Creation decked the halls with faux stone gargoyles and cemetery pillars all around the stage. There was a HUGE praying angel by the registration table that had me reigning in my need to Blink! (Who fans in the house?)

And speaking of the good Doctor, Aldis Hodge (Jake) was asked about the fact that his character on Leverage is obviously a fan of the UK series. Hodge admitted that he only recently started watching Doctor Who and was unaware that the show went back as far as it did. The fans in the audience clued him in and loudly.

Aldis was one of my favorite guest star speakers of the weekend. It was his first con and I was afraid he’d be flash-struck but he wow’d the crowd. He talked about filming the big fight scene with Jared in All Hell Breaks Loose saying they enjoyed “being two crazy dudes rolling around in the mud and the rain.” A tight schedule meant no time to rehearse the fight, they were simply told not to kill each other and then, action! Aldis also hung out with fans and sang Karaoke with his brother until all hours of the morning, so I’d say he’ll be coming back to future cons.

Julie McNiven, aka fallen angel Anna said, in reference to killing Uriel, “I was a virgin killer. It was fun and I hope I get to do it again.” Then she added, on screen, of course. Shy and sweet, she seemed a little nervous about what fans might ask and sure enough the sex scene with Dean came up as well as questions about Anna’s relationship to Castiel. She said she didn’t think Anna and Castiel had ever been intimate but they had a stronger bond forged over thousands of years spent together in the trenches. As for how it was kissing Jensen? Her answer was a shrugging, ‘what can I say?’ Tough job, but someone has to do it.

Gabriel Tigerman (Andy from Simon Says) was a hoot as he tried to insert the name of his new movie, Skills Like This, into the conversation at every turn. He talked about his childhood fear of the movie Ghostbusters and a cleaning lady who once told him that his parents’ house was full of spirits that were “generally nice. It was the generally part that freaked me out.”

Gabe admitted he hadn’t seen My Bloody Valentine but that it had nothing to do with the fact that he auditioned for the role of the deputy and didn’t get it. He also was surprised that he didn’t get the guest star role in the Supernatural episode Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things. He thought he nailed it but was passed over. Karma was on his side, though, since he got a much better role as Andy. His only funny set story involved a scene in the Impala, he was in the back seat and just moments before the call for action, one of the J’s (he couldn’t remember which but I’m betting Jared) leaned over the seat and showed him a disgusting photo on his phone. Then it’s “action,” the boys snap right into character and Gabe was left floundering. No, he wouldn’t tell us what the photo was but it sounded pretty bad!

Alona Tal (Jo) was up next and I had a difficult time listening to her panel. I felt like there was a huge chip on her shoulder regarding her exit from the show. Save the flames, people, it’s just my opinion.

Richard Speight, the Trickster was first up on Saturday morning prompting him to exclaim, “I’m part of a balanced breakfast.” Balanced is a good word for this guy. He was fun and endearing but he nearly tore our hearts out with talk about his work on Band of Brothers. Since he was playing a real person, he made the effort to find the family of the man (no small feat, apparently) and it ended in a reunion with the man’s sister and man’s best friend, another soldier who was there when the man died.

On a lighter note, he spoke about the joy and the pain of being a part of Jericho.  He said, “as an actor, you never think of a show going on beyond being canceled.” So he was completely overwhelmed when the fans’ nut campaign put the series back on track again. He joked that fans of the Trickster should start a campaign to get him back on Supernatural. “Email your local writer, send them peanuts, that will confuse them.”

Richard also talked extensively about his final scene in Mystery Spot where Sam is begging him to bring Dean back. He joked that Jared is always begging for something; a coke, a shirt, so seeing him beg in the scene was old hat. “He’s also seven feet tall, seeing a guy like that cry. . . .I wore a slicker.” He credited the success of the scene to the late Kim Manners who arranged the blocking for the greatest emotional impact. “Really turning the screw with every step,” was how Richard put it and I’d say that’s dead on.

(Photo to the left – who is that man and why did I snap his picture?)

Charles Malik Whitfield, Agent Henrickson, was in the house. He gets my vote for the person who is least like their character. He was loose and all “in the hood” and very funny. He told his stories by acting out his reactions to things that happened like the moment he was told he was going to get his head dunked in a toilet. “Let us pray.”

When asked about when he found out he was getting killed off, he said he never found out. That he was in denial because the script only said, “white light.  They left out the page where it says on the news I didn’t make it.” It wasn’t until someone came up to him on set and asked him about the death of the character that he put it all together. “They go, anybody we really like, we kill.  I go, that’s not normal.”

The last guest of the day was Samantha Smith, aka Mary Winchester. She’s a big fan of the show and was happy to sit and chat about the twists and turns of the season from a purely fannish perspective. She talked fondly of her time on the show and came to realize that all of her favorite scenes involved fire. She did offer up one tiny spoiler which I’ll write backwards for those who don’t want to know.

(edosipe gnimocpu na ni s’ehs)

And typing backwards is tougher than it looks.

OMG! I just realized I never covered Misha’s panel! I should have added Jared to my Jensen report, then Misha to my Jensen and the J’s report. So, I guess there will be a part four after all.

Until then, a shout out.

I started attending Creation Cons when they were all about Star Trek and Doctor Who and they were being held in the basement of a hotel in Philadelphia. They’ve come a long way since then and they certainly do know how to put on a show. Still, with what I do for a living and my long history with cons, I find I’ve become a bit jaded. I beat that by spending much of my in-between panel times chatting with con newbies who are still fluttering with excitement. Two of my favorites were my seatmates, Kaycee and Frank (aka Tiffany). Two friends, barely out of high school (they protest saying five years isn’t barely, but I disagree), on their first trip to a con.  They indulged me with details of their photo ops and autograph sessions and they really helped smooth over my jaded edges. Thanks girls, for being such great con buddies.

Skills Like This.

Photos: J’s with gravestone by Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos

Bad con photos – all mine.

Post from: SF Universe