Whovians and Wholigans know and love him as Captain Jack Harkness from such series as BBC’s Doctor Who and Torchwood, current watchers of CW’s Arrow know him as Malcolm Merlyn, and scores of fans know him as simply himself, John Barrowman.  (Also don’t forget the CLASSIC Shark Attack 3: Megalodon!) I had the pleasure of a few minutes of John’s time to talk to him about his upcoming appearance at the Hollywood Show at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel THIS WEEKEND.  Aside from having a pretty awesome celebrity autograph thing going on, there is also a FANTASTIC auction happening as well!  I had some moments reading through the catalogue.

John: Ok hi!  We’re going to have to get right into it because I have a lot of other people calling, EVERYONE IS CALLING and I don’t want you to miss out on your time.

Aggressive:  Well aren’t you popular today!  But really, when aren’t you popular, goodness.

John:  *laughs*  Um, when I’m sick throwing up, or in the bathroom!

Aggressive:  Oh no I hate it when that happens!  But ok, I understand you’re going to be making an appearance this weekend at the Hollywood Show!

John:  I am.  This is something that’s come up last minute because of my filming schedule for Arrow has changed, I was supposed to be going up there (Vancouver) this week, I would have been up there right now.  But, I have the whole week off, and I’m not going up there til the middle of next week, which means that I had the weekend free, and they called and asked if I’d be available and I said ‘YUP, I’m available now, let’s do it!  And lets get as many people as possible to come and see me’, I’m kind of going into this with what I call the “jump of a cliff” attitude where we just see what happens.

Aggressive:  That is totally the way to go about doing these things, I mean the times I’ve seen you at conventions you totally LIVE that attitude, and it shows, it totally shows.

John:  Ohhhh, why thank you.

Aggressive:  And you are hilarious.  Especially at DragonCon.  I mean, almost everyone is hilarious there, but you in particular I recall having me in stitches on your panel last year.

John:  *laughs*  Oh I have to be quite honest, I don’t remember what all I did,  but I know that all of my panels have something unique that I bring to them and I like to have fun.  And I’m not in any way inhibited by the “oh, I shouldn’t do this, I shouldn’t behave like that”, I’m John Barrowman, and I’ll behave how I want to behave.  As long as the fans love and enjoy it, and laugh, that’s the most important thing.  That I’m giving something back, for the great rollercoaster ride they’ve giving me at the moment, so I’m happy just to be wild and fun.

AG:  Well then you’re doing what you want, because it really is showing.  I know the fans of yours that I’ve spoken to are extremely thankful that you treat appearances like that, that you act like that, it’s very genuine.  And also, you should go to HawaiiCon, oh my word.  I think you would have a blast there.

John:  Well I’m just waiting to hear back from them, tell them to book me!

AG:  Ok, so, I was reading through your IMDB credits, like you do, and one of the Trivia tidbits mentioned on it is that performed as Mr. Bumble in a production of Oliver?

John:  That’s right!  In High School.  I did, I was big Mr. Bumble!  I remember, the only other time I’ve played an overweight person was when I played the Priest in “Man of le Mancha”.  I made a character, and totally had some fun with it.  *laughs*  It’s so funny, I actually don’t know what else to say, it was such a long time ago.

AG:  Another thing I’ve noticed lately is you’re working on a new album, through PledgeMusic.  Tell me a little about that.

John:  Well, we’re almost done, and it’s a funny thing because it was all the American fans saying I should do this thing through Pledge, and ironically not many of them have pledged, it’s all the British fans who’ve been doing the pledging.  So if you can tweet, or get people to do it, we’re hoping to get over the amount needed because to be honest with you WE’RE ALMOST THERE, only a couple thousand away.  The album is actually finished, but now all the bills are needing to get paid.  It’s a wonderful thing, because my fans have given me the freedom to do the music that I love to sing, and also that the fans want to hear.  So this one to me, is probably my best album so far.  I was just reviewing one of the tracks because they’re being sent to me now to listen to, and I actually started crying while listening to it because I couldn’t believe how awesome it sounded.  It’s again just this amazing opportunity the fans have given me.  And the American fans should pledge, because it’s like $12.  And any extra we get will be moving forward to the next album which would either be a Christmas album or another new one for next year.  And the more Americans who find out about and like my singing, the more likely I am to be doing a concert.

AG:  How is Arrow going for you?  Are you enjoying being a part of it?  It sure seems like it.

John:  Oh I am!  I enjoy playing a villain, and it’s been a great gig because I’m obviously not in every episode, so I get to go do a bit of Arrow, I get to back to the UK and do my entertainment shows, do things like The Hollywood Show.  I have another show in May coming out on ABC called Sing Your Face Off, so there’s a lot happening.  And there are some BIG changes coming on Arrow, so I just say “Watch the Space.”

AG:  If there was another fandom/fanbase you could get into, since you were in Doctor Who and Torchwood and now Arrow with all the DC fans, what would it be?

John:  Well right off the bat, I’d want to do Marvel.  I’d REALLY love to do a Marvel movie.  OR a DC movie, you know to play a DC character on the big screen.  I’d also love to get involved in the comic book realm of DC or Marvel, and in fact I’ve spoken to Andrew Kreisberg our producer who started doing the Arrow comics for DC, and I said that my sister and I would be VERY interested in doing either a Merlyn series or a Dark Archer or a couple of one-ofs in the Arrow comic book series.  Those are the two realms, I want to start doing stuff on the big screen and a little bit more on the small screen, but delving into the different genres, and of course people go “OH YOU CAN’T BE IN BOTH”, and YES YOU CAN, you can do anything you want! *laughs*

AG:  YOU totally could.  It’s happened a few times now, after all.

John:  Well of course, I’m like Jack, I go both ways so it’s alright!

AG:  *laughs*  Oh dude, I could TOTALLY see you making a kickass Doctor Strange.  That would be amazing.

John:  That.  Would. Be.  AWWWWWWESOME.

AG:  AND it’s one of the characters they’re talking about casting right now.  Heck yeah, I’m totally gonna beat that drum now.  That’s gonna be a thing.  Oh I know you have to go, lots of others to speak to today.

John:  Aww, I do, yeah, one has already tried to beep through once and I’ve just ignored them to finish here with you!  But thanks so much for YOUR time, and DON’T FORGET TO HAVE PEOPLE PLEDGE AND COME SEE ME THIS WEEKEND!