I really enjoyed getting to see you and Burn play different versions of your characters. "Confident Tosh" is still the same person, but a variation. How did you approach playing that version of your character?
Well, it was really strange, because first of all, us playing those different characters was first up in the second series shooting schedule. So it was really strange to go in, like, the first week of work on the shoot to be playing a different character. And me and Burn were constantly talking to everybody going, "This is so strange -- we're back at Torchwood, filming, but it's not feeling like we're filming Torchwood," because we were playing very different characters. But it was great fun. And I think one of the things I kept in mind was not to go too far with "Confident Tosh," because it still has to be Tosh.
I could totally see that -- it's very underplayed, the differences.
And we could have gone really far with it, but one always wants to keep it realistic.
I have to say, though, I loved sweet, geeky Owen. I want him back!
I know, right? I think there's a bit of that inside him. It's a glorious thing, I really loved it. And I'm not used to playing a sort of -- especially having played Tosh for a while, it was such a change to be the sort of overtly sexually confident Tosh.
And storming out and saying the things she says to Owen.
Oh, it was horrible, horrible. Really uncomfortable. And what was hilarious was -- you mentioned about Tosh's flat. Basically the first month of shooting on the second season, what we call the first bloc, was just two episodes, and it was the Tommy episode and the Adam episode. So what happened was, on the day we were filming in Tosh's flat, because my flat this year was on location, we had to cram in as many scenes that were happening in her flat on that day. So in the morning I was kissing Tommy, and then Tommy would leave, Adam would come in, and we would be doing our scene -- and then Adam would leave, and then Tommy came back and we'd do our scene again. It was so bizarre.
Wow, Tosh is a right whore this season!
[laughing] I know! And towards the end of the day they were like, "Okay, we've only got two hours left!" and I was like, "You know what, can I at least gargle with Listerine? Because I'm snogging two different guys and I feel very cheap right now."
"Can't we at least have dinner first?"
"Can't you at least change the sheets?" [giggling] Yeah. A very, very weird day that was.
It really showed that you and Burn were having so much fun playing "Confident Tosh" and "Geeky Owen."
Oh, it was such fun. And you know, Owen and Burn are both very cool people, and I'm always playing the geek. So it was like, "Revenge!"
If Tosh and Owen get closer, and you have Ianto and Jack, that means only Gwen gets to have a lasting romance outside of Torchwood [with her fiancé, Rhys] -- which is cool because that goes back to how her character was introduced in the pilot. Do you think they'll hold onto that, that Tosh and the others can't really have lives outside Torchwood?
Yes, I think so. And not that that's going to stop them trying to have a life outside. But I think as the day goes on, it's like a hothouse effect, like in a pressure cooker, and there are consequences to what we do. Gwen in that sense is very lucky to have an outlet outside of Torchwood. But that brings about other consequences as well. It's kind of a no-win situation in a way.
Jack has said that that's why they need her.
She is the one who is, not exactly the lifeline, but the one who has the most contact with reality.
But I was glad to see Rhys get sucked into the game [in "Meat"] -- it was kind of inevitable, but it was good to see he was okay with it, and for him and Jack to interact.
Yeah.
So for the American viewers just starting out with the second series, what can you tell us about what to expect?
You know what, there's so much that happens and I wish I could tell you, but I can't, they'll shoot me. There's so much coming up. I think this is well known, we have Freema [Agyeman] from Doctor Who coming in to guest star [as Martha Jones, in episodes 2x06 through 2x08]. We have great guest stars coming up, we have people like Alan Dale, who you know from Ugly Betty [also in 2x06]. There's so many twists and turns, and there's a lot of surprises.
James Marsters is coming back, too [as Captain John Hart]. I think he said somewhere that he loved doing Torchwood because you guys really knew how to have fun.
[laughs] That we know. Yes. Yes. We are experts in that. It's ridiculous. We are like naughty schoolkids on set. We're constantly being told off for making too much noise and having too much fun. And it's hilarious, because we have a separate show called Torchwood Declassified, it's like a behind-the-scenes thing. They have a horrific time on set, because a lot of what they shoot is unbroadcastable. So they're constantly like, "C'mon, guys, can you stop doing this, or taking your clothes off or whatever, and be a bit more civilized?"
I'd never have thought that someone could make [hyperkinetic Doctor Who star] David Tennant look calm and sedate by comparison.
[laughing] Really! But by no means, we're not, like, freaky and we love different people coming on set, whether they be guest stars or whatever, and we're very welcoming and in fact we probably get overexcited when there's a new face, and we're all like, "Hi!! Be my friend!!"
So Freema must have been a bit overwhelmed, especially having five costars instead of one.
Oh my god. But she's great, because she fitted in straight away. In fact everyone who's been on the show fitted in straight away. We had such a ball with Freema. She knew our language, and she was running off with us and having lots of fun and naughtiness and stuff.
