontaneously answered that he would like
the Torchwood novel "Exodus Code" - that he co-wrote with his sister
- to be brought to the screen. He added that he would like to be the director
as well. He was particularly enthusiastic about Jack's first scene in the book,
when he falls from a plane and thinks "Fuck, this is gonna hurt!" Eve
said she would very much like to explore Gwen's darker side and shoot an
episode where she would be Jack's nemesis. John also liked this idea,
especially since they had a similar scene in "Miracle Day", where
they turn against each other and Jack threatens to rip the skin from Gwen's
skull. He said it would be great to expand this storyline and explore this
further.
Eve and
John also agreed that it's just as difficult to be successful in show-business
as it is in any other profession. You can be successful if you put your heart into
it. John also gave a piece of wisdom: in show-business, being successful has
nothing to do with fame but with actually having work. He said there's no doubt
that he loves his popularity, but he would also have been very happy to perform
in any theater - where the paycheck would obviously have been lower, he added
jokingly. Then the discussion moved to an anecdote that occurred during one of
Eve's theater performances, which John attended. Eve had a small mishap, which
she managed to hide... until John, who was in the audience, started to laugh
out loud. His laughter is for her so distinctive and contagious that she
couldn't keep a straight face on stage and she in turn broke out in laughter.
"The
Walking Dead" is one of John's favorite series, and he would like to play
one of the survivors, with the option of becoming a zombie later on. Other than
that, his favorite comics are "Captain America" and "Iron
Man", and he answered for Eve that her favorite was
"Wonderwoman". Would John like to play the first gay Star Trek
Captain? At the drop of a hat! "Live long and prosper!" He couldn't
do the Vulcan gesture, his ring finger wouldn't cooperate.
John also
told the audience that he would like to do a concert tour in other countries.
The fact that it has not happened yet is not because of him or his management.
He explained that it's due to the fact that for example, in Germany, concert
promoters don't know him and this aspect of his career and thus don't foresee
any potential commercial success. An action from the fans would be needed, as
500 potential buyers would be enough to get the ball rolling. Eve suggested
that John could do a concert in one of his fans' garden.To conclude the panel, John broke into song and performed the beginning of "From a Distance" with his usual clear and warm voice that could have moved the audience to tears if Eve hadn't stepped in to mime the verses. Once again, the audience was in stitches. Emotion and little tears still came up at John's parting words, when he told the fans how much he and Eve appreciated them and how they changed both their lives and allowed them to live their dreams. After this fantastic panel came the closing ceremony, and it was heartwarming to hear so many of the actors say that they had been to conventions before, but it was here at FedCon that they had the most fun and the warmest welcome from the fans.
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