Q & A With JB
from West End Programmes
December 2005
What was your first audition?
Hello Dolly! - the part of Barnaby Tucket - at Joliet West High School in the midwest. It was the first time ever that a freshman got a lead role. I created a stir. I was 12 or 13.
What was your first professional acting role?
It was Opryland USA, a musical theme park in Nashville, Tennessee. I credit Opryland for developing how I interact with audiences. We did four shows a day, outside, in 100 degree heat, dressed in wool costumes. I did that for two summer.
What was your first big break?
In 1989 I came over to study Shakespeare on a transfer programme with my university in San Diego. I went to Scotland (I was born in Glasgow and raised there until I was nine) and did an open call audition in Glasgow for Anything Goes starring Elaine Paige. Within two weeks I was in the West End rehearsing as Billy Crocker.
If you hadn't become an actor, what would you have done for a living?
An airline pilot - I have a fascination with airplanes. I'd like to learn how to fly. But the funny thing is I have a fear of flying. I'm OK if I'm in the cockpit but I'm not a good passenger. Economy makes me really nervous.
What is the first show you remember seeing?
Peter Pan at Kelvin Hall in Glasgow. I remember seeing Peter Pan flying out towards me. I knew I wanted to be a part of something like that. I was about five or six.
And the first film?
I remember The Jungle Book and 'The Bare Necessities' - Mowgli dancing with the bear.
Tell us about your most memorable theatrical experiences.
I don't get to see a lot because I'm working. My most memorable things are opening nights because you very rarely get that kind of energy from an audience. I saw Dreamgirls and I couldn't leave the theatre without telling my mom that this is what I wanted to do. I committed to being involved in the theatre when I saw Dreamgirls.
What have been your most embarrassing experiences on stage?
Somebody at Opryland put a laxative in my water as a joke. I was wearing white flared pants an singing 'I Got Rhythm'. I got off stage and there was the understudy - laughing, smiling and ready to go on. Also on Broadway I was doing Putting It Together and I did a lift with Ruthie Henshall. I ben back down and split my pants from front to back. They put black duct tape over my white underpants and I did half the show with my pants ripped. It's on the DVD extras!
Do you have any theatrical superstitions?
Loads. The Scottish play. If there's a ghost I'll say hello to them. A bar of soap in my dressing room when I leave the building because there's a superstition that if you leave something in the room you will return. At Drury Lane you have to walk a certain route on the stage and that means you'll be invited back to the theatre.
West End or Broadway? Which would you pick?
That's really mean. I'd to have to choose the West End because it gave me my start. My immediate family is in England. My home is in London. It's hard because my mom and dad, brothers and sisters are all in America and deperately want me to work on Broadway.
What's the last book you bought? And the last CD?
The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The last
adult books were Lance Prices's The Spin Doctor's Diary (he's a really good
friend) and a supermarket wine guide. I download from iTunes. The last thing
I downloaded was Supertramp.
Tell us about five people (alive or resurrected) you'd invite to your fantasy dinner party? And what would you eat?
Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Queen Victoria, Kevin Costner and Ann Miller. It's a fantasy dinner so I'd love to have lobster thermidor because I can't eat shellfish. Porterhouse steak with mashed potato and a side of prawns - surf and turf. Baked Alaska. Some pinot noir with the steak and a sparkling wine with the lobster.
Who has been the biggest influence on your life?
My mom and dad because they've been always supportive, never doubted me at all. A friend of mine, Beverly Holt, because she alwasy believe in me. She's musical director for my cabaret. Because of their honesty and how they've given me opportunities: Cameron Mackintosh; and Elaine Paige, because she gave me the opportunity to change my life.
How would you describe yourself in a 'personals' ad?
Handsome, down to earth, mid 30's, enjoys social situations, am a bit of a control freak but not in a bad sense. I know what I like and what I want. Kind to people. I can be moody but in general love having a good time.
What projects are you most looking foward to in 2006?
The Sound of Musicals which I've just filmed for the BBC because I am so proud to be a part of bringing musicals back to television. I cannot wait to start Torchwood which is my own spin off series as Captain Jack and also my return to the Tardis for Doctor Who. I'm also doing my first pantomime at Wimbledon.
