Gareth David-Lloyd Answers Your Questions

A few weeks ago, we asked for your questions for Gareth David-Lloyd and now we’ve got his answers. Listen in while Torchwood’s Ianto talks about his character, his band and his interactions with the fans.

Matt asked: Was there a turning point in Torchwood for you? A scene where you felt like you’d hit your stride and really knew who Ianto was?

Gareth: Probably, I’d say, episode 5 of Season 1.  It was actually a scene we did after we finished, but we went back to do it because it felt like there was a gap in Ianto’s recovery. There’s a moment when Jack comes and puts his hand on [Ianto's] back and its almost like- it’s like forgiving and starts the healing process, and starts the relationship with Jack and I think that’s where the character you see now, that’s the point where he’s really grown from.

Matt asks: At what point in your work on the first series did someone tell you that Jack and Ianto were going to be a bona fide romantic pair?

Gareth: It was always there, all the flirtation in the first episode, so I knew there was some type of chemistry there. But I had no idea they were going to embark on a pretty close relationship, but it’s been great for me because it involves a relationship with the leading man which means I get more lines. (Laughs)

Charmaine asked: Did the character play out the way you expected it too?

Gareth: Yeah, absolutely, it’s been great for me. I’m out and about with the team and on field missions and on the run actually. I got to do a lot more action stuff, which I’ve never done before on TV or film so it’s a new experience for me and I enjoy the work.

Boston asked: So now we know you can play the piano; and apparently you’re trained in dance (according to the publicity for “Boogie Nights”). Any other secret talents should we know about?

Gareth: Not really. I mean I never really saw my dancing as a talent, though… so there may be things, hobbies that I do that other people might regard as talents, but none that I can pinpoint myself.

Susan asked: Any new info on possible U.S. tour dates for Blue Gillespie? (Gareth’s band)

Gareth: We’d love to come to the US but at the moment we’re unrepresented. It’s partly to do with my busy schedule and the fact that the band is really on the sideline and we haven’t really pushed to get proper representation, but things are happening, slowly, but surely. We’re going a bit into the field and touring the north of Britain beginning of next year and hopefully that expansion will eventually lead across the pond.

Tracy asked: What would you have done if acting had not paid off?

Gareth: One of my memories from junior school, I think that’s sixth or seventh grade for you guys over there, they asked us to sit down and draw a picture of what you see yourself doing when you grow up and I drew myself as a singer with a microphone on stage with lots of people. So I’ve always been into music and I first got into the drama and the acting when I was about ten or eleven in a school play and I’ve been dead set on it since then. But if not that direction than it probably would have been some type of musical performer.

Deborah says: We know that you are game for most things when it comes to acting, like playing a serial killer (your scenes from Adam were fab!) or messing about with sexuality (Ianto or your role as the shady boyfriend of a transvestite) but is there any character you wouldn’t play on screen?

Gareth: Only one I don’t believe in, really; I suppose. When I look at a script, if I can’t believe in the character or believe in the story or don’t think I’m gonna get anything from it artistically then probably not. [There's nothing I would do] if the role requires it. If I understood it properly and it comes from a sincere place, for me, then I don’t think there’s anything that I’d object to.

Cynthia (hey, I get to ask questions too) asked: With Torchwood being as fantastical as it is, it’s still very human. So how do you keep reality when there’s a fish guy walking by?

Gareth: I think you said it. It’s the humanity of Torchwood and the very real relationships between the cast members; that’s what makes the sci fi more believable I suppose, makes the danger more scary- is the fact that these are real people and they live in the same situations that you or I do. Gwen goes home to her husband, you know, Ianto’s got family; the extraordinary one, I suppose, the superhero, is Jack and I think the whole tone of the show requires those domestic real relationships to keep it grounded and to keep it believable.

Lisa asked: What’s in your pocket?

Gareth: What’s in my pocket? Um… hang on… a lighter, bottle of eye drops, loose credit card I forgot to put in my wallet, my wallet, and some loose change. (Pauses) And an Uzi. (I’m pretty sure he was kidding about that last part.)

Rebecca asks: What is the strangest thing a fan has ever said, done or given to you?

Gareth: Probably a My Little Pony dressed up as Ianto. It’s staring at me on my shelf now, I still can’t quite get my head around it. But it’s fascinating all the same and it has earned a placeon one of my shelves in the kitchen. It’s brilliant, but just strange.

Hazel asked: How does it make you feel to know that your character and the show in general has been embraced by the fans to such an extent that they are writing their own stories about you?

Gareth: The [fans] are the people that keep the show on television and keep me in a job, and ya know, keep Russell writing great lines for me, so I appreciate that. I like to try and give something back, you know, I wouldn’t wanna shun or ignore the people who are my biggest supporters.

And finally, some talk about Torchwood: Children of Earth vs. the last season of Torchwood.

Gareth: For me personally, it was a hell of a lot more fluid, more organic. Because we had one story, one explosive brilliant story, one director, so everyone was sort of on the same page constantly. You weren’t thrown by shooting episode two and then episode eight out of sequence and you know as an actor it’s your job to keep all the things in perspective and jump between them, but the way we did this it was so much more organic for us and a lot easier. I mean, more difficult physically, a lot of action scenes in it, but they’re fun at the end of the day.

Cynthia: Torchwood always looks like a movie to me, but I was thinking this in particular is going to have a real major motion picture feel.

Gareth: Oh absolutely. I saw the first episode in a cinema and I was really, really proud, it does feel very much like a movie and when you put all five episodes together it’s like one big giant movie. Yeah, so I think what the series lacks for in quantity it makes up for in quality.

And with that, we say goodbye and thanks to Gareth David-Lloyd. And thanks to all of you for asking such great questions. I wish I could have fit more of them in. Maybe next time.

If you want to own Torchwood: Children of Earth in all of its technicolor glory, it is now available on standard and Blu-ray discs. The 2-disc set also contains the Torchwood Declassified featurette so there’s even more to love.

Photos: BBC America