PC EXCLUSIVE: Torchwood's Eve Myles Talks Gwen Cooper, 'Miracle Day,' John Barrowman and Seeing The "Bigger Picture"

Eve Myles, the in demand Welsh actress and Gwen Cooper, the top secret Torchwood agent, tasked with keeping mankind safe from sinister, extraterrestrial threats—alongside her dashing, usually immortal, omnisexual pal Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman)—have more in common than their looks.

After a revealing chat with Myles, who brought her iconic character across the pond in Starz and BBC's joint production of Torchwood: Miracle Day, I learned when it comes to balancing work and motherhood (Myles and partner Bradley Freegard welcomed daughter Matilda Myles Freegard in 2009), whether said work is temporarily relocating to Hollywood for a high profile acting gig or trying to solve "The Miracle," it's all about looking at the bigger picture.

Pop Confidential: Gwen has had an incredibly emotional journey so far in Torchwood: Miracle Day. Not only is she trying to save the world, but also her family, often times at cross purposes. As a mother in real-life have you ever wondered what you would do if you found yourself in Gwen Cooper’s particularly badass shoes?

Eve Myles: No [Pauses] [Laughs]. I don’t actually think I can phrase that any stronger. Absolutely, not. I find it very difficult, I mean I just finished work maybe half an hour ago, from doing 13 hours today, and every second of it aches my body when I’m away from my little girl. On the other hand, I’m working an hour up the road, doing a little drama, whereas Gwen Cooper has to see the bigger picture and save the world—for her little girl—everyday. If she doesn’t do what she does to the best of her ability, well then her little girl will suffer in the end. Unfortunately for Gwen Cooper, she doesn’t have a choice. She has to go ahead and kick ass. Fortunately for the human race Gwen Cooper and Jack Harkness are on their side [Laughs].
 

PC: In last week’s episode Gwen came really close to having to sacrifice her best friend Captain Jack in order to save her family. Do you think if Rex and Esther hadn’t saved the day that she would have been able to go through with it?

EM: Yes. Yes, you’re talking about two militant people. You’re talking about two people who have seen war; who have seen destruction beyond the human eye. You’re talking about people who constantly now live their lives seeing the bigger picture, and there’s no way I [as Gwen] would have seen Captain Jack Harkness kill himself [by turning himself over]. There’s no way. The man is a soldier and a hero and he needs a hero’s death. He needs to be taken out by a friend. You wouldn’t see an animal in pain. You’d make sure it was over as quickly as possible; and as a friend, you would do that for your best friend, absolutely.

PC: I mentioned Rex and Esther earlier. As a Team Torchwood veteran, what has it been like a.) for Gwen to have to welcome these newbies on board? And b.) What has the experience been like for Eve?

EM: For Gwen, these new characters coming in are helping hands. Anyone who can help in this situation, she’s going to use and abuse 100 times over. Anyone, especially, with any sort of CIA or FBI intelligence, she’s gonna grab with both hands. Anyone with the experience that Esther has with technology in her field is very, very important to what they’re trying to find out. It’s also nice for Gwen to have a female of her kind with her. I hope the audience feels that I’ve filled the job of mentoring Esther in the way that Jack kind of mentored Gwen in the first season of Torchwood. She’s [Gwen] trying to protect her, but also not coddle her too much along the way. She’s [Esther] got to know the danger. Having these new spirits around her [Gwen] is great. Obviously there was a bad beginning with Rex because they came together under dreadful circumstances and what he had to do to get her to America, separating her from her family, which was separating a lioness from her cub. It’s the worst thing you can possibly do to somebody like Gwen Cooper; it’s dreadful. But once again, you look at the bigger picture and there’s a larger conflict to solve. The sooner it’s solved, the quicker she can get back to her family. As for me, having Mekhi Phifer and Alexa Havins there was absolutely spectacular. They are two phenomenal actors, two brilliant friends and I wish them all the luck with their futures, hopefully to be with us in Torchwood.

PC: You and John Barrowman have such a ready chemistry. Was that always the case, or has it developed over the years?

EM: They have it written into my contract that if I am to ever work with John Barrowman again, they have to pay me twice as much. It was absolutely the most difficult time of my life. He’s so ungenerous; he’s dreadful to look at and he’s very, very unkind. So they were very kind to write up a new contract for me that says every time I’m on set with him I get extra money for it. He’s awful, awful [Laughs]. He’s my best friend. I love him. I admire him. I need him. In the same sense that Gwen and Jack have a smashing, smashing type of relationship, I’m never happier than when I’m on set with John.

PC: American audiences embraced Dr. Who and Torchwood long before the BBC partnered with Starz for Torchwood: Miracle Day, but this is the first installment in the mythology filmed and set largely outside of the U.K. How has that experience been for you as a Welsh actress and for the character of Gwen?

EM: For myself, I have a beautiful daughter of my own, a little baby, and a partner, who is also an actor and a dog. I have my own family. Taking off for Los Angeles was of course a dream come true; It was wonderful, but the reality and the actual nitty gritty of it was that my partner had to give up work for a year to look after our daughter, and my daughter had to do two long haul flights, and my dog…I had to set up home in a completely different country, which was very much like Ms. Gwen Cooper. It’s kind of strange how life imitates art sometimes, you know [Laughs]?  It was wonderful and given the chance, I’d go back and do it again in a heartbeat.

Check out the latest episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day tonight at 10 pm EST on Starz.