John Barrowman is a busy man. On the Thursday the Glasgow-born actor, singer and presenter speaks with The Scots Magazine, he’s officially promoting Dick McWhittington—his fourth panto with entertainment stalwarts The Krankies–which will draw crowds to the SECC this Christmas. It’s not exactly the day-off he deserves, after 10 long days recording 25 episodes of new BBC One entertainment quiz show Pressure Pad. Yet he can’t relax; looming on the horizon are his commitments to American action-adventure series Arrow, in which he plays the villainous Malcolm Merlyn.
“I start filming Arrow next Wednesday,” John says. It’s a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Palm Springs to Vancouver, where the show is made, so I commute. They put all of my filming into one block, so I’ll do three days of filming, and then go back down to Palm Springs. I’ll do that for several weeks until I come back over here to do the panto. Also, in-between that, I have my men’s skin care line that I sell on (home shopping channel) QVC in the UK and Germany—I have to make a trip to Germany in November.”
Why the move into skin care? “Just looking out for my retirement!” John says, laughing.
Despite numerous work commitments on both sides of the Atlantic, John has little problem finding the time for three hectic weeks in Glasgow. “In Los Angeles, nobody does anything from Thanksgiving onwards to Christmas and the New Year,” he says. “It’s the same thing over here; everything kind of shuts down, with people only doing pantomimes. So it’s the perfect job for that season. The only down thing is all my immediate family are in my house in Palm Springs, celebrating Christmas, while I’m here in Glasgow.”
Of course, John has “previous” when it comes to pantomimes, having starred in productions in Birmingham, Cardiff and London. “I just love doing it; it’s good fun, and a great way to introduce children into theatre,” he says. “Some actors frown upon it, but you have a great time doing what you do. Every year I make sure we hire the same people, so the audiences, when they come, know the kind of fun to expect. Some gags are repeated every year, and audiences love it. It’s like coming back to a family.”
John co-directs the Glasgow pantomimes, with Jonathan Kiley (of pantomime producer Qdos Entertainment) looking after the technical side. Indeed, it was John’s idea to bring the Krankies on board. “People said that us together wouldn’t work, that we were two entirely different styles,” he says. “I said: ‘No, there are no egos here, let’s see what happens.’ Four years on, we’ve created a brand for Scotland and for Glasgow that’s become probably one of the best known pantomimes around. People travel from all over the world to the SECC to see it, and we’re really proud of it.”
John was born–and initially grew up–in Mount Vernon, Glasgow before his father’s job took the family to America. So does John feel like he’s coming home? “This is my birth place,” he insists. “I’m very proud to be Scottish. I always say that when people leave Scotland to go work elsewhere, they become more patriotic than if they’re living in the country. I do feel like I’m coming home. Even when I do my concerts here, I get very emotional about it.”
However, Glasgow is also important to John for another reason; as a visiting student, he attended an audition held at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) which–six months short of graduating–gave him his big break in London’s West End, playing Billy Crocker opposite Elaine Paige in the Cole Porter musical Anything Goes. “They gave me an honorary Doctorate in Music and Theatre in 2011, which I was studying at that time and never got to finish–work, and a career (touch wood) got in the way!” he says.
That subsequent career has certainly been varied, for which John makes no apologies. “I’m an entertainer,” he insists. “When it comes to the films, the TV shows, whether it’s in the West End or Broadway, whether I’m hosting a show, recording an album or doing a concert tour—it’s all part of the entertainment business. You would never ask a plumber to just plumb sinks; it’s the same in my industry. People who say you should just do one thing, I do not agree with that—and don’t believe it.”
There is, however, one role that John will always now be linked. The pan-sexual time-agent Captain Jack Harkness first appeared in the 2005 relaunch of Doctor Who, before getting his own spin-off series, Torchwood. “Captain Jack was a pivotal role,” John insists. “Prior to that I was well known in children’s television, and I was also well known in the West End. I’d done a couple of TV series in America, but they hadn’t taken off. Captain Jack changed my life and changed my lifestyle. It’s one of the most amazing jobs that has ever come in front of me. That’s why I love Jack so much; that’s why, if I’m asked at any point ever to play him again, I’ll do it at the drop of a hat.
“But what’s also great is Jack has led me to Arrow,” he says. “The producers loved Doctor Who and Torchwood; now I’m there for who knows how many years. Captain Jack has led into other things in US television. It’s led me to a huge following in America–I’m becoming more of a household name in the States, which I find absolutely amazing. Even coming back to Scotland, I walk down the street and people are going: ‘It’s John Barrowman!’ I’ve landed on my feet!”
Given how John grew up watching Doctor Who as a child, it’s clear that now being a part of the “Whovian World” really pleases him. The self-described “geek” is a regular guest at conventions across America. “I love doing the conventions. I’m a fan myself, and I get to go to all the stalls and buy not just all the toys that weren’t around when I was a kid, but also the ones that were around, which I wrecked!” John lets slip that his most recent purchases were from a “lovely” antiques shop in Doune, near Stirling. “I bought eight vintage Action Men, one in the ski outfit that I used to love,” he admits. “But my big find was the robot from Lost In Space—mint, in it’s box, with a ray gun. I have one in the States already—in its box, mint, but without the ray gun—and that makes a huge difference. It was a great deal! I could turn around and sell it on eBay for five times as much. I don’t think they knew what they had in the cabinet, and I didn’t say anything!”
While clearly scouting Scotland’s antique shops for bargains, John has returned home in a different way through a series of young adult fantasy novels written with his big sister, Carole–who just happens to be Professor of English and Director of Creative Studies in Writing at Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “Together we create the stories, we do the brainstorming and the character-building, and work out the structure of the story,” he explains. “Carol physically takes all the information from about three months of working with me, and then she goes away for the rest of the year and puts it into word form. She does all the hard work; I won’t take credit for the stuff I didn’t do. It’s a true collaboration, though; and it’s working. The third book in our Hollow Earth series comes out next year, and our new publisher want us to write four more.”
The Hollow Earth books—which focus on the adventures of young twins from an ancient order of artists with imaginations so powerful they can bring paintings to life—are very personal. “The kids’ mother was based on my husband’s sister, my sister-in-law, who died of brain cancer. The character Jeanie is a combination of our gran and her sister who both looked after us as kids. The island on which they live is based on Cumbrae island off the coast from Largs, and we renamed it after our gran. It’s a very personal story, and we loved doing it.”
Having already written a Torchwood novel set largely in South America, John and Carole were adament that these new stories would be set in Scotland. “We can’t wait to put it on screen, so we can film it up here,” says John. “We’re just trying to find the right production company to collaborate with my production company because we need to get the money. If Scottish investors want to invest in a good Scottish story, let us know!”
First published by The Scots Magazine (December 2013).
