Entertainment king John Barrowman - page 2

24-11-2008This Month 24th Nov 09:51

From there it seemed there was no stopping him. John went on to star in a string of well known productions including 'Miss Saigon', 'Beauty and the Beast', 'Matador', 'Grease', 'Sunset Boulevard', 'Chicago' and 'The Phantom of the Opera'.John - who is openly gay (and very outspoken against Proposition 8, the Californian law which bans same-sex couples from getting married) - briefly left musicals behind for a pure acting role in 'Rope' where he met his now civil partner Scott Gill, in 1993.John took a break from the stage in 2005 to play Captain Jack Harkness in acclaimed BBC sci-fi show 'Doctor Who', a role which sent his career skyrocketing. The character was so well loved by fans it led to his own spin-off 'Torchwood', which is set for a third series in 2009.Yet another career tangent saw him appear as a judge on TV talent shows 'How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?' and 'I'll Do Anything', with theatre legend Andrew Lloyd Webber, to find the next West End stars.And now the follow-up to his successful album 'Another Side' proves that anything really does go for the star...Q. So John, you have your new album 'Music Music Music' out this month, why did you choose the songs on it?A. There's a whole process that I go through. First I go into my meetings with my record company and I take in my wish list of songs I like, then they give me their wish list and then I take them home to go through all of it. We then narrow it down to about 20 songs, then cut it down again to what we want on the album. That produces the final 13 we have. I will only choose songs that I have always wanted to sing or that have some kind of connection to me, through my past, either emotionally or through my family. There's always a reason for singing the songs, not just me singing for the hell of it.Q. Could you give me the name of a song that has an emotional connection for you?A. There's a song on it called 'Both Sides Now' which is a Joni Mitchell track and is also from the show 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert'. There was a great friend of mine, who I've know for years, who introduced me to the song before I'd ever heard it, so that's why I put that one on there. And 'From A Distance', the Bette Midler track which was a hit in the early 80s, I can't listen to that song without crying, I just burst into tears - because of the message of the song. I used to listen to it when I was driving home from the theatre, when I lived in the East End of London. I would have to pull over because it would make me weep.Q. So Bette Midler makes you cry?A. Not really Bette, but the words of the song do. There's also a Sarah McLachlan song on the record, 'Angels'. That song takes me back to a time when I was by myself, living in Los Angeles, trying to get work and I was in a bit of a depressing state, just trying to get stuff going and I used to listen to the track and envisage that someone was always looking out for me, to make sure everything was OK, 'cause everything always seemed to work out.Q. What do you prefer, singing or acting?A. I never answer that question, because if I were to answer that somebody would pigeonhole me. I'm an entertainer, I enjoy entertaining people and if that's through song, through drama, through books or through radio that's what I've been put on this planet to do and that's entertain.I think it's nice to be offered a variety of stuff and enjoy it.Q. Are you going to go on tour?A. I'm touring next year. I'm going all around the UK, last year we were on the road for two weeks, this year I'm doing around a month.Q. What do you have planned next with Andrew Lloyd Webber?A. I don't think I have anything coming up. Andrew is doing the Eurovision Song Contest. He's written the song and they're now going to try and find a singer for it. But I'm really just focusing on the album, and I have some other things in the pipeline with the BBC, but everyone will just have to wait and see what they are!Q. But you must love working with Andrew Lloyd Webber on shows like 'I'd Do Anything'?A. I love working with Andrew on the shows. I love finding new talent because it's such a fantastic thing, and it's great that it's not the shows which are the stars anymore, it's the actors in the shows who are the stars. One of the main reasons I agreed to do these programmes is because I was one of those people who used to do eight shows a week and not really get the recognition for it. The shows bring it back into the public eye. You know the people who make all those producers millions and millions and billions of pounds are the people starring in the shows.If you'd told me 10 years ago I would appearing in a show which was bringing musical theatre into the living room - practically every household in Britain - I would have laughed at you. It's an amazing feat for the BBC.Q. You're one of the big stars of 'Doctor Who', were you surprised when David Tennant said he was leaving the role?A. I was more surprised that everyone else was so shocked by it, because all the cast knew. I thought most people knew, but maybe they didn't want to believe it so David had to come out and actually say it. It's just a natural progression for David, he wants to move on and do something else and like he said, if didn't do it now he would never leave. The difficulty for the producers will be finding someone who can fill his quite brilliant boots. He's a brilliant Doctor.Q. Would you like to play the Doctor?A. Of course! I, as John Barrowman, would love to play the Doctor. If I hadn't played Captain Jack I would definitely have gone up for the Doctor, but I'm Captain Jack and I'm just as ecstatic to be him, another hero for the nation, so it's great.Q. Who do you think the next Doctor should be?A. Hey, look, I'm so not involved in that process, I don't want to get involved, I'll leave that up to the powers that be at the BBC. But, like everyone else, I'm really excited to find out who they are going to choose.Q. What about Billie Piper? (who played the Doctor's assistant Rose Tyler)A. That's rubbish! It's fans who are saying it should be Billie, and I love that the fans have all those theories and stuff, but no Billie won't be the Doctor.Q. I know you're crazy about your dogs? Are you planning to get anymore?A. Well me and my partner Scott just got a new dog about six weeks ago, his name is Harrod. Unfortunately, our black cocker spaniel died very suddenly. But at the moment there's no other plans to get any other animals. We're quite content with our pets and training a new puppy is quite a handful.Q. Would you consider starting your own animal charity?A. Oh God no! I'm already a patron of The Dogs' Trust, that's about as far as I will go!Q. Are you still thinking about adopting a child?A. Well me and Scott are definitely thinking about it a lot, but we're not yet implementing it. We're both involved with an organization called CamKids, which is a charity that helps disadvantaged children in Cambodia. Scott gave up about three weeks of his time earlier this year to go out there. He flew out to Cambodia and built an orphanage with them. But Scott told me over the telephone that I wouldn't be allowed to come over, because if I did I would just want to bring all the kids home with me!Q. He was worried you'd do an Angelina Jolie?A. Yeah. But if I did it I think I'd do it a little less in your face. I'd just not tell anybody, it would be a surprise.Q. What do you think of the recent Proposition 8 vote in the US?A. I think it's disgusting. I think it's a completely backwards move for the US and the State of California to make and why would anybody want to deny any human being their human rights? What harm does it do anybody if two men or two women want to live together?Q. Do you think America is a lot further behind Britain in terms of people's attitudes to homosexual relationships?A. The United Kingdom is well advanced in human rights and also, shall we say, the people of the country are a little more progressive and modern. Everybody used to think it was the United States but, to be honest with you, America has a lot of rednecks. I'm sure people will be angry at me for saying that, but even sophisticated people in the US if they don't let people have their civil partnerships they're behaving like rednecks.Q. Do you know many people in the US affected by it?A. A lot of friends have emailed me from the States about this because there are a lot of theatre organisations and families that own big theatre groups like the Armisen Theatre in Los Angeles and they supported the removal of gay marriage yet they make money off performers who are gay and gay people in work in the theatre.Q. How do you think people affected can make themselves heard?A. Well the pink pound or the pink dollar can be very powerful things. And also the people who support gay men and women are very powerful too because all gay people have families and we're not going to take it for much longer - people can't tell us what to do. I'm quite happy because in the UK we can be legally recognised as couples. But I'd like to be able to go over and visit my parents in the US and know that Scott and I can go in as a couple, not separately as two individuals.Q. Have you ever faced any prejudice yourself?A. We did once. Scott and I had arrived at an American airport and the security guy said, 'Who is this?' And I said, 'This is my partner.' And the customs guy said, 'We don't recognise that here get back in line!' Well f**k you! It's like, 'You know what? Your wife does exactly the same thing to you that I do to Scott. What's the big deal?'Q. Ellen DeGeneres and George Takei were quite outspoken about what they thought of the vote. Do you think if enough gay stars speak out they could have an effect?A. I would hope so. But do you know what it would take in America? More people coming out of the closet who are stuck in the closet because they are afraid of what the public will think about them. It's all very well certain celebrities coming out and supporting it but if you're gay and you're just not saying you are that's detrimental to the cause.Q. So you believe there are a lot of Hollywood stars in the closet?A. Oh come on, what do you think? There's loads!Q. Why do you think they're scared to come out?A. I have no idea. If it's a personal issue that they're just trying to deal with, and they're trying to overcome something in their own personal life that's an issue for themselves, then that's OK they've got to deal with that. But if they think by coming out it's going to be detrimental for their career, then they need to wake up and smell the coffee. It's not. The more people who do come out and let the public see they have normal, functional lives that gay people are just the same as everybody else that's when things will change for the better.John releases his new album 'Music Music Music' on November 24.By Philip Hamilton.