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John Barrowman
John Barrowman
Pride Life catches up with John Barrowman currently wowing the West End in La Cage aux Folles.
"There's nothing wrong with a Danny LaRue but there are a whole variety of gay men and women out there"
You’re one of the few gay guys on primetime everyone likes. Why’s that?
I’d love to give you the formula but I don’t know. All I can say is I’m a guy, I like cars, I like sports, I like being outrageous and I speak my mind. I might be wrong but that’s my theory. There’s things I won’t talk about but in general most things I’ll talk about and it’s all giving people an understanding that there are guys out there who are guys. I can be camp and I can be outrageous but there is more me than wearing sequinned suits and having my hair all done.
Captain Jack gets away with quite a lot of Doctor Who. How far do you think he can push it?
Well I don’t think you can push it to the point of being blatant for kids. What you do is you push it to the point where kids ask questions. We never actually say Jack is bisexual, because remember it is a family show so you have to cater to the kids and the adults.
Do all the fans like you?
When I was a kid Dr Who was a family show and I used to hide behind the sofa with my Mum and Dad. Yes, it is family viewing and yes, there was a stage where it wasn’t so popular. But society has changed, kids are smarter, kids have two dads, kids have two mums, single mums, parents who have committed suicide. A couple of generations are saying ‘Well we didn’t have that in my day.’ Well, I’m like, ‘Bull**** you did have it, you just didn’t talk about it.’ Now we’re more open so therefore television has to equally push the boundaries a little more.
Are the diehards equally supportive?
Well, they are and if they aren’t they don’t have to watch it. There was an article in Doctor Who magazine and I pulled the questions out of a tin and answered them honestly so they printed the stuff and I got flak for it. People complained that, ‘What are they turning this into? A gay magazine?’ I was only doing what I was asked to do, opening this tin from the readers and answering the questions in the style of Captain Jack. The Editor apologised but no one apologised to me.
Do you think the media stirs things?
Sometimes. When I’m asked questions about, ‘Why do you think a big part of your fanbase is women?’ I’m like, ‘Well, why are you asking that question? Why can’t they like a gay man? A woman’s best friend is normally a gay man. If they want to turn me, go ahead, try and turn me, I like a good challenge.’ But the media are the ones who want to make issues where there are no issues. I’m not being negative about the media here, it’s just certain publications.
So, how long will Torchwood go on?
Seven hundred million years because Captain Jack is immortal. He’s actually a different character in Torchwood. He’s still bisexual in Dr. Who, but that went over everyone’s head. He grabbed a guy’s arse in the first scene and no one said anything. There still are people out there who will never get over that sort of thing but life becomes a lot easier when you realise not everyone’s going to like you.
Which of the Doctors out of Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant do you fancy?
There’s fanciable things about the both of them. David is a funnier, lighter, more energetic, and that aspect if that makes any sense and I think I find that sexy, but Chris is a little darker and there’s a part of me that finds that kind of sexy. Put it this way, if it was John going to have a relationship with the two Doctors it would be shag Christopher, over and done with, and then I’d have a relationship with David. That’s John Barrowman, not Captain Jack speaking. But I flirt with David all the time. He knows that about me and he’s quite funny and will be funny back. Whether you’re straight or gay, everyone likes a flirt!
Do you feel you represent the gays on TV?
Well, maybe mothers like me because if they have a gay son, I’m representing her son and that’s why they like me. There’s a lot of parents out there who have gay kids but don’t talk to their friends about it. Finally someone is coming out in the public eye and they can go, ‘He’s exactly like my son.’ Because if they come out and say they’re gay they’ll immediately think they’re camp and flouncy because of stereotypes. There's nothing wrong with a Danny LaRue but we need to make people aware that there are a whole variety of gay men and women out there.
Would you like to start a family with your civil partner Scott Gill?
Well, maybe someday. I don’t know, we’ve never really delved into it. We have had the conversation, and Scott has said he would like to adopt, because we feel that, as a lot of couples in our position, we have a lot to offer a child. You don’t have to just adopt. I could have a kid, but I think 45 is the cut-off date for adopting, or is it 40? But I wouldn’t do what Madonna did. I do have a very close friend who I saw in LA again this summer, and she had said that if we wanted a child she’d be happy to carry the child for us. And I know that she would like to have a child at some point.
How would that work? Would you share?
Well it’s not like a Prada coat. I think what would happen is we would, er, we’d have… See these are the things that I haven’t thought about. But the child would just have a wonderfully large extended family. Actually Scott had said if we did adopt, he would want maybe to adopt a child that’s a little older… maybe about nine, ten years old, because there’s a lot of kids that age, boys and girls, who just don’t get adopted. And they’re left. And that’s the thing that kind of upsets me.
Would it be difficult to put a 10-year old child into a gay household because they would already have their prejudices?
See I don’t look at it as going into a gay household; I look at it as going into a household. And if the child comes into the household there are going to be things maybe that it’s not used to and that’s part of being a family: explaining things and opening up their outlook and mind to that kind of stuff. But I would think that if you’re giving a child love, a roof over its head, support, a life, they would not be judgmental at all. Children are the least judgmental. It’s the adults who are the judgmental ones.
John Barrowman is currently starring in La Cage aux Folles at the Playhouse Theatre. London
