An evening with Kai Owen - detailed con report
I'm back from a nice weekend. Yesterday I was at my first Torchwood convention. Only about 50 fans and one actor. But a very cute one - Kai Owen, who plays Rhys, the husband of Gwen. He beat Gareth David-Lloyd in being the first TW star who has come to Germany (Gareth will be at the Fedcon at the end of April)
So, I met a lot of new friends, put some faces to online names and overall had a good time. Before the official event begun, our forum members even had the possibility of meeting Kai in an even smaller circle, which also was very nice. When he was on stage later he was an entertainer, always asking for questions, especially the quiet people. One teenage girl won his heart with asking the most questions, he even called her "darling".
He also had learnt some German expressions, like "Guten Abend" (Good evening), "Ich freue mich hier zu sein" (I'm happy to be here) and "Ausziehen" (take off clothes). He said this and opened his shirt, and of course we did not complain ;)
He doesn't know anything about a new Torchwood series, he is as clueless as the rest of us and waiting for green light. He will be a dad in one week and checked his mobile phone very often for news. He played again the scene with "Aliens? In Cardiff?!?" for us. He only has good things to say about Eve, she is the best actor he ever played with and always gives him so much to work with. "As long as Gwen is in Torchwood I have a job". He loves David Tennant, he said he made him cry with his last episode and that is something special, if an actor can connect with the audience like that. He also looks forward to Matt Smith. He adores Billie Piper, and he thinks the show "Over the Rainbow" is not the same without John being there as a judge. He also mentioned that John's show "Tonight's the night" got a second season. He liked the German beer and drank quite some of 'em ;) And learnt the word "Hefeweizen".
In the night from Saturday to Sunday we put the clock on light saving time (meaning, moving one hour forward), and he mentioned that his plane already goes at 8.15 h the next morning. Uaaah!
When he was younger he already was over in Frankfurt for a few times at Christmas time, enjoying Glühwein and beer. And he is prepairing for a marathon, and just the day before yesterday ran 20 miles. His favourite TW episode is "Meat", when Rhys finds out about Gwen's job. And the one where "Gwen lost her marbles", "Adam", where she suddenly did not recognize her husband anymore. And he told us a secret: in the episode where he was laying round dead in the HUB he had an earpad of an I-phone in one ear (the one you don't see on camera) and listened to music while laying there. I could not help it, even though I did not have the microphone at the time I called out, "How can you be still while listening to music?!?" I thought that was incredible, since I am always moving and swinging. His simple answer: "Because I can!" LOL (And he looked right at me *aw*)
They tried to get out of him how he felt when Gwen was holding him in her arms and crying, thinking he was dead, but all he thought was "This blood is sticky - and John had garlic". LOL As you can see, we LOLed a lot.
The worst scene he ever played was lying on the potatoes with Gwen in "Children of Earth". It was very uncomfortable and they were all blue afterwards. And he said about himself he is a big softie. You never know if you work with them again. So, they had the last scene of shooting, the one where the soldiers try to get the children, and then he just left, going home without knowing whether there would be another season, and without any wrap party. They are totally shooting out of synch, not only scenes, also episodes. Episode seven might be the first one they shoot. It is a nightmare to put the schedule together. The teenage girl - "Yes, my darling?" - asked, how he did manage to act so surprised when all he saw was a green screen. This was about the scene with the big whale which of course was not there in reality. Only somebody holding things so that they have something to look at, because it would be odd if everybody looked into a different direction. He acted it for us - "This is his eye!" - and somebody else: "This is his tail!" So, it is difficult, but they need to do it right and then the audience believes it, too.
He is a massive Dr. Who fan, he grew up with Tom Baker. He also grew up with the series. His wive Sarah loves John Barrowman since she first saw him in "The Fix". Kai also loves Christopher Eccleston. He asked the audience who was a David Tennant fan and who liked Christopher Eccleston more. It actually was equal. He was surprised that there were so many CE fans and then we started to discuss what had made him so special and different as the doctor. If he could have played any other character in "Torchwood" he would have loved to play Ianto. He then suddenly asked if we wanted some of the booze somebody had given to him (selfmade). He ordered 20 glasses and we all were drinking a small ammount. That was a lot of fun. And another German word he had learnt: "Prost!" He also told a bit about his charity, helping families with kids with children cancer.
Somebody started to ask a question about which work... and he fell in: "I wouldn't do porn!" LOL But the question actually was, whether he would prefer theatre or TV work. He agreed that "any work is better than no work". He said, most actors prefer TV, because it is paid better. You get for two weeks the same you might get for three months at the theatre. He has done "Snow White and the seven dwarfs" one time. It suddenly was very quiet in the audience, nobody said anything, and he acted as if the micro was broken - moving his lips but no sound came out.
He hasn't done any pantos recently, as they not even get a free day at Christmas day and he loves spending time with the family at Christmas. And now especially when he will have a child. But this year he might do a panto, he has for a baby to care, and it might be asleep anyway. But when it's older he wants to spend Christmas with it.
He agrees that Torchwood America would not be the same like the Cardiff based one. If he hadn't become an actor he would probably still be a butcher, his family has a little family business in a small town, and he worked there.
He wondered why some of us where so quiet and started going around with the mic and holding it at random under some noses, and got more questions by that. He lives in London, and he left home because of supportive school teachers who thought he would be good in acting and helped a lot. He should describe a funny scene from the set and told again about CoE, the scene with Jack and Ianto in the body bag, and Gwen zips them open and John had put a moustache on to make Even laugh. It was Gareth's last day and apparently they all felt a little down. He said (quote): "John coming in being more awake than you've ever seen anybody awake." He can't sing high enough praise about John, he always gives his best if people need a bit of lift up. And (another quote): "John's naked a lot". I don't think I need to mention the squeeing? LOL In the scene of Day 2 where John comes naked out of the concrete, he had something that covered his feet because of all the mud, and I believe it also was very cold. Brr.
Kai's favourite music is Queen and Green Day, also Elvis. And musicals like "Wicked", "Spamalot". If there was a movie remake he would like to play Uncle Buck. He thinks only comics deserve being remade. Not movies like "Nightmare on Elm Street". But comics, yeah, he also would like to play Fred Flintstone, Gladiator, Robin Hood. Somebody in the audience also mentioned Indiana Jones, and he laughed ;)
He has no pets, but likes football ("Of course I do like football!!!") - English football, I take it, which you Americans call soccer - and rugby. He asked if there were any Bayern Munich fans among us. Seems there weren't many, but there was a bit football experts talk following with the audience. His greatest fear are heights. And being raped by John Barrowman. No comment from me ;) He also sang the Harwood's advert for us. He then sang the song "I am Barrowman". You can listen to Kai singing it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEOjiFFjaNs
He even also has played in the musical "La Cage aux Folles" in school - the waiter ;) He also played Sweeney Todd. He also loves the musicals "Buddy Holly", "Hairspray", "Avenue Q" and asked whether any of us had seen Naoko in the latter. As he already had said in the private meeting, he mentioned again that the show "Over the Rainbow" is not the same without John's expertise in it. Quote: "The show definitely misses John. John is a star!" and he knows exactly what they are searching for. He had noticed that often when he asked us whether we had seen this or that, that only some of us get the BBC over here, but of course there are other ways to see some things ;) But we said, we couldn't tell him. He absolutely understood and gave us permission whenever we see him on stage, that we are allowed to film him.
Kai asked who is going to the HUB in a few weeks, a few of us he will meet there again. He also recognized some faces from previous events. I think that is very nice! The teenage girl asked another question - if he could live in any universe, movie or book, what would it be? His answer - Hogwarts. He loves this. Some then started to discuss which house, but that is where they lost me as I never read Harry Potter ;) (Edit: I just learnt that the house was "Hufflepuff" and he did a double meaning gesture with it ;) ) He also would like to travel with the TARDIS, to the past to meet his great-great-grandfather, or maybe also to the future. If he could speak to Rhys what would he say? How Gwen was in the bed ;)
He regrets not having learnt to play the piano when he was younger. He likes it, he mentioned Gary Barlow, Elton John. He can't play any instrument. But he is a "bloody good whistler" (as he demonstrated right away). His favourite Queen song is "Spread your wings". Somebody asked if he could say something in Gaelic to us. He corrected "Welsh" and then several times said "In Wales" instead of "In Welsh". He already was at his third or fourth Hefeweizen by that time, so that might explain it ;) He first wanted to sing the Welsh national anthem, but then wanted to do the line "Aliens in Cardiff" but there is no Welsh word for "alien". He asked what the German word was - Außerirdischer.
But he had the Welsh name for Cardiff, which I don't know how to spell actually. It sounded a bit different, though. He also told us a bit about how he met his wive seven years ago, but soon said "I can't tell you no more". If he could meet any person dead or alive, he would like to meet Elvis or Freddie Mercury. Or his grandfather, since he died before he was born. His favourite Elvis songs are "Don't cry Daddy" and "Sweet Caroline". His favourite time in history is the Dickens era. Or also the one with Jack the Ripper (or is that the same one? I don't have much knowledge of British history). He loves comedy like "Curb your enthusiasm", "Family Guy", "Frasier", "Friends", "The Simpsons", "Office". His best vacation was Mexico, with lots of dolphins and Tequila (I'm not sure how these two match, but that's what he said ;) ) He had his best New Years eves in Frankfurt.
The last movie he saw was "Alice in Wonderland". There's an actor in it who also played in TW in the episode "Fragments". Check IMDB if it interests you, I am too tired at the moment. This actor, a friend of him also once worked at the English Theatre in Frankfurt. "The full Monty" I believe it was. Kai's favourite actors are Anthony Hopkins, Morgan Freeman, David Tennant (he again mentioned crying at the last episode). Since he continued to ask for questions the teenage girl finally had him stumped with "Do you know any Pokemons?" LOL He admitted he didn't but we said he might have to learn, since he was becoming a dad now.
He loves cooking, his favourite food is chicken, fresh fish, "anything curry and spicey, the simpler, the better". Anything, even Haggis, it's very good actually. He also likes German food, Glühwein, Wiener Schnitzel, Bratwurst. Somebody asked if he has tried apple wine and he said yes. His favourite subject in school was sports and music. He would not tell us the name of the baby but we soon might hear about it. Somebody asked about the marathon and whether he was doped ;)
That was the end of the panel, I'll tell you about the photo session, raffle, autographs and the rest of the evening tomorrow. There also might be some pictures.
Related links: pictures
.
.
So, I met a lot of new friends, put some faces to online names and overall had a good time. Before the official event begun, our forum members even had the possibility of meeting Kai in an even smaller circle, which also was very nice. When he was on stage later he was an entertainer, always asking for questions, especially the quiet people. One teenage girl won his heart with asking the most questions, he even called her "darling".
He also had learnt some German expressions, like "Guten Abend" (Good evening), "Ich freue mich hier zu sein" (I'm happy to be here) and "Ausziehen" (take off clothes). He said this and opened his shirt, and of course we did not complain ;)
He doesn't know anything about a new Torchwood series, he is as clueless as the rest of us and waiting for green light. He will be a dad in one week and checked his mobile phone very often for news. He played again the scene with "Aliens? In Cardiff?!?" for us. He only has good things to say about Eve, she is the best actor he ever played with and always gives him so much to work with. "As long as Gwen is in Torchwood I have a job". He loves David Tennant, he said he made him cry with his last episode and that is something special, if an actor can connect with the audience like that. He also looks forward to Matt Smith. He adores Billie Piper, and he thinks the show "Over the Rainbow" is not the same without John being there as a judge. He also mentioned that John's show "Tonight's the night" got a second season. He liked the German beer and drank quite some of 'em ;) And learnt the word "Hefeweizen".
In the night from Saturday to Sunday we put the clock on light saving time (meaning, moving one hour forward), and he mentioned that his plane already goes at 8.15 h the next morning. Uaaah!
When he was younger he already was over in Frankfurt for a few times at Christmas time, enjoying Glühwein and beer. And he is prepairing for a marathon, and just the day before yesterday ran 20 miles. His favourite TW episode is "Meat", when Rhys finds out about Gwen's job. And the one where "Gwen lost her marbles", "Adam", where she suddenly did not recognize her husband anymore. And he told us a secret: in the episode where he was laying round dead in the HUB he had an earpad of an I-phone in one ear (the one you don't see on camera) and listened to music while laying there. I could not help it, even though I did not have the microphone at the time I called out, "How can you be still while listening to music?!?" I thought that was incredible, since I am always moving and swinging. His simple answer: "Because I can!" LOL (And he looked right at me *aw*)
They tried to get out of him how he felt when Gwen was holding him in her arms and crying, thinking he was dead, but all he thought was "This blood is sticky - and John had garlic". LOL As you can see, we LOLed a lot.
The worst scene he ever played was lying on the potatoes with Gwen in "Children of Earth". It was very uncomfortable and they were all blue afterwards. And he said about himself he is a big softie. You never know if you work with them again. So, they had the last scene of shooting, the one where the soldiers try to get the children, and then he just left, going home without knowing whether there would be another season, and without any wrap party. They are totally shooting out of synch, not only scenes, also episodes. Episode seven might be the first one they shoot. It is a nightmare to put the schedule together. The teenage girl - "Yes, my darling?" - asked, how he did manage to act so surprised when all he saw was a green screen. This was about the scene with the big whale which of course was not there in reality. Only somebody holding things so that they have something to look at, because it would be odd if everybody looked into a different direction. He acted it for us - "This is his eye!" - and somebody else: "This is his tail!" So, it is difficult, but they need to do it right and then the audience believes it, too.
He is a massive Dr. Who fan, he grew up with Tom Baker. He also grew up with the series. His wive Sarah loves John Barrowman since she first saw him in "The Fix". Kai also loves Christopher Eccleston. He asked the audience who was a David Tennant fan and who liked Christopher Eccleston more. It actually was equal. He was surprised that there were so many CE fans and then we started to discuss what had made him so special and different as the doctor. If he could have played any other character in "Torchwood" he would have loved to play Ianto. He then suddenly asked if we wanted some of the booze somebody had given to him (selfmade). He ordered 20 glasses and we all were drinking a small ammount. That was a lot of fun. And another German word he had learnt: "Prost!" He also told a bit about his charity, helping families with kids with children cancer.
Somebody started to ask a question about which work... and he fell in: "I wouldn't do porn!" LOL But the question actually was, whether he would prefer theatre or TV work. He agreed that "any work is better than no work". He said, most actors prefer TV, because it is paid better. You get for two weeks the same you might get for three months at the theatre. He has done "Snow White and the seven dwarfs" one time. It suddenly was very quiet in the audience, nobody said anything, and he acted as if the micro was broken - moving his lips but no sound came out.
He hasn't done any pantos recently, as they not even get a free day at Christmas day and he loves spending time with the family at Christmas. And now especially when he will have a child. But this year he might do a panto, he has for a baby to care, and it might be asleep anyway. But when it's older he wants to spend Christmas with it.
He agrees that Torchwood America would not be the same like the Cardiff based one. If he hadn't become an actor he would probably still be a butcher, his family has a little family business in a small town, and he worked there.
He wondered why some of us where so quiet and started going around with the mic and holding it at random under some noses, and got more questions by that. He lives in London, and he left home because of supportive school teachers who thought he would be good in acting and helped a lot. He should describe a funny scene from the set and told again about CoE, the scene with Jack and Ianto in the body bag, and Gwen zips them open and John had put a moustache on to make Even laugh. It was Gareth's last day and apparently they all felt a little down. He said (quote): "John coming in being more awake than you've ever seen anybody awake." He can't sing high enough praise about John, he always gives his best if people need a bit of lift up. And (another quote): "John's naked a lot". I don't think I need to mention the squeeing? LOL In the scene of Day 2 where John comes naked out of the concrete, he had something that covered his feet because of all the mud, and I believe it also was very cold. Brr.
Kai's favourite music is Queen and Green Day, also Elvis. And musicals like "Wicked", "Spamalot". If there was a movie remake he would like to play Uncle Buck. He thinks only comics deserve being remade. Not movies like "Nightmare on Elm Street". But comics, yeah, he also would like to play Fred Flintstone, Gladiator, Robin Hood. Somebody in the audience also mentioned Indiana Jones, and he laughed ;)
He has no pets, but likes football ("Of course I do like football!!!") - English football, I take it, which you Americans call soccer - and rugby. He asked if there were any Bayern Munich fans among us. Seems there weren't many, but there was a bit football experts talk following with the audience. His greatest fear are heights. And being raped by John Barrowman. No comment from me ;) He also sang the Harwood's advert for us. He then sang the song "I am Barrowman". You can listen to Kai singing it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEOjiFFjaNs
He even also has played in the musical "La Cage aux Folles" in school - the waiter ;) He also played Sweeney Todd. He also loves the musicals "Buddy Holly", "Hairspray", "Avenue Q" and asked whether any of us had seen Naoko in the latter. As he already had said in the private meeting, he mentioned again that the show "Over the Rainbow" is not the same without John's expertise in it. Quote: "The show definitely misses John. John is a star!" and he knows exactly what they are searching for. He had noticed that often when he asked us whether we had seen this or that, that only some of us get the BBC over here, but of course there are other ways to see some things ;) But we said, we couldn't tell him. He absolutely understood and gave us permission whenever we see him on stage, that we are allowed to film him.
Kai asked who is going to the HUB in a few weeks, a few of us he will meet there again. He also recognized some faces from previous events. I think that is very nice! The teenage girl asked another question - if he could live in any universe, movie or book, what would it be? His answer - Hogwarts. He loves this. Some then started to discuss which house, but that is where they lost me as I never read Harry Potter ;) (Edit: I just learnt that the house was "Hufflepuff" and he did a double meaning gesture with it ;) ) He also would like to travel with the TARDIS, to the past to meet his great-great-grandfather, or maybe also to the future. If he could speak to Rhys what would he say? How Gwen was in the bed ;)
He regrets not having learnt to play the piano when he was younger. He likes it, he mentioned Gary Barlow, Elton John. He can't play any instrument. But he is a "bloody good whistler" (as he demonstrated right away). His favourite Queen song is "Spread your wings". Somebody asked if he could say something in Gaelic to us. He corrected "Welsh" and then several times said "In Wales" instead of "In Welsh". He already was at his third or fourth Hefeweizen by that time, so that might explain it ;) He first wanted to sing the Welsh national anthem, but then wanted to do the line "Aliens in Cardiff" but there is no Welsh word for "alien". He asked what the German word was - Außerirdischer.
But he had the Welsh name for Cardiff, which I don't know how to spell actually. It sounded a bit different, though. He also told us a bit about how he met his wive seven years ago, but soon said "I can't tell you no more". If he could meet any person dead or alive, he would like to meet Elvis or Freddie Mercury. Or his grandfather, since he died before he was born. His favourite Elvis songs are "Don't cry Daddy" and "Sweet Caroline". His favourite time in history is the Dickens era. Or also the one with Jack the Ripper (or is that the same one? I don't have much knowledge of British history). He loves comedy like "Curb your enthusiasm", "Family Guy", "Frasier", "Friends", "The Simpsons", "Office". His best vacation was Mexico, with lots of dolphins and Tequila (I'm not sure how these two match, but that's what he said ;) ) He had his best New Years eves in Frankfurt.
The last movie he saw was "Alice in Wonderland". There's an actor in it who also played in TW in the episode "Fragments". Check IMDB if it interests you, I am too tired at the moment. This actor, a friend of him also once worked at the English Theatre in Frankfurt. "The full Monty" I believe it was. Kai's favourite actors are Anthony Hopkins, Morgan Freeman, David Tennant (he again mentioned crying at the last episode). Since he continued to ask for questions the teenage girl finally had him stumped with "Do you know any Pokemons?" LOL He admitted he didn't but we said he might have to learn, since he was becoming a dad now.
He loves cooking, his favourite food is chicken, fresh fish, "anything curry and spicey, the simpler, the better". Anything, even Haggis, it's very good actually. He also likes German food, Glühwein, Wiener Schnitzel, Bratwurst. Somebody asked if he has tried apple wine and he said yes. His favourite subject in school was sports and music. He would not tell us the name of the baby but we soon might hear about it. Somebody asked about the marathon and whether he was doped ;)
That was the end of the panel, I'll tell you about the photo session, raffle, autographs and the rest of the evening tomorrow. There also might be some pictures.
Related links: pictures
.
.