In an exclusive interview, Eve Myles reveals how she was hand-picked by Scrubs star Zach Braff for his play, and the influence of two nude women on her career
The ever-lovely, ever-smiling Eve Myles was one of the stars of SFX Weekender 3 , and it still amazes us how someone so, well ā how can we put this politely? ā talkative as she is (she can fit about three times as many words into a panel as your average guest), still manages to find new things to talk about. But when SFX caught up with her at her hotel the night before for a fireside chat (we kid you not) and vases of wine (or “pints of wine” as Myles coined it), she really did have something new to talk about. As well as talking about Torchwood and Doctor Who , she was enthusing about the new play sheās appearing in, All New People , alongside Scrubs star Zach Braff, who also wrote the play. Learn more about dates and buying tickets here .
Can you tell about the play and your role in it?
“Itās Zachās first play. He wrote it and itās been performed just off Broadway with a different cast out there. Being his first play he didnāt want to perform in it then; he wanted to just be the writer and see how it panned out. Obviously he would have loved to have done it but heās a very professional guy.
“Anyway, it went down so well in New York that the company wanted to bring it to London. Zach agreed to it and brought his wonderful director Peter DuBois with him, and decided that this time around heād be playing the lead, Charlie.
“There are only four of us in it, but they obviously had to recast all of the other characters. Itās 90 minutes, four characters, very, very funny and very touching. Moving and dark also. He writes it so beautifully.
“Itās about these four strangers who meet in a beach house on Long Beach Island, an island just off New Jersey. So youāve got three Americans and a young British girl. Iām playing Emma, who is absolutely nothing like Gwen Cooper for a start. Somebody who comes to see the show and thinks theyāre going to see Gwen Cooper is going to be very disappointed. Sheās a young woman whoās left a very dark past behind and sheās had to go somewhere where she can disappear, and this is the perfect place. The only thing thatās there is a fire station, a real estate office and a garage, so it takes a particular type of person to be on Long Beach Island in the winter months. Sheās an eccentric English neurotic. Sheās sweet and innocent and funny, moving and desperately searching for happiness and friendship.
“Itās four characters in one house. Theyāre all little broken animals and they all fix each other. Thereās no huge stage changes; itās about the four characters and the story. Itās really good.”
How did you get involved?
“It was one of the strangest auditions of my life. On the Friday my agent phoned me up very excited because I was desperate to get back to doing theatre, and I wanted to do some comedy because Iāve never done comedy. She phoned me up on the Friday and she said to me, āIāve got this wonderful script, Iām going to send it to you and theyāre going to have a look at some of your stuff over the weekend. And if they like what they see then on Monday you might get a phone call and you might have you to read for them.ā
“And I said, āOkay, thatās fine. Who is it?ā And she said who it was and Iām like the biggest JD fan in the world! I love Scrubs and heās a comedy genius, Zach Braff. And Iām so in awe of Peter DuBois; the work heās done in New York is amazing.
“So I thought, āRight Okay. Iām a mum. Iāve got a two year old daughter. I donāt have time for a long theatre engagement anymore.ā Then the script was sent to me and by the second page I was reading it out loud because it was extraordinary and funny. I laughed my arse off for 40 minutes and I thought, āI have to have this meeting.ā
“Lo and behold Monday came and they were very interested in me. They arranged for me ā on the Wednesday ā to audition on Skype, which Iād never done before. Anybody who knows me knows that I have difficulty with a mobile phone, never mind the internet! So I had a Skype audition with Peter DuBois, who was in New York, which lasted an hour and a half, then I had another 40 minute audition with Zach in Los Angeles. So the audition lasted nearly three hours with these two geniuses. In the meantime my babysitter had let me down so we put Alice In Wonderland on for Matilda. So Iām doing all these big scenes on Skype and my daughter is screaming, āOff with her head!ā in the background. But within 20 minutes theyād made an offer.
So how are you finding your first taste of comedy?
“Itās the hardest thing Iāve done in my life. Thereās a technique and a discipline to it. You cannot wing it. It is about sheer timing, hitting every word, every punctuation. Everything thatās in Zachās script weāve got to play because itās there for a reason. Itās a bit like Shakespeare. You miss a word out of a sentence in Shakespeare and you feel like somethingās gone wrong because the rhythmās been knocked.
“I shouldnāt say Iāve never done comedy before ā Iāve done dramas where my character has been humorous ā but Iāve never done a straight comedy before. Not that it is a straight comedy. Itās not any more. There are so many levels to it now. It will make you cry. It will make you roar with laughter and then itāll make you think, then it will surprise you.”
Do you think the Torchwood fans will outnumber the Scrubs fans in the audience?
“I really donāt know. What a thought! But itās a good thing either way. People have lost touch with theatre. They think itās too expensive or that itās not for them; theyāre not going to fit into that kind of place. And then when they follow someone on television and realise that theyāre doing a show, they go along. Itās an electrifying experience. Itās a really great thing to be part of a live performance.”
Are you worried about Torchwood fans complaining, “It would have been better with Ianto in it”?
“Thatās very funny! Ianto does actually appear in All New People ⦠look out! Heās the plant!”
More of this interview on the next page
Do you think Torchwood is coming back?
“Every year I get asked that question! I donāt know.”
Itās all a bit up in limbo at the moment isnāt it?
“Well, it always had been. This is no different to me and John from the first series on. Thereās always been a 15-16 month gap. In my heart I donāt think itās the end. If I did think it had reached the end of its natural life, Iād be the first one to say, āIām out of here.ā But it doesnāt feel like the end. I donāt ever want to over-egg the pudding, of course, and I never want to come back with something that people are expecting, either. Weāve always come back different, with something people have loved or hated, and thatās what we want to do again, otherwise we wonāt keep making this program because people will get bored.”
“I donāt know, is the real answer. Nobody knows. But I hope so. I canāt let her go yet. Iām not ready to let her go yet. Iāve got another series in me. Or Iāve got another film in me.”
A film? Is that just wishful thinking or a possibility?
“Iād love to see it come back as a movie ā a whopping big, kick ass movie, full of action, full of story⦠Jack, Gwen, Rhys, a huge problem and something extraordinary. But if it comes back itās always going to be extraordinary, because itās Russell. Iām just hoping that one day I get to put my leather jacket back on.”
I think there are a lot of people that quite like that leather look.
“Thereās a lot of leather! And every year they tend to get tighter and tighter with the costumes. Look, I like a glass of wine; I like a good steak; I never turn down a plate of chips. I love making cake and eating it. Iām a fool for food ā I love it. Thatās the way I am!
“But I train really hard, not to lose weight so much as to be fit and healthy and to make sure Iāve got good stamina. I eat what I want, drink what I want, but I work out and Iām enjoying what I do. Iām a firm believer in that. Thereās a lot of joy to be had in food.
“Then you go to Hollywood and you think, āJesus Christ, these girls make me look like a heifer!ā But Iām never changing myself, Iām a happy person.
“One change with Gwen Cooper for Miracle Day is we gave her this bra, and I swear to god Iāve never seen anything so sci-fi in my life. This bra looked like it was⦠well I donāt know how it was constructed. They gave it to me and I went, āAre you serious? All this running and fighting and jumping about I do ā Iāll poke someoneās eye out! Or Iām going to break a lens. Iāve got huge breasts, I cannot wear this scaffolding!ā
“Gwen Cooper is not about tits and arse, sheās a real woman, thatās why I love playing her. So I just took this bra home. I didnāt wear it for the show because it was ridiculous. The costume designer did say to me, āIām gonna pull you out of the nunnery and Iām gonna bring you straight into Hollywood.ā And I went āYou can try!ā”
“I wasnāt meant to do āThe Unquiet Deadā. I donāt think anyone knows that. I was booked in for another job. I was meant to be doing theatre and my agent said, āThey want to see you for a part for Doctor Who but itās clashing with this job.ā And I said āWell, itās Doctor Who !ā Itās like the biggest show in the world and theyāre bringing it back and Chris [Eccleston] is one of my favourite actors of all time ā heās wonderful.
“So I did the audition, and it went okay, I think. My boyfriend picked me up and he said, āYou have changed, havenāt you, since the audition? Do you know what youāre wearing?ā I looked down, and Iād auditioned for Gwyneth, this lovely, sweet girl who saves the world and speaks very lovely Welsh, wearing an, āI Support Nudist Coloniesā T-shirt, with two naked women making out. I just went, āWell, Iāve blown that.ā
“Two days later I got the offer, and my agent said, āRight this is a conundrum ā youāre also booked on this theatre job. What are we going to do?ā And I said, āWell I donāt want to let anybody down, I donāt want one job to be more important that the other.ā So she said, āRight, weāre gonna work for Doctor Who ,ā and I said, āGreat, thank God!ā because that was what I really wanted.ā So my agent asked the play if theyād let me go, and they didnāt think twice. They said, āThis is a huge opportunity for you and youāve got to do it.ā
“But not once did I think to myself that Russell T Davies had got his eyes on me to play Gwen Cooper in his new series⦠Never. But it was the biggest audition of my life. I was just hoping to God I didnāt let him down.”