FAN EXPO San Francisco is Northern California's largest pop culture convention, and this weekend, Doctor Who, Torchwood, and Arrow star John Barrowman will be among those in attendance; other guests include Star Wars icons Mark Hamill, Ewan McGregor, and Ray Park, along with the likes of Elijah Wood, William Shatner, and Tony Todd.
Tickets are currently on sale for the event which runs from Friday, November 24 to Sunday, November 26 at the Moscone Center West, and John will be on hand to take photos with fans. He'll also be hosting an "Adventures with John Barrowman" panel on Saturday afternoon, and you can learn more about how to meet him by clicking here.
Last week, we caught up with John to discuss his upcoming FAN EXPO San Francisco appearance, learning why he loves meeting his fans and what he plans on getting up to at the event.
The actor also reflects on playing Doctor Who fan-favourite Captain Jack Harkness and Torchwood's legacy, before sharing his thoughts on Ncuti Gatwa playing the Doctor, whether he'll ever return to the main series, and his role as Malcolm Merlyn in Arrow. We even get a tour of his geeky collectables, including a special Torchwood Dalek which sits front and centre in his living room!
You can find John on Instagram @johnscotbarrowman and on Twitter/X @JohnBarrowman. As noted, you'll want to head to Fan EXPO's website now to get your tickets for this weekend's show.
You’ve been part of some iconic franchises with very passionate fanbases, so what does it mean to you when you get to meet, and hear from, those fans at an event like FAN EXPO San Francisco?
Well, one of the reasons I love doing conventions…obviously, FAN EXPO in San Francisco is now the biggest here on the West Coast in the convention circuit. But one of my big things is that I love meeting people. I love meeting the fans. I always say to them, ‘The reason I am here and the reason I am on that stage and doing what I do, is because of [you].’ One of the things that’s important to me is to show that back, particularly when I do my panels. The companies I’m going in and working for, it’s a money-making thing for them and we’re all getting paid to do it; however, I was just having this discussion with my husband, Scott, this morning, I’ve never upped my price at all in the last 20 years. I’ve kept it the same because it’s affordable for people and I want to show them respect and that I’m not gouging from them.
It’s important for me to also hear the stories people tell me of how…it’s bizarre still to hear it…I’ve affected them or what my characters have done to change their life or make it better. David [Tennant] and I had these discussions many a time. I’d say, ‘David, do you realise while we’re doing this, someone who is going through a traumatic cancer treatment would sit and watch it in a hospital bed and the camaraderie we have on camera would pull them through that illness?’ It’s terrible someone went through it but I love hearing we were part of their healing process. Particularly with Captain Jack, who was at the time omnisexual, being played by a fully openly gay man, has led to people saying we gave them representation that wasn’t otherwise there. Jack was who he was and didn’t care what people thought while being a good friend and a hero. Seeing that really changed a lot of people’s lives. Those are the things I love to hear and what I most love about meeting people. Also, giving people big hugs to say thank you!
You’ll be doing photos and autographs, and I’m guessing it’s just so much fun to see all that cosplay and to sign John Barrowman-themed merch I’d assume, at least sometimes, you didn’t even know existed?
Absolutely! I didn’t know I was a bobblehead [Laughs]. It’s always interesting for me to do signings when people bring up an artist’s interpretation of Captain Jack or a scenario from Doctor Who, particularly when they incorporate the LGBTQ colours into something. For instance, with the Torchwood “T,” somebody did it with all the rainbow colours! The photo opps I love doing because, again, anytime part of the fan-family comes in, I always go and talk to the line before and tell them we can do whatever they want to do as long as they’re okay with it and it’s also appropriate for the situation. Some of the requests are a bit outrageous and some we can accommodate and some we can’t, but we’ve always got other people in the room to watch and make sure it’s all copicetic. We basically have fun. It’s great to see cosplay, whether they’re an anime fan, a Marvel fan, a DC fan, or a Doctor Who fan…or Torchwood! To see somebody walk in as a character you have portrayed and see their interpretation.
One thing that’s great is the fan-family love to gender augment some of the Doctor Who characters. So, some of the people come in dressed as Captain Jack, but it’s done in a gender-bending way so it’s Captain Jackie! That’s great. That’s them celebrating the characters they love. Also, I do a cosplay photo opp. When I do my panel to the room, which I always love because they’re packed, I come out…people will see it online, but I still don’t like to give it away! [Laughs] I have a TARDIS cape that I wear. I’ve had that made and it’s all glittery and usually underneath it, I’ll have a hockey jersey that’s the front of the TARDIS with the trans, BLM, and LGBTQ colours incorporated on it. I’m gonna do something a little special for next weekend because it’s also a big Star Wars convention and I’m a massive Star Wars fan. There might be a cross-pollination of some fandoms, with some Doctor Who and Star Wars and other things going on underneath that big blue gorgeous cape [Laughs].
Aside from the fans, how much do you enjoy getting to catch up with some of your old friends at these events and to cross paths with people you may be a fan of like, Mark Hamill, in San Francisco, for example?
Well, Mark’s daughter was the one who came to me at a convention because I was still kind of starstruck. Also, I don’t like to just go up and say, ‘Hey, I’m John Barrowman!’ They might not know who you are because their world is completely bigger than the one I’m in! Apparently, he does know Doctor Who. So, his daughter introduced him to me and later on, he was doing something to raise money for an organisation in the Ukraine and I’d seen his interview on CNN so I commented on it and he replied! He got back to me! He DM’d me and I was like, ‘Whoo! Luke Skywalker just got in touch with me!’ I think I posted the joy of it all and people responded with stuff like, ‘Oh my God, Captain Jack and Luke Skywalker…that would be awesome!’ Yes, it’s great to meet people like that. Talking of Star Wars, and I met her quite a few times in elevators, Carrie Fisher. She was with her lovely French Bulldog and she was a character in herself. And a lovely lady.
It’s great to meet other people and I now will go up to them and say I’m a big fan. I feel bad, though, because I can go behind the scenes and don’t have to wait and line. Sometimes, I will go to the line and I’ll say to the fans, ‘Can I stand in here with you?’ and they’ll be like, ‘Of course! Get in here!’ Michael Rooker is one where I’ll always wait in his line and I’ll go up to him and shout, ‘Rooker!’ and he’ll say, ‘Barrowman, you asshole!’ We have this banter together and the fans love it when stuff like that happens. I’ll get him on the floor and there was one time when I told him to get in heels to see if we can walk in them and he just said, ‘Bring it on, bring it on!’ [Laughs] I love it.
Now, on Saturday at 12.45, I believe, you’ll be part of a brilliantly titled panel called "Adventures with John Barrowman." Can you give us some ideas about what fans can expect from that?
This is what you can expect from a John Barrowman panel: to expect the unexpected! The way I structure it, it’s almost like an hour of stand-up. I tell two stories at the top which are usually funny stories from my life or things that have happened on the way to the convention. I’m always looking around me and aware of what’s going on to see where the humour and comedy is in something. Then, I go right to questions because I like to feed off of the fan-family asking the questions because I’m a vampire. That usually gets a laugh. I let them do the questions and it’s usually a 50-minute Q&A of me taking them. Some of them, depending on the age group, can be basic so I’ll have to go off on a tangent, tell a story, and let it become something else. It’s unexpected. I may sing. I usually get asked to sing at a panel, but I’m always caught off-guard. It’s always hard to think of a song to sing off the top of my head, but we usually work something out. It’s a great hour of entertainment. It’s fun, it involves cosplay, and there’s going to be a surprise bit to that this upcoming weekend. It will be a really, really good panel. It always is and everybody who goes says, ‘There’s nothing like a John Barrowman panel.’
I know your Doctor Who fans are going to be so excited to meet you next weekend, but what are your thoughts on Russell T Davies’ Whoniverse return and the fact we’re getting a diverse, openly queer, lead in Ncuti Gatwa?
Russell has always been passionate about Doctor Who for a very, very long time. We all know that. During our tenure - David and I like to call it ‘The Golden Age’ - [Laughs] Russell was breaking all the ground rules and barriers at that time, anyway. Ncuti, I think, will be absolutely wonderful and should bring a different dynamic and energy to it. The excitement will still be there obviously and I’ve always said to the fan-family, in particular when a lot of changes happen with Doctor Who, everyone will be like, ‘Blah, blah, blah,’ but you know what, we go on the journey in the TARDIS for what that and the Doctor stands for and the excitement it’s going to take us on. The lesson we should have learned from the Doctor is it’s not always what they look like, but what’s in those hearts that we fall in love with. Russell has always been the one to break the ground rules and barriers and I remember him saying a long, long time ago, that he’d love to have a character played by a transgender person playing a trans person on the show. He’s doing what he said he always wanted to do. Even with Captain Jack, that was groundbreaking at the time. He’s going to have another realm to be groundbreaking in, opening up more doors, and rightly so. Some people might get upset by it, but you know what, change has to happen.
I loved Torchwood and, you know, it could have easily been a spin-off that just came and went before being forgotten, but it’s had real staying power and there’s still so much love for that original team; are you surprised to see how popular it remains?
I’m in awe of how popular it is. I’m surprised. I knew we had an opportunity when we did it because Torchwood was the first spin-off, if you want to call it that, which ever worked. This was before The Sarah Jane Adventures because that also worked, but Torchwood was first. To think it helped build BBC Three and then we were on BBC Two and BBC One before going to the U.S. Torchwood was the first groundbreaking series - and I’m not taking anything away from Doctor Who - to basically become that international network leader in that way. Doctor Who now, though, is obviously joining that Disney franchise but I can’t believe how popular it is and how strongly people feel about the characters. I also have been very passionate about it over the years by keeping that brand alive and by talking about it. I think I’ve been a great brand ambassador for both Torchwood and Doctor Who at times when it might have had a lull. We kept it going and kept it at the forefront, and I’m incredibly appreciative to the fan-family who have been a part of keeping Torchwood alive and still, to this day and as recently as two days ago, having it trend online. It’s just mind-boggling. I think what made it so popular is Russell was writing about people who were identifiable to the audience and they had the same issues, problems, and dynamics. They weren’t hiding that behind what was happening, even though that was taking place around aliens and the Hub and sci-fi. We’ve really stretched the limit in terms of television going back to Star Trek and that famous kiss between Uhura and Captain Kirk. That’s why I’m still amazed. Captain Jack has become iconic and I’m so chuffed by that.
And with Russell back, do you think there could be more Captain Jack in your future?
I don’t know! I’ve always said this: if I’m asked back, I will do it at the drop of a hat because I love the show. I love Torchwood, Captain Jack, and Doctor Who. I’ve loved it since I was five years old and my first episode, that I watched, was the Autons with John Pertwee and my mother had to hide me under her coat when I walked in front of a store window because I thought the mannequins were going to attack me. When I was signed on for Doctor Who with Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper and I wasn’t allowed to say anything because I signed at the same time they did, when I saw the first episode was about the Autons, I knew my life was about to change. I knew I was on to something. That’s why, again, if I’m asked to come back…Captain Jack, Torchwood, and Doctor Who were life-changing for me. I would never ever, ever turn my back on them.
While I have you, I know you were a huge part of the Arrowverse and that era for DC sadly ended with The Flash this year; as someone who was in 75 plus episodes of those shows, how do you feel about that and your legacy as Malcolm Merlyn?
Again, who knew? When I was asked to play Merlyn, I was on the phone with Greg Berlanti and the rest of the production team. They basically came to me and said, ‘We love Doctor Who and Captain Jack and we’d like to bring you into the Arrowverse. Would you be interested in playing this villain?’ I said to them, ‘How long will I be with you?’ and they told me, ‘You’ll be there for a very long time.’ Malcolm was the first character in the Arrowverse to then jump from show to show to show. I was able to play Malcolm in different ways across them which was a challenge but also really interesting. On Legends of Tomorrow, I took from my Captain Jack years where, in Torchwood he was a leader and, in Doctor Who, he was a follower. I was able to do that, but the difference was Malcolm was evil as shit and just didn’t hold back. The big thing when I was playing him was, if he smiles at you, you’re head. He would always keep it straight-laced and straightforward, but if he had a smiles on his face, you were gonna die and that was it.
Stephen [Amell] and I had a great relationship and he’s a neighbour of mine in Palm Springs. In fact, my husband Scott designed his house and I’m the reason he moved here probably because I’d say he needed to get away from Vancouver winters and come here when he’s not filming. Anyway, long story short, I am so proud of the fanbase and fan-family Whovians who came over from Doctor Who and Torchwood and followed me to give me a try as a new character and also fell in love with him. I don’t know why they did and would love to have the formula of when I play a character to know why it happens. I mean, you’re talking about one of the most evil villains in the DC world and people are like, ‘I love him but I hate him.’ For me, that’s the best comment ever! Particularly when couples come up to talk to me and they’re Malcolm Merlyn fans. I’ll say to one of them, I’ll look at their partner and say, ‘They like the bad guy.’ That brings a smile to everybody’s face [Laughs]. I had no idea he’d take off like that and to be in so many episodes and be part of that creative process to create that world is just incredible. Stemming from it, as with Torchwood and Doctor Who, my sister and I co-wrote the Malcolm Merlyn backstory for DC in the Dark Archer. That was incredible and will always be in existence. We’ve written Torchwood comics too. That’s why I say they’re life-changing, and again, I’d never turn my back on them. To go back to the beginning, that’s why I love doing the conventions. It’s because of the fans and the fan-family and the love. It’s changed who I am.
We often hear about celebrities at conventions possibly putting on a mask or helmet so they can mingle with the crowds incognito; is that something you’ve ever done or that you might be doing?
Every convention I’ve gone to, and you can put this out online and I’m sure the answer would be, ‘Yeah, John Barrowman walks around like everybody else…just as himself!’ And I do, because I am a nerd. I am a geek. I love going around and shopping and finding all the bits and bobs.
[At this point in the video, John gives us a tour around his geeky memorabilia collection, including props from his TV work, his Star Wars collection, and even the Torchwood Dalek in his front room - you can watch that starting at the 23:45 point in the video above]
It’s been thirty-plus years that I’ve been collecting, but even from when I was a kid, I still have the original Matchbox cars and things. I’ve thought about opening an online vintage toy store because I’ve got some cool memorabilia. I’ve got every script from Doctor Who and Torchwood signed [Laughs].
As we’ve discussed, fans will soon be able to see you at FAN EXPO San Francisco, but while we have you, is there anything you can tell us about what’s next for you and where we should be on the lookout for you?
All I say in that aspect is if you follow me on social media because I don’t like talking about thing prior because if they don’t happen, I don’t like people to be disappointed. There are things coming up, including some other conventions and things that might involve singing. Just keep an eye on my social media because the fan-family will always be the first to know!