Torchwood - the Rift...

[fajrdrako]

I have been greatly enjoying people's reports of The Rift, a Torchwood convention going on right now in the UK.

Lucky them.

Attending actors include Kai Owen (how I'd love to see him!), Eve Myles, Gareth David-Lloyd and James Marsters. Some fans, like tavven, have been kind enough to make reports on what they said.

A few highlights:

Gareth David-Lloyd on fanfic: "I like the pure filth of it." It seems to me that only a few years ago, actors were throwing fits because their roles were being featured in slash stories online and in zines. Now? They're cool about it. This delights me.

Asked where Ianto lives, he said, "I haven't got a fucking clue." Just like the rest of us!

Gareth David-Lloyd on the reading of the audio-novels: "They either haven't got round to it or they think I'm rubbish." Since he was one of the most beautiful reading voices on the show, this seems incredible.

Eve Myles on On being a role model for young girls: "Best thing in the world." Turns out she's a big Buffy fan.

Kai Owen on Rhys getting a crush on Jack: "Why not?" I love it when the actors say things that encourage me to write what I want to write.

James Marsters on advice for struggling actors: "He said that every human being is beautiful and interesting enough to tell their stories. Actors have a tendency to cover up who they are with some carefully thought out plan, but what they should do is just learn their lines, just show up and just do it, and accept the fact that they're interesting."

James Marsters on weaponry: "He's good with swords and knives (the result of doing Shakespeare plays), but he doesn't like guns – they're not sexy." Yeah. I'd love to see more swordplay in Torchwood. It would be fine if it was from Captain John.

There was some chatter about the possibility of a Jack/Ianto/John triangle, and then Gareth came out with The Gareth-ism Of The Day: "Can I have two Captains with a Ianto-filling, please? Toasted." *mass fangirl explosion* - I bet there was!

Gareth David-Lloyd on three things he could do with a stopwatch: "Stop. Count. Reset."

Sums it up!

Comments

[elebridith]

Big Mexican Wave for Gareth! And that "toasted" thing *so* should be a T-Shirt!!!
*massive gigglefit*

[dameruth.livejournal.com]

Gareth David-Lloyd on fanfic: "I like the pure filth of it."

Okay, he gets a virtual cookie for that comment! XD

[cionaudha.livejournal.com]

Oh, he gets a whole batch of my very best chocolate chip cookies hot from the oven, with a milk chaser.

It makes me wonder something. When an actor reads porn starring their character, are they reading it as something happening to them, or something remote from them? Eh, I'm not expressing this well. When actors hate the inevitable porn, is it because it's too personal or because they just feel "ew" about it in general? When an actor loves it, does it make them horny to be manipulated, or just glad their character has a good sex life? Or...?

I imagine (but I don't know) that there's a complicated relationship between an actor and a character than no one else has ever played. Gareth is and will be the only Ianto. When a guy plays Hamlet, there's not the personal identification.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

And that "toasted" thing *so* should be a T-Shirt!!!

Oh, absolutely! I want one!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

So he does.

But his comments got me thinking... When I watch Torchwood, I see Ianto as a fairly complex and sensitive character, in many ways an innocent caught up in terrible and dangerous events, a youth for Jack's mentoring in the same way that Jack was mentored and guided by the Doctor. It's a coming of age for Ianto, a transformation of his life, a growth experience, and rediscovery of life through love.

And then we hear Gareth David-Lloyd talking about Ianto and he sounds like a slut, pure and simple.

I think this is because (to a large extent) Gareth David-Lloyd is playing to the fans. As they all are. Not because he is oversimplifying Ianto. But it does give me a bit of... cognitive dissonance.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

When an actor reads porn starring their character, are they reading it as something happening to them, or something remote from them?

I suspect that depends on the actor. Many are fascinated. Twenty years ago, they used to be offended and angered, but I don't think that happens much now. I think it's a bit like having their own action figures - it's a sign that they are popular with the fans, that they are lusted after enough for people to write about their sex lives.

I think in fact that actors are rather good at not really identifying with their characters, because - it's like a writer writing about fictional characters: they know the craft that goes into it, they know the reality. Ianto is probably more 'real' to us as a person in many ways than he is to Gareth David-Lloyd.

At the same time, it's Gareth's face and body being admired. That's got to be a kick.

When actors hate the inevitable porn, is it because it's too personal or because they just feel "ew" about it in general?

Could be either or both. That might depend what the actor feels about porn in general. Or sex in general. Obviously Gareth isn't exactly uptight about the subject.

Gareth is and will be the only Ianto. When a guy plays Hamlet, there's not the personal identification.

Good point. Without Gareth, there would be no Ianto. (Someone else could have been given the role, but that would be another Ianto.) So there must be proprietary feelings because of that.

At the same time, Gareth has no control or ownership of the role - however much of himself and his talents goes into it, he depicts Ianto as instructed
by the director, and as written by the scriptwriter.

[dameruth.livejournal.com]

I can imagine a whole range of possible reactions, as you list above -- heck, you see it with authors, too. I think some creative folks really consider the fictional characters they play/write as being extensions of themselves . . . in which case I can understand why porny fanfic would be really upsetting/creepy to them.

OTOH, people who don't feel such a close connection between the character and themselves in RL can probably take it all in better humor, and see it as an expression of fan approval, no matter how odd.

I have to admit, I've often cringed at the idea of what the actors might think if they ever read some of my more outre fanfic (especially since physical descriptions of the characters are based closely on the actors' appearence, for obvious reasons), and desperately hoping they would understand the difference between me writing about the characters and me writing about *them.* RPS (and even real-person fic) is a big squick-area for me because it specifically removes that layer of distance, and I would never want to cross that line. But different people see that line in different places, as it were . . .

I'm kinda rambling, but that sums up some of my thoughts (coherently, I hope).

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

you see it with authors, too.

Yes. And with authors, I think it's more personal, because the character comes from their mind and heart. And there are proprietary issues of copyright. And some writers are all right knowing that there is fanfic about their characters, and some throw a fit.

The actor's appearance is indeed significant to the fic. Centrally. Obviously Gareth has no problem with it - and his comments don't give any clue as to what he would think about RPS, which he probably wouldn't want to articulate to the fans regardless.

RPS is indeed a strange subject. It used to squick me; now i just see it as another form of fanfic, although not one that (usually) interests me much. But as with so much, that also depends on the characters involved - and I found that when I did want to read RPS, it was not about the actors who portrayed the fictional characters I liked to see slashed. Well, not usually. And I don't know why. Just... matters of perception.

[dameruth.livejournal.com]

I see the same things in the onscreen Ianto as you do -- which makes me doubt they could be there without some conscious effort on GDL's part (even if it's just him working to conform to the writers'/directors' instructions).

It sounds like he's probably playing to the crowd, as you put it, and probably having a little fun; I know I often say humorous things like that about characters I'm writing (in fanfic and in my own work)(i.e. -- "he's an idiot, but everyone loves him anyway") without undermining the fact that I can and do write serious and hopefully multilayered things about said character.

Again, though, that's just my little corner of reality . . . ;)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I see the same things in the onscreen Ianto as you do -- which makes me doubt they could be there without some conscious effort on GDL's part

Indeed. Even if he's "just doing the script" (and it's clear he's doing a lot more than that), he has a good awareness of what is there, what the character is about, and how he's doing it.

And in truth, he wasn't attending a serious acting symposium or a literary conference about Torchwood, he was facing a crowd of fans who wanted to be entertained, and he could give them what they want. So he plays up Ianto's sexiness, a pretty basic common denominator for fans in general. It isn't the time or place for serious exigesis, it's a time and place for clever and quotable answers to questions that are (mostly) as superficial and they sound.

without undermining the fact that I can and do write serious and hopefully multilayered things about said character.

Yes, exactly. Me too.

And I'm probably in the minority in wanting some really serious commentary from Gareth or the writers on Ianto's character.

Which isn't to say that the sex-jokes aren't fun, either.

[cionaudha.livejournal.com]

He's just having fun. He seems to be answering the questions in the spirit asked.

But I too want whole symposia about Ianto Jones.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

He's just having fun. He seems to be answering the questions in the spirit asked.

Yes, exactly. He's having fun, his audience is having fun, and we who get it all vicariously are enjoying it just as much.

But we know there's more to Ianto than that!

(Which doesn't mean that his sexuality is not what interests most of us most - !)

[cionaudha.livejournal.com]

Ianto is probably more 'real' to us as a person in many ways than he is to Gareth David-Lloyd.

That's interesting. Another factor in the Ianto-Gareth identification is that I've never seen him do anything else, so when I'm watching Ianto I have no way of knowing how much is fundamentally Gareth... You know, those physical aspects of an actor that show up in every part he plays because they are him. Ianto's trademark hands-on-hips: characterization decision by Gareth? Or just Gareth? For example.


it's Gareth's face and body being admired. That's got to be a kick.

Well, I'll tell ya. If he were my boyfriend, we'd be trying out a few favorite things from fics. To, uh, expand his understanding of Ianto. ;-) It would be either uncomfortably weird or incredibly hot. I'm betting on hot.


Obviously Gareth isn't exactly uptight about the subject.

Bless.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Ianto's trademark hands-on-hips: characterization decision by Gareth? Or just Gareth? For example.

Good question. I don't know the answer. I suspect it is Ianto, but a characteristic given him by Gareth - but I'm guessing. Might be a directorial thing.

we'd be trying out a few favorite things from fics. To, uh, expand his understanding of Ianto. ;-)

The things an actor will do for his career.

[cionaudha.livejournal.com]

The things an actor will do for his career.

And behind every great actor is a woman with a strap-on. ;-)

*things I would do for Ianto*

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

*things I would do for Ianto*

1. write fic!

[cionaudha.livejournal.com]

Nobody wants that, believe me!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Well, read fic, then.

[cionaudha.livejournal.com]

I read almost all the Ianto!fic and Ianto/Jack!fic I can find. It kind of takes on a new interest now that we know that Gareth reads the porny ones. :-D

There was even a dubious-consent one --which I would usually avoid-- that was really pretty interesting and thoughtfully written.

So you see, I am expanding my readership horizons for him. ;-)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Expanding horizons is good. Especially under these circumstances.

[cionaudha.livejournal.com]

Bloody Torchwood. STEELIN MAH BRANE!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It does that. Its specialty.

I do not disapprove. I'm there already. Brain thoroughly held in a captive jar, archived by Ianto.

[cionaudha.livejournal.com]

Oh, here it is.

Title: Moving In (http://ukcalico.livejournal.com/284266.html)
Author: ukcalico
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Summary: Ianto's first day at work. AKA, Oblivious Jack is oblivious!

As I said, dubious consent, but not for the sake of it. It asks a question that can't help but be asked, after "Fragments".

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link!