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

When we last left the LA Creation Con

It’s Sunday afternoon at the Supernatural con and Jared Padalecki, aka Sam Winchester has taken the stage.

In retrospect, I think Jared was a bit more subdued than usual but that’s not an insult. On the contrary, he was all Southern-laid out and lanky in that black button-up and jeans and his hair. . .  okay, brief fan girl moment. . . and I’m back.

He was working the crowd, leading us down the path he wanted. For example, someone asked why he was riding such a little motorcycle in Friday the 13th. He leaned back in his chair, ran his hand through his hair and said, “it was actually a very large motorcycle.” Implying, of course that the very bigness of Jared made the bike seem small. Truth be told, everything, even Jensen, looks small next to Jared and since I adore California Redwood Trees. . .okay, just one last fan girl moment then I swear, I’ll stop. (Potential tiny spoilers coming up. . .   )

Jared was asked about his reaction to the demon blood drinking and he came across neither here nor there. He said when he first learned of it he didn’t know the extent, like was Sam making demon blood smoothies or what? He avoided talking about the actual blood slurping scene but said it was cool to play “the need, the addict.” And he assured us that his new habit would play a big part in the upcoming episodes.

Since they had just finished filming the finale, many of the guests had to catch themselves before revealing too much and I think that made them downplay several answers so as not to give much away.

In a similar “vein,” Jared was asked whether Sam thought his relationship with his brother could ever go back to the way it used to be.  Jared replied, “Sam beats himself up.  He thinks he needs to sacrifice himself for the greater good.” And so Jared theorized that Sam would have a hard time believing that he could ever get that relationship back.  How sad is that?

On a much more humorous note, Jared talked about how he freaked out during the snake scene in Yellow Fever. He never knew he was afraid of snakes but when he was told to sit there on the couch and wait for the creature to come up over the back, he couldn’t do it. He suspects his dash for safety will probably make the gag reel.

But my favorite Jared moment involved a baby who was fussing in the audience. I don’t generally comment on actors’ personal lives but I do know that Jared recently became an uncle and I think this has flipped the switch on his “daddy gene.” He was positively puddley when he was shown the baby in the audience (after he thought it was a cat meowing) and thus began the Abbott & Costello routine called “NINE MONTHS!” He kept asking how old the baby was, the audience kept shouting the same answer – it’s not so funny on paper but it was hysterical at the time. Shortly after, the woman tried to leave the room because the baby was still fussing. Jared stopped answering a question to shout, “Where are you taking, baby?” Then ordered the security detail to “seize her,” like he was channeling an angry Medieval king.

Did I mention that Jared was subdued? Well, for Jared, that’s subdued.

When Jensen returned to the stage it was full-on competitive mode between the two of them. Jensen discovered that he had the ability to make the crowd cheer and then go quiet with a wave of his hand. Jared confessed the “Lilith” and “lore” are the two words he hates to see on the script because they’re hard to say quickly. Jensen said his fondest birthday memory was beating his brother at Photon when he was about six years old and Jared couldn’t remember his last few birthdays. Jensen said they were working those days but I suspect there was some alcohol involved.

An unexpectedly funny question was one about which IMDB credit they would erase if they could. Jensen said he’s been trying to get that Seventh Heaven credit removed because he was never on the show. Jared said he’d erase all of Jensen’s years on Days of Our Lives, which promoted Jensen to zing back, “I would erase that in a New York Minute.” If you don’t get the joke, check Jared’s IMDB page.

Then two really strange things happened that just finished us all. First, a man asked Jared if he’d ever eaten a fried rice stuffed pickle. As far as I know there was no double entendre or inside joke, it was just a question and it threw the whole room into chaos. Honestly, I’m not sure how it happened, but soon Jensen was laughing so hard he wasn’t even making a sound. He was doubled over with his face hidden in his arm, nothing but the shoulders shaking and he couldn’t stop. Jared was carrying on about I don’t know what because the crowd was laughing so hard you couldn’t hear. Jensen kept trying to sit up and get control but it was useless. The first words out of his mouth minutes later were, “are there any tissues?” Tears were streaming down his face from laughing.

Right then and there I took pity on the poor Supernatural directors. I can’t imagine how they get anything done with these two at the helm! And from what we heard from other actors, this was pretty typical. Then, just when it seemed like it was all under control, a giant teddy bear walked into the room. I’m not kidding. Jared and Jensen just gave up trying to make sense.

Ah but it didn’t end there. A woman came up to the microphone and asked for Jared’s explanation of the circumstances behind a certain photo. Jared groaned and tried to hide, Jensen jumped up shouting, let me guess. I think I know. He didn’t know but Jensen’s face went pure evil when he saw the photo. He held it up for the camera so it would be projected on the wall behind him. It was the photo of shirtless Jared kissing a bird – sorry, I can’t put the photo here but look around on the net and you’ll find it. Jensen smiled with great glee and said, “I am going to get so much mileage out of this,” while Jared floundered to come up with a story. In the end he admitted that he didn’t have a clue. He knew it was taken during the filming of Friday the 13th so his best guess was that it was taken at 4 am and he was loopy.

Jensen asked if it was a real chicken. Jared said no, of course not. It was stuffed. . . .with fried rice.

I’m here to tell you, neither of them will ever be able to eat Chinese food with a straight face ever again. Nor will I.

Did you miss my report on Jensen’s panel? You can find it here. Come back tomorrow when I’ll wrap up all this con madness with Misha and his turtles, Gabe imitates Jared or maybe it’s a tree, and a couple of con shout outs. Oh, and how much do you love that photo of Jared at the top of this article? Kudos to photographer Albert L. Ortega.

Photos: Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos

***This last pic is Jensen trying to reach the top of the banner so he can sign by his own face. Jared, of course, can reach without help, but Jensen had to stand on the chair. Once he was up there, Jared came over and made like he was going to kick the chair over. Oh boys, oh boys. * * *

Post from: SF Universe