Jones, Ianto Jones
Jun. 23rd, 2008 09:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annundrielWhen I go to the bookstore and see a magazine with Jack and Ianto staring up at me from the cover, I just can't resist.
Luckily, I think I mostly contained myself. It's not often that really fun things surprise me in Moses Lake. And because I don't frequent any Torchwood communities, it was entirely new to me.
So, some bits I found interesting from Gareth David-Lloyd interview in Torchwood: The Official Magazine. (The official part makes me laugh for some reason.)
- "Yeah, I'm not really much like Ianto at all. I'm a lot more impulsive than he is and I'm more inclined to do crazy things! Ianto hides things away a lot more, which is what makes him such an interesting character to play. Outwardly, he's very strait-laced, but there's a darker side to him, and a very playful side, too. We know that he gets quite experimental with Jack!"
- Series two: "I think he's a lot happier. He hasn't got any major secrets that he's keeping from anyone now, and he's able to focus a lot more on being part of the team. To start with, his loyalties were with Lisa, and you see that he still feels that when he has a vision of her at the end of the first series. But since then he's matured a lot, and he's found his role in life, which is being loyal to Torchwood, and being loyal to Jack.
I think the gap left by Lisa has been filled by him becoming besotted with his duties, and becoming very much the loyal, reliable soldier. Maybe he still has some dark hang-ups bubbling deep beneath the surface, but they don't come up in series two, and they may never come up to the surface as he comes to terms with who he is."
- Ianto's more explicit relationship with Jack: "I think that attraction's always been there, but now Ianto's priorities have changed, he's allowed himself to fall in love with jack. When you get to Fragments, towards the end of this series, you see that the physical attraction has always been there, but it's become something more confiding and sure.
That moment when Ianto first says he could be a butler, and points out the dried egg on Jack's collar is the first hint that he could look after Jack a little bit. Jack has to be a hero in front of everyone else, but Ianto recognises that there is a vulnerability in him, and there are things he can't talk to anyone else about. Ianto doesn't talk very openly with the rest of the team, either, so they are able to share that when they're on their own, like when they're talking about the members of Torchwood 1918 in To the Last Man."
- Ianto and Jack's first mutual kiss: "That was a lovely scene to do. It was all one shot and we did it in one take. I love it. It felt really natural for the characters, and as soon as I read it I thought: that's Ianto's real purpose in Torchwood. That's why he needs Jack and why Jack needs him too, even after what happened with Lisa. They help each other out emotionally and philosophically, and it was good to see the confirmation of that."
- The stopwatch: "I like it because it's a fairly throwaway thing in the first series but people latched on to it, and it's become representative. It's just one of those old-fashioned, reliable tools that can't get a virus or have a power surge or anything like that. I think Ianto likes things that run like clockwork - literally - and he doesn't like to rely on machines. He's much more drawn to hard copies of things, like his diary, and books that have been written hundreds of years ago.
That need for things that are timeless and lasting works to his advantage in Adam, when he goes to his diary, which cannot liee or be tampered with. That's how they discover that Adam is not what he claims to be. And, on another level, Jack is timeless and lasting, too, and you see Ianto's fascination after he sees him on the screen in From Out of the Rain. So I do love all that. The reliability of things like the stopwatch are really symbols of his personality, which he tries to hide a lot of the time."
- The suits: "I think when Ianto started wearing suits it was a barrier to separate him from everyone else, because he wasn't comfortable with lying to the team. It was all part of the character he was playing.
What's nice about his suits in the second series is that they are a little snazzier, a little shinier, so he's being more expressive about who he really is. He's a lot more comfortable in a suit now, and has made it part of his true personality, even though he wasn't really a suit wearer before. It isn't a barrier now; it's more about the real him, so it was good to see how he dressed before."
- Hints of religion: "I do see Ianto as a searching character, so it's right that he should be looking for salvation in some way. But I think he's found his meaning in Torchwood, even though he's still conflicted in a lot of ways. Torchwood is his faith, really. That's his church, and it provides him with the goals and responsibilities that he needs for a worthwhile life. I think if we'd played up the religious thing more it would have complicated that a little bit."
And then there was the whole part about not feeling awkward with John Barrowman and being more nervous for the topless scene than the kissing. Aw. Also, hahaha.
I sort of want to comment on some of that, but I'd like to think about it first. Let it seep in a bit. It'll be something to ponder tomorrow while I try not to lose my mind at the library.
When I was in Seattle the other weekend, we passed a sign at Math & Stuff that I could have sworn said, "Ianto Jones Legos here!" I had to do a double-take. It was only Indiana Jones. But that lead to fun times transplanting Ianto into that franchise. And imagining Torchwood Legos. Much like Harry Potter, you could collect them all and eventually build the Hub!
To sum up my feelings? I love Ianto. A lot.
Luckily, I think I mostly contained myself. It's not often that really fun things surprise me in Moses Lake. And because I don't frequent any Torchwood communities, it was entirely new to me.
So, some bits I found interesting from Gareth David-Lloyd interview in Torchwood: The Official Magazine. (The official part makes me laugh for some reason.)
- "Yeah, I'm not really much like Ianto at all. I'm a lot more impulsive than he is and I'm more inclined to do crazy things! Ianto hides things away a lot more, which is what makes him such an interesting character to play. Outwardly, he's very strait-laced, but there's a darker side to him, and a very playful side, too. We know that he gets quite experimental with Jack!"
- Series two: "I think he's a lot happier. He hasn't got any major secrets that he's keeping from anyone now, and he's able to focus a lot more on being part of the team. To start with, his loyalties were with Lisa, and you see that he still feels that when he has a vision of her at the end of the first series. But since then he's matured a lot, and he's found his role in life, which is being loyal to Torchwood, and being loyal to Jack.
I think the gap left by Lisa has been filled by him becoming besotted with his duties, and becoming very much the loyal, reliable soldier. Maybe he still has some dark hang-ups bubbling deep beneath the surface, but they don't come up in series two, and they may never come up to the surface as he comes to terms with who he is."
- Ianto's more explicit relationship with Jack: "I think that attraction's always been there, but now Ianto's priorities have changed, he's allowed himself to fall in love with jack. When you get to Fragments, towards the end of this series, you see that the physical attraction has always been there, but it's become something more confiding and sure.
That moment when Ianto first says he could be a butler, and points out the dried egg on Jack's collar is the first hint that he could look after Jack a little bit. Jack has to be a hero in front of everyone else, but Ianto recognises that there is a vulnerability in him, and there are things he can't talk to anyone else about. Ianto doesn't talk very openly with the rest of the team, either, so they are able to share that when they're on their own, like when they're talking about the members of Torchwood 1918 in To the Last Man."
- Ianto and Jack's first mutual kiss: "That was a lovely scene to do. It was all one shot and we did it in one take. I love it. It felt really natural for the characters, and as soon as I read it I thought: that's Ianto's real purpose in Torchwood. That's why he needs Jack and why Jack needs him too, even after what happened with Lisa. They help each other out emotionally and philosophically, and it was good to see the confirmation of that."
- The stopwatch: "I like it because it's a fairly throwaway thing in the first series but people latched on to it, and it's become representative. It's just one of those old-fashioned, reliable tools that can't get a virus or have a power surge or anything like that. I think Ianto likes things that run like clockwork - literally - and he doesn't like to rely on machines. He's much more drawn to hard copies of things, like his diary, and books that have been written hundreds of years ago.
That need for things that are timeless and lasting works to his advantage in Adam, when he goes to his diary, which cannot liee or be tampered with. That's how they discover that Adam is not what he claims to be. And, on another level, Jack is timeless and lasting, too, and you see Ianto's fascination after he sees him on the screen in From Out of the Rain. So I do love all that. The reliability of things like the stopwatch are really symbols of his personality, which he tries to hide a lot of the time."
- The suits: "I think when Ianto started wearing suits it was a barrier to separate him from everyone else, because he wasn't comfortable with lying to the team. It was all part of the character he was playing.
What's nice about his suits in the second series is that they are a little snazzier, a little shinier, so he's being more expressive about who he really is. He's a lot more comfortable in a suit now, and has made it part of his true personality, even though he wasn't really a suit wearer before. It isn't a barrier now; it's more about the real him, so it was good to see how he dressed before."
- Hints of religion: "I do see Ianto as a searching character, so it's right that he should be looking for salvation in some way. But I think he's found his meaning in Torchwood, even though he's still conflicted in a lot of ways. Torchwood is his faith, really. That's his church, and it provides him with the goals and responsibilities that he needs for a worthwhile life. I think if we'd played up the religious thing more it would have complicated that a little bit."
And then there was the whole part about not feeling awkward with John Barrowman and being more nervous for the topless scene than the kissing. Aw. Also, hahaha.
I sort of want to comment on some of that, but I'd like to think about it first. Let it seep in a bit. It'll be something to ponder tomorrow while I try not to lose my mind at the library.
When I was in Seattle the other weekend, we passed a sign at Math & Stuff that I could have sworn said, "Ianto Jones Legos here!" I had to do a double-take. It was only Indiana Jones. But that lead to fun times transplanting Ianto into that franchise. And imagining Torchwood Legos. Much like Harry Potter, you could collect them all and eventually build the Hub!
To sum up my feelings? I love Ianto. A lot.
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-06-24 05:43 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-06-24 05:48 am (UTC)I thought about hanging on to my, ahem, copy of the second series until this summer so you could see it. But then I got rid of it. Amazon says it's being released September 16, though. That's not so bad.