The Interview

“Don’t worry, there’s not a gimp locked up in there,” reassures Eve Myles – Torchwood’s heroic Gwen Cooper. There’s some disturbing heavy breathing emanating from behind a door in her beautiful Cardiff home. Nor is it an angry, boiler-suited Weevil. In fact it’s Honeysuckle, Eve’s pet beagle, who bounds out and welcomes your intrepid reporter with a big, wet doggy snog. Phew, for a minute there I was worried…

SFX is here to film Eve’s acceptance speech for the reader awards, where she’s been voted science fiction’s Best Actress, fending off some heavyweight competition from the likes of Cate Blanchett and Battlestar Galactica’s Mary McDonnell. Currently taking time out with her 12-week-old daughter Matilda, Eve has also kindly agreed to a quick natter about her character and the show that’s brought her fame on both sides of the Atlantic.

Let’s start with the award. Best Actress, as voted for by SFX readers…

It’s lovely isn’t it? When you win an award and it’s from the readers, that’s much nicer than a panel of people who think they know about acting or drama, and sometimes don’t. But the readers, the viewers – those are the people who are important. Those are the people we’re making it for. It’s been a lovely pick-me-up.

You beat some tough competition: Cate Blanchett, Anna Friel, Megan Fox amongst others.

Did I? No way! NO WAY! Oh my god, ask me again! I’m ecstatic! That really warms my heart. Brilliant! Oh I’m chuffed. That’s excellent [laughs]. Shouldn’t be so excited should I? But I am.

Children Of Earth was a huge success last year, critically and commercially. Did it feel like you were making something different to the old Torchwood?

The answer is: completely. It was a completely different programme. We were using just one director [Euros Lyn] and we’d lost half the cast, so we really had to pull together. And we had one story, rather than 13, so it seemed like a much tighter show. Obviously we were a bit apprehensive, because the number of episodes had been cut, but it was re-launching itself on BBC1. It needed to make an impact. And it was the best thing they could have done. You had a real feeling that every night at 9 o’clock people were sitting down to watch it. It was a real event.

You can read the rest of the interview here.

Source: SFX Magazine

Q: When we last left Gwen Cooper and team Torchwood, they had just witnessed their home city of Cardiff attacked and lost two key members of their team. How is the team dealing with that when “Children of the Earth” opens and how has the dynamic of the team shifted?

A: In the first episode, the grieving process is out of the way. You really can’t be too melodramatic about the loss. In terms of this year, the theme is you have to lose to gain – they put humanity aside this year and try to save as much as they can, just minimize loss along the way. It seems harsh, but it really isn’t.

Q: How do you see Gwen’s role on the tea?

A: Gwen is supposed to be the heart of the team, but you rarely see her laugh. She realizes that people are counting on her and if she doesn’t pull her finger out of her ass, people will die.

Q: What’s the difference between Gwen this year as opposed to last year?

A: Gwen constantly evolves. She’s gone from this ordinary woman in Wales to saving the world on a regular basis. She has to constantly learn. Her life is no longer her own, which highlights how important Gwen is. She’s all business, as opposed to Jack and Ianto, who are sort of the comic relief.

Q: We certainly saw in that in the season finale last year, when the city of Cardiff was being attack and she not only took charge, but also instilled hope in her fellow police officers.

A: Exactly. She is responsible for a lot of people and she knows it. Gwen is militant yet realistic. She is terrified of making mistakes because it could cost people their lives.

Q: In the first two seasons, Torchwood was a top secret organization, operating in the shadows. At the end of last season, it was Torchwood that was out front and center during the fight for Cardiff. Is the genie out of the bottle?

A: Torchwood is more out there now. More people know about Torchwood, they’re more visible.

Q: The first two seasons of Torchwood consisted of 13 episodes, with most of the stories being self-contained. This season is more of a mini-series – five episodes of a single story. Is there an advantage to that?

A: I think you get stronger storylines. In previous seasons, we might have one or two stories that would last two or three episodes. With this story, the continuity is there. As an actor, you put the flesh and blood on the bones. Creatively [doing a single story over five episodes] allows you to put more into it.

Q: You also guest-starred on the fourth season finale of Doctor Who, where Gwen and Ianto were attacked by a Dalek. What was it like having such an iconic fixture of British television on the set?

A: The Dalek was right there on the set and, since we share studio space with Doctor Who, we passed it every day. They are big, big things and they’ve instilled fear from day one.

Q: How did you get the role on Torchwood and were you nervous going into such a hugely anticipated project?

A: You’re nervous going into any drama, but it was almost frightening doing something that’s on the back of Doctor Who. To come in on something like that, there’ll be a heightened pressure. It helps, though, because the pressure is on. You’ve just got to go in and do your job. I had appeared in the first series of [the revived] Doctor Who [an episode called “The Unquiet Dead”] before coming to Torchwood. That was directed by Euros [Lyn, director of Children of Earth] as well.

Q: What was it like seeing yourself as an action figure for the first time?

A: Ridiculous! The action figure is so, so silly! I did give my Mum one for Christmas, as a laugh. She opened up a mini-me!

Q: Are you surprised that Torchwood is so successful in the United States?

A: Hell yeah! We actually didn’t know it’d air over here, let alone be the highest rated drama on BBC America. The U.S. has accepted us a bit more than in the United Kingdom. In the U.S., they’re so warm and welcoming, whereas in the United Kingdom, they’re more reserved.

Q You also completed a series of Torchwood radio plays. That must’ve been much easier than running around and shooting off guns.

A: Actually, no! It was harder! You try being in a small room for hours on end with John Barrowman and see if you can keep a straight face!

Thanks to Ron Motta from Daily Lounge for this great interview that he did with Eve.

“I’m sitting down at home with my big five-months-pregnant belly and my dog,” said Myles, one of the stars of Torchwood, on the phone from Cardiff, Wales.

“Let me tell you something right now, bellies are the best things in the world,” continued Myles, a 31-year-old native of Wales. “Six-packs? They just don’t work. The only thing they’re good for is washing clothes.

“You think I’m lying? For my partner, I put extra butter on his toast and that kind of stuff to try to get a bit more fat on him. I love big bellies, there you go.”

Wow … our love for Eve Myles only grows.

But of course, when you’re a working actress, all good things must come to an end.

“I guess at the beginning of next year, I’ll be in the sauna suit, running for miles a day and getting back into Gwen Cooper mode,” Myles said.

Gwen Cooper is Myles’ character in the sci-fi drama Torchwood, which, if you haven’t seen it, is a BBC series that has an “X Files in Wales” vibe.

Torchwood is back on Monday with the Canadian debut of the five-night TV event, Torchwood: Children of Earth, on Space. This technically counts as the third “season” of Torchwood, and it will air in a single week, on five consecutive nights.

“It’s a completely stand-alone series,” Myles said when asked if newcomers to Torchwood — which is a spinoff from the modern revival of Doctor Who — need to have seen the first two seasons to follow what’s transpiring.

“There are some new characters. It’s very clever. It’s kind of brand new again, rebranded, and it’s awesome. Within half an hour, you’ll know who everybody is.”

Separate from the government, outside the police and beyond the United Nations, Torchwood is the name of a crack squad of agents who gather intelligence and protect humanity from alien threats. Besides Myles, Torchwood stars John Barrowman, Gareth David-Lloyd, Tom Price and Kai Owen.

After Myles was cast in a single episode of the new Doctor Who in 2005, the creators were so impressed that they subsequently wrote a part in Torchwood specifically for her.

“I was not a huge fan of sci-fi before,” Myles admitted. “I adored Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And Quantum Leap is something I was brought up with. But that was it. I was a stage actress before, so it was a different thing for me.”

Myles had to get used to the intense devotion with which sci-fi fans follow their favourite projects.

“Being a female lead in one of these shows, I meet people and they can recite my lines — I didn’t know the lines that well when I was doing them!” Myles said with a laugh. “I’m a quiet person on the celebrity front, it’s not my style, and especially with sci-fi, the first year I wouldn’t do any signings. It was just too intimidating.

“But I bit the bullet and did a few of them and I couldn’t have been more wrong. There was nothing to be intimidated by. It’s just people being completely engrossed with what you do, and generous, and supportive, and they’ll back you all the way.”

In other words, Eve Myles found she had the stomach for sci-fi stardom. Which brings us back to big bellies.

“For the first time in 10 years I’m having my summer off, because I have what I think is my incredibly sexy big belly growing massively,” said Myles, who is pregnant with her first child. “I cannot wait for the point where I have to be rolled out of my house. Big up!

“Really, I’m not into this skinny nonsense. Give me a nice piece of cake and a good life, that’s what we all need.”

This excellent and down-to-earth interview with Eve comes from the Edmonton Sun. She’s cleary in a league of her own.

Some of you may be wondering how Eve is going to juggle being a mother and an actress. She explains it by saying:

Well I think that I kind of put off being a mum for almost three-and-a-half years now. For the very fact, actually, that work seems to have always been first, with the nature of my job, it’s very, kind of, distracting, and you’re never in the same place, you do terribly very long hours, and with Torchwood—they are kind of dangerous jobs in a way. I tend to all my stunts myself, so it would be impossible for me to be pregnant while doing explosive scenes and fight scenes, and you know, kind of running for six, seven hours a day in heels and absurd things like that. So we’ve been waiting, waiting, waiting. And it came Christmas time and we said, “Right, that’s it. Whatever happens next year happens, but for certain one thing is happening this year, we’re going to have a child. And whatever happens then, we’ll just have to work around that.” I’m sure it will be difficult, I’m sure it will be challenging, but it’s everything that I’ve ever wanted and I’ll work around it. And if I can’t work things around it, c’est la vie, it’s not meant to be. I think my motto in life is very much, “I’ll enjoy today, tomorrow will take care of itself.” You know, we’ll see what happens. Luckily, Brad and I have both got big families who can’t wait to step in and help out. We’ll work it out.

As for her fans, she does feel very rewarded knowing that people are interested in her work, but not so much by the marriage proposals:

And the fans are just absolutely lovely. It’s all ages—you get little girls and boys, from the age of like six and seven, and I think the oldest person I’ve met must be, 83, 84. It’s right across the board, you know, and that’s really rewarding for me. That makes me very very happy. It lights a little flame in my belly, makes me nice and warm, it’s a really nice feeling. So long may they continue. But the weirdest stuff I’ve had? I don’t know if I can go into it that. There’s been marriage proposals and crazy things like that. But you just put those to one side and concentrate on the good stuff. [Laughs] But we’ve got a lot to thank the fans for. If we didn’t have such a cult following, maybe I wouldn’t be speaking to you today. It was kind of word of mouth, if we didn’t have those people really fighting for us maybe it wouldn’t be what it is today.

As for being Wonder Woman, well…I’ll let Eve explain:

Oh my god. She’s like, my hero. I try to make Gwen like her as much as possible. I even mentioned this year maybe doing the entire third season in hot pants…and a little leather tiara, on the beach. But they didn’t go for it. And I’m hounding Russell T. Davies to write me the new, kind of Sin City style Wonder Woman. It could look like a comic series of the new Wonder Woman. Yeah that would be wicked!

Now, this I’d LOVE to see!

She also mentioned in the interview that there’s a possibility of her doing a project in the USA, and she also plans to come to Los Angeles for a visit. It appears that she may be up for a role in a big Hollywood film or TV production, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Be sure to read the entire interview because it’s packed with goodness that only Eve can deliver. You really have to respect her honesty and strength. It’s just another reminder of what a funny, warm and beautiful woman she is. A true Wonder Woman indeed.

A special thanks goes out to Mark Redfern from Under The Radar magazine for sending me this!

“Gwen is still the heart and emotion of Torchwood, but also realizes the responsibility she has as a member of the team. Everybody’s got to lose something to gain something, and as harsh as Gwen comes across sometimes, if she wasn’t, people would die.

She’s got a huge responsibility on her shoulders. A few years ago she was working as a young policewoman in Cardiff. A couple of years later here she is saving the world with Captain Jack. One way or another something’s got to give.”

Eve goes on to say that the action scenes she did in the third series were quite a rush:

“It’s the best part of the job for me. It’s the only job where you can really push yourself. We’ve got the most amazing team – you know you’re in safe hands. You go through things a thousand times before it ever happens. In rehearsals you don’t have the pyrotechnics, you don’t have the explosions – so, when you actually do the take you get the realness of it, it’s all genuine. It’s real shock, fear – every kind of emotion you can think of that would come if you really were caught up in that. I’m an adrenalin junkie so it’s the perfect job for me.”

The interview wraps up with Eve announcing that she has recently finished filming for the new BBC One drama Framed and that she’s taking time off from work to concentrate on her pregnancy. Framed is slated for a Christmas 2009 release.

The new series of Torchwood is looking to be better than the previous two, with its consistent storyline being shown over five consecutive nights that should keep everyone hooked until it’s over. It appears to be jam-packed with non-stop action as well as plenty of drama that will delve deeper into each of the characters and their relationships. I really hope it delivers after waiting so long for it.

*The press package also includes interviews with actors John Barrowman, Gareth David-Lloyd and Kai Owen.

Eve went on to say:

“I thought, if I put this off any more I’m going to be 65. My partner and I decided this year was going to be the year, and we were blessed that it happened so quickly. It’s the best thing that ever happened to me – we’re over the moon.”

Eve also mentioned that being a mother will not stop her from continuing her role as Gwen Cooper on Torchwood:

“I hope we get a new series. I’d really like to play Gwen as a mother. It’s not like I have to really save the world – I just have to sit in make-up.”

Everyone from EveMyles.net would like to give a very warm congratulations to Eve and Brad, and wish them the best of luck!

None of us will forget the tragic ending of series two, and some fans are still questioning if it was the right decision to kill off two members of the Torchwood team so early in the series. That debate will probably be ongoing, but I think the writers wanted to leave a lasting impression to keep the ratings high and keep the show afloat. For fans it’s kind of a lose-win situation, but I’d rather see a few members be killed off (except for Gwen!) rather than the entire show.

SciFiNow magazine recently sat down with Eve to discuss the third series of Torchwood, a five-part miniseries titled “Children of Earth,” and in the interview she was asked if Tosh and Owen will still play some part in the lives of the remaining crew members:

Anybody could go at any point, so the Tosh and Owen characters are huge symbols this year that this is a very dangerous world. It’s very clever how the grieving process has worked out, actually, because there were moments in the Doctor Who episode and in the CERN radio drama we did [Lost Souls] where the grieving process had developed. This time it’s about something completely different, although there are still some beautiful elements in there. There’s a beautiful moment where the pictures are still there and Gwen says good morning to them every morning, so they’re still a very strong symbol of life and death in Torchwood.

Eve was also asked about what we can expect in the third series:

They can expect to see the Torchwood heroes becoming even more heroic. They’ll see devastation, but they’ll also see a huge bit of comedy and the best Torchwood that we’ve ever produced to date. They’re going to get it all, and I dare anybody not to enjoy it.

I hope she’s right. Five episodes may not be enough to satisfy everyone, but it’s reassuring to see that the third series will be jam-packed with everything we love about the show. With the loss of Tosh and Owen from series two, it’s good to see that the team were able to grieve and move on, yet still remember them.

You can read the rest of this interview with Eve in issue 27 of SciFiNow.

In the interview we get everything from the upcoming third season of Torchwood to snogging John Barrowman (did I read that right?).

There’s also some good stuff on Eve’s upcoming projects, although she wasn’t giving anything away:

There’s a lot of things going on at the moment. But I’m absolutely desperate to go back [on stage.] That’s what I love. I mean I love doing TV. I adore it. But there’s something very different about theater, and I love it. I absolutely love it. There’s nothing like it. It’s extraordinary. So I’d love to go back and do some more theater. Lots of other projects going on, which I’m excited about, but I’ve kind of chilled out. I’ve turned 30, and it’s ridiculous. I’ve really kind of gone “We’ll see what happens…” I bought a dog. I’m very happy with my dog.

Stage work would be great for her, but most of us will never get to see her in it. Maybe Spaceygal could get in to see Eve and possibly get some pictures.

Thanks to BertrandOfGeneva for the link and reminding me of this. I had been checking back there constantly for their interview with Eve since NYCC, but gave up, thinking that they weren’t going to publish it.

The first interview comes from io9 and features a lot of good information and some great video clips. Good stuff!

IGN TV have got another good interview and here’s a small snippet:

“Myles had a lot of praise for her costar Barrowman, who was clearly beloved by the audience, but then got huge laughs revealing “John farts though a lot.” As the audience cracked up, she added, “Sorry John, but you do!”

Thanks to Bananas from the Torchwood Forum.

Here’s a video interview from CBR TV where Eve discusses the new series of Torchwood:

More interviews:

‘Torchwood’ star Eve Myles calls new season ‘gutsy’

Exclusive “Torchwood” panel report from NY Comic Con

Why death will haunt Torchwood: Children of Earth

Keep checking back for more.