Many things shaped my identity as a young boy: a strong selfworth (something that was instilled in all three Barrowman siblings by our parents), my immersion in theatre and music, and my DNA. I was born gay. It's not a choice I – or anyone else who is gay – made. If it were, why on earth would anyone choose to be part of a minority, part of a group that in so many cultures and countries, even in the twenty-first century, is regularly blasphemed, hounded and worse?

If you put a label on yourself, people will pigeonhole you.

I don't think nudity is a bad thing, I don't think people should be embarrassed about their bodies, and I don't mind whipping it out.

There's a lot of me in Captain Jack and there's a lot of Captain Jack in me. And there is no pun intended.

I was the one who taught my sister and my niece how to walk in high heels.

I did archery when I was in high school. In our gym class we had two weeks of archery and I remember taking the bow and arrow and firing it up and across the street into a car parking lot.

I am not one of those actors who dwells on the histrionics and the subtext and future text of the character. I deal with the scenes that I'm doing at that specific time, because if I do that, they play in more of a real way.