Eve Myles: Torchwood
Tags: Dr.Who, Eve Myles, Torchwood, Doctor Who
Gwen Cooper traded her ho-hum career as a policewoman to work as a professional alien catcher at Torchwood, an organization which legend has it is "separate from the government, outside the police, and beyond the United Nations." Eve Myles, the Welsh actress who plays Gwen, in turn, has traded her life in very legitimate theater for one in the warped and sexy science fiction universe.
Torchwood is the adult-orientated spin-off from Doctor Who, the world's longest running sci-fi TV series. Created by Doctor Who writer/producer/guru Russell T. Davies, Torchwood debuted in the UK in 2006. Picked up by BBC America in 2007, it has since become one of the station's hottest properties to date.
In part that is due to the on-screen chemistry between Eve's character and that of her charismatic boss Captain Jack Harkness (played by John Barrowman). When the two aren't doing battle to save the planet, they're battling to resist their mutual compulsion to get it on.
At the end of season two Jack and Eve lost two of their colleagues. Season three picks up where two left off, and takes the form of an epic five-part mini series called, Children of Earth.
We called Eve up while she was on a promotional trip in New York to get the inside scoop on Torchwood's other worldly success.
Nicole Powers: Congratulations! I understand Torchwood is one of BBC America's most successful shows.
Eve Myles: Yeah, I'm shocked. It's always lovely to be received so positively over here. We're over the moon with the response.
NP:
You have a proper thespian background. You went to drama school and did Shakespeare at the National Theater starring opposite Michael Gambon. Acting doesn't get more legitimate than that. So how does such training help you chase aliens?
EM:
[laughs] I think there's more aliens working in theater than there are in Torchwood!
It just kind of teaches you a craft. It really prepares you. If you can get on stage in front of thirteen hundred people every night, you can do anything in life really, you can do anything you like. It's my first love and it's been a tremendous help to me in all areas, having a theatrical background.
It just kind of teaches you a craft. It really prepares you. If you can get on stage in front of thirteen hundred people every night, you can do anything in life really, you can do anything you like. It's my first love and it's been a tremendous help to me in all areas, having a theatrical background.
NP:
Some might say you're over qualified for the job, but I always think sci-fi works best when it's anchored by the gravitas of true thesps. For example Patrick Stewart, in my opinion, made the best Star Trek captain. He had an air of authority that an actor can only get when you know you're a master of your craft. As a viewer, you feel comfortable in his hands. Would you agree with that?
EM:
I think that's a very astute observation. That's incredible. I think that whatever job you take, you have to do it with one hundred per cent commitment. Whether it be sci-fi, whether it be Shakespeare, you try and do it to the best of your ability...I'm kind of blessed that I've got that background, and I think that everyday it helps me in my job. So personally, I think I couldn't do it without it really.
NP:
You got your break in Torchwood after playing a smaller role in the sister show Doctor Who in an episode called "The Unquiet Dead". How did that come about?
EM:
Well I was actually booked on a different job actually, a theater job, and I just got a phone call to go in for the audition. On the sly, I knew the director, Euros Lyn. I hadn't met [writer/producer] Russell T. Davies then. But I went through the normal process of auditioning for the part, got the part, and that was kind of my biggest audition for Torchwood, so I was very happy.
NP:
And Russell was so impressed with your work on Doctor Who that he actually wrote the part of Gwen in Torchwood for you. And you're one of the reasons that the series is set in Wales -- that's very flattering!
EM:
To say the least, yes. I get asked the question all the time, and I've never got an answer. It's beyond flattering. It's my own personal Oscar, that Davies wrote the part for me, and it's been incredibly successful.
NP:
The character you play is a bit of a strumpet. She's married, has had a relationship with a co-worker, and lusts after her pan-sexual boss. Do you think she needs to go on a 'sexual practices in the work place' course?
EM:
[laughs] Oh god, wouldn't it be boring if she did. I might ask Russell if I can do that in the next series -- that'd be quite funny. No, I think that the one affair in the first series was of a younger [Gewn]. As we say in Britain, she didn't know her arse from her elbow. She really didn't know what was coming at her and she wasn't allowed to share that experience with anyone, and she shared it with Owen. And I think if you were ever to meet a character like Captain Jack, I think the most monogamous woman in the world would probably go for him -- it'd be hard not to. And so, I try to play it as real as possible. Straight, gay, animal, whatever you may be, everybody tends to fancy Jack, so it's pretty fun to have that to play off.
NP:
I have to say at times I do feel sorry for your on screen hubby. I mean he's such a brick, but he's never going to be Jack is he?
EM:
He's not, and I think it's so fantastic to have those two characters because he highlights how extraordinary Jack is, and Jack highlights how ordinary Rhys is. She's very lucky to have both of them in her life. Certainly she wouldn't be the strong character that she is if she didn't have her ordinary life, which is Rhys.
NP:
Ultimately the audience want you and Jack to get together. The tension between the two characters is one of the key dynamics of the show. How do we see their relationship progress in the new season?
EM:
Well the new season is one epic story [told] over five nights. It's very clever, and there's more important things to be dealing with. "Children of Earth" is the title, and we have to protect what's rightfully ours, with devastating consequences. But in and amongst that there are definitely certain little moments knitted within that kind of play off of the horrendousness that happens in the story line. There's certain situations with Jack and Gwen, where it's always going to be there, it's always going to be will-they-won't-they? I think personally, if they ever did get them together it would kind of spoil it.
NP:
I agree. It's like Moonlighting.
EM:
Yeah! Yes.
NP:
The moment Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd actually got together it spoilt it.
EM:
Yes. I think the chase is more interesting than the actual catch.
NP:
Absolutely, it's the same in life too.
EM:
[laughs] Tell me about it. It's always proves rather disappointing after the catch.
NP:
I guess the same goes with aliens. It's hunting them down that's more interesting than the catch. Once you get 'em you just shove 'em in one of your cells.
EM:
We shove them in the old basement, and you just realize it's a guy in a mask.
NP:
It's very unusual for a sci-fi show to be so focused on relationships -- and so sexually charged. In a way you've created a new hybrid genre. Do you see that?
EM:
I think you've absolutely nailed it. I think one of the reasons it's so successful is that they've married a domestic drama with sci-fi, and the marriage is working really, really well. I think it's the first time that you actually get true-to-life characters. You get relationships, you get rows, you get love, you get lust, and you get ordinary situations in there as well. That highlights the extraordinary-ness of the monster, of the alien, or whatever the "other" is, and they balance each other out beautifully I think.
NP:
It makes it more real with it being less emotionally sterile.
EM:
It does, because you start caring about the characters...Everybody knows somebody like a Gwen, or a Rhys, or a Ianto. You try to make them as real as possible...because this sci-fi isn't about numbers and figures...
NP:
...And computers
EM:
Yeah, and kind of the other. It's also about relationships, and love, and hate, and commitments, and people sitting down and having dinner and talking about catching aliens all day. It's bizarre, but it works.
NP:
Even though it's not about the technology, you do have some killer gadgets. Out of all the stolen and found bits of alien technology, what would you like to take home and use?
EM:
Oh, god!
NP:
What'd be useful around the house?
EM:
[laughs] Ooh, that's a really good question. I'm not sure. Do you want the honest truth?
NP:
Yes.
EM:
I wouldn't be able to take any of it home because I can just about work a microwave. To my own detriment, and I mean this with all my heart, I'm completely a technophobe. I don't like mobile phones, I can just about get on the internet, I can just about work the keys to my door. I'm pretty ridiculous with most things. If I was in charge of anything, or hanging around Torchwood, I'd be in deep trouble.
NP:
You sound like my granny. We bought her a microwave and she used it as a cupboard.
EM:
[laughs] That is brilliant. I might just do that...start stashing my books in there.
NP:
And my sister uses her dishwasher to store her vases in.
EM:
You're joking me.
NP:
No.
EM:
I really like your family. I should move in and get adopted. I'd blend in really well. I love that. No seriously, I have problems [about] where to store vases. I think that is such a good idea. Put them in the dishwasher. That's a cool idea. [laughs]
NP:
So the third series of Torchwood is this five-part mini-series. Are there plans for any more episodes beyond that?
EM:
I have absolutely no idea. It depends very much on how this one is received I suppose, and we'll take it from there.
NP:
I'm concerned. I've grown to love these characters, and I care about what happens to them.
EM:
So do I! My god! I think it's very likely that we'll go for a fourth, but it very much depends on how the third one is received because it's a very new format. But personally I think it's the best. I'm not just saying that because I'm out here promoting it. I'm very true to my word, and I truly believe that this is epic and devastating, and beautiful at the same time, and I'm the proudest person in the world to be promoting it. I truly think that if this doesn't get us another series, I have no idea how we've got this far.
NP:
Well I hope we continue to follow the trials and tribulations of Torchwood, because apart from anything else, what's Doctor Who going to do without you? I mean, you hop into each other shows to save the day when things are at their most dicey.
EM:
Yeah. We're his little helpers.
NP:
And you've totally saved his ass several times now, so if Torchwood is not around, there's really no one else he can rely on.
EM:
We adore it. And I will play Gwen until I fall out of love with her. I'm totally in love with the program, and long may it continue in my eyes. I adore it, and I get to do funky stuff like this, and talk about it, and get to talk to people who are equally as passionate and supportive as myself, so it doesn't get much better than that. It's super.
Torchwood: Children of Earth premieres on BBC America on July 20. A new episode premieres each night from Monday July 20 through Friday July 24. An encore of the previous night's episode will air directly before each new installment.
Torchwood: Children of Earth premieres on BBC America on July 20. A new episode premieres each night from Monday July 20 through Friday July 24. An encore of the previous night's episode will air directly before each new installment.
Featured Interviews
All interviews
