seriously ten

Eve Myles

What's it like being a part of the very popular cult series Torchwood?

Well, when we started doing Torchwood I don't think any of us realised how big it was going to be, because I think the first episode was ? like Dr Who as well and nobody predicted how big that was going to be and you know that was a phenomenon and then Torchwood off the back of it, it was really exciting, it was really interesting and we didn't really know what we were letting ourselves in for and thankfully it's been received incredibly well and to be a part of it is such a treat. Every time we get a new script it's like getting a present.

You played the role of Gwen Cooper. Can you tell us a bit about her character.

When you're first introduced to Gwen, she's a police officer in the city of Cardiff and she's an incredibly down to earth normal young woman and just starting out and just trying to make the best of what she's got and she stumbles across an underground organisation called Torchwood. She gets introduced to the group and then she becomes another one of the Torchwood members. Everybody in Torchwood seems to have a specific role, we have the computer GS and what was missing was a heart. There wasn't a human being in there, there was nobody who connected with the audience as it were, you know the me and you of the world. So Gwen is that person and teaches Torchwood a different way to work every day.

So would you say there were similarities between yourself Eve Myles, and Gwen Cooper.

If I'd seen an alien, I would run completely in the other direction and pretend I hadn't seen a thing. Are there any similarities when I play Gwen?.. undoubtedly there has to be a lot of myself put into her. I think that she's very acerbic and  she's an incredibly energetic person cause she's constantly running or fighting. She's always got some sort of action happening around her. But I think that she has such an extraordinary life, I don't think I know anyone like Gwen Cooper.

Russel T Davies says you are one of Wales' best kept secrets ? how do you feel about this?

This is a question I get asked a lot actually and I never seem to have an answer for it because it's just so ? see I can't actually word it ? a lovely, incredible thing for anyone to say about you, never mind the most incredible British writers that we've ever had ? Davis ? he's such a huge figure in Britain and for him to say something like that is just incredible and I will eternally be thankful to him for that and it's a lovely thing to have said.

Have you ever been to Australia?

I haven't but many many of my friends have been and that's all I hear is ? woooow you have to go, you have to go. We were thinking that when I finish with this job and before I start on the next job I might pop over especially because now the program's coming out there as well it would be great to see how it was received.

How do you think an Australian audience will respond to Torchwood?

I think that any audience will kind of wonder what it's all about and then they'll get hooked. You know absolutely hooked. And it would be lovely for people in Australia, America, Japan, New Zealand where it's all going to be shown to see Cardiff! To see how fantastic Wales is, not just London.

Because you're a welsh native, it probably makes it a bit easier that Torchwood is filmed in Wales?

Yes, it had been a while since I'd lived in Wales. I was in Stratford Upon Avon before Torchwood with the Shakespeare company. So it's been years and years since I've lived in Wales. I finished college in 2000 and I moved to London from there. This job has brought me back to my home ground.  With filming all through the summer and coming up to Christmas in Cardiff it's just the most magical place to be working, I adore it.

What are you working on now?

We've just started filming the second series. So at the moment we've got 2 story lines to go ahead and one of them I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to speak about it but it involves all the team and they're incredibly feisty episodes. So there's a lot of Alien intervention in the second series.

You've worked across film, tv, radio and theatre. Which is the one that you prefer or most enjoy?

If I didn't have television I wouldn't enjoy theatre and if I didn't have theatre I wouldn't enjoy television. It's lovely, because with our jobs, it's normally, at the longest, they would last 6-7 months and that's film or theatre, so once you've gone 6 months in theatre you can't wait to do some tv or film and then vice versa ? if you do 6 months of tv or film, you can't wait to get back onto the stage, so I think they kind of balance each other out. If I didn't have one I wouldn't enjoy the other so much.  But I'm a huge fan of theatre.

What has your favourite role of all time been up to date?

Funnily, I think up to date it has been Gwen Cooper. I've played fantastic Shakespearean characters, which has been amazing but I think the impact that the character Gwen Cooper has, has been such a huge huge thing, I've had to encounter so much that goes around the Gwen Cooper world, that it's been the most interesting and the most challenging character definitely.

This is a question for your male or female fans. Are you available? Are you single or married?

I'm not single and I'm not married. I do have a boyfriend but I'm not married and I'm not engaged and I'm a good wholesome sort of girl ? (laughs loudly).

The males will be devastated to hear that

What have you got in the pipeline for the future?

I've just started the second series so I'm filming up until November and then I've been offered a film straight after it so that will take me up until February. I haven't accepted anything yet but that's in the pipeline  - another drama and hopefully six weeks after we start the third series of Torchwood. So I'm hoping to get over to Australia before Christmas. I've wanted to do it for such a long time and its just been a case of the timing process and my partner worked in Perth, he worked with the Shakespeare company in Perth and he just had the best time in the world.