-> Oakland SlayerCon 2004 Q&A Notes

Stephanie Romanov
By Kirsten

- Stephanie was asked about Lilah’s evil nature. Stephanie replied that she didn’t think Lilah was evil as much as she was power hungry. Stephanie loved the feeling of overwhelming (having more power) than a room full of guys.

- Fiat asked Stephanie about her experiences filming the episode “Billy.” Stephanie loved that episode because she got to kill the bad guy and be the hero. Stephanie said that the prosthetics were so real that the crew was kind, “are you ok? can we get you anything” kind of thing. One reason Stephanie liked the episode “Billy” was because the theme or content of the episode was so disturbing.

- Stephanie was asked about her favorite Lilah scenes. Stephanie replied that she loved when she dressed up as Fred and that she loved any scene with Christian Kane (Lindsey McDonald). Stephanie also said that Christian referred to Lilah and Lindsey as “Boris and Natasha.”

- Stephanie said that she played Lilah funnier than the writers had intended at first, then the writers started to give Lilah funny lines.

- Stephanie said that true evil tries to confuse and disguise and that’s how she tried to play Lilah. (She had a great quote, too, it’s below.)

- Stephanie admits that she was surprised by the chemistry between Wes and Lilah and enjoyed it.

- Stephanie was asked who was a better kisser - David or Alexis. She didn’t really answer the question but said that she kissed Alexis more often and that her one kiss with David was awkward - both had recently gotten married. Stephanie also said that she remembered she thought that David needed a shave.

- Stephanie’s reaction to the Wes and Lilah arc was shock and that she didn’t expect it.

- Stephanie was asked about any jokes played on the set. Stephanie answered that the atmosphere was fun in general. Stephanie did play one prank on Alexis. Whenever she would do a scene without a top she’d have to wear pasties and to make sure that no shots of her front were used she’d write on the pasties. Once she wrote “Hi Alexis” on them and Alexis was a bit shocked when Stephanie took her top off. Then Stephanie had a bit of fun flashing her pasties at all the cast and crew.

- Stephanie liked the phone call Lilah had with her mother because it gave Lilah a very human history. At first Stephanie played Lilah as if she was an orphan and thought it was a nice shock that Lilah was someone who did/was more than a representative for monsters.

- Stephanie loved working opposite Drusilla and Holland and was sad when Holland was “killed off.”

- Stephanie was asked about her current projects and said that she’d just finished working on “The Final Cut” with Robin Williams and Jim Caviziel, which is due in the theatres in October of this year. Stephanie loved working with Robin.

- Stephanie was asked what other Angel-verse characters she would have like to have played and Stephanie replied Dru or Darla (because she’d be able to go back in time and wear the wonderful dresses) or Faith.

- Stephanie said this was her first Con in the states but she has done 2 in the UK.

- Stephanie saw a Buffy magazine given to her by one of the Con attendees (Wish) and found errors in it and was surprised.

- Stephanie saw the last episode of “Angel” and was really surprised when “Lorne killed Christian.”

- Stephanie watched “Once More With Feeling” at the Con the night before and loved it. She thought the episode was great.

- If she hadn’t gone into acting Stephanie said she would have gone into psychology.

- Kirsten asked Stephanie if she’d seen any of the episodes with Eve, but Stephanie hadn’t so had no opinion of her. Kirsten explained that Charisma had come back and Cordelia had called Eve “Lilah, Jr.” Stephanie didn’t even know that Charisma had come back but thought the “Lilah, Jr.” comment was funny.

 - Stephanie was asked how similar she is to her character, and Stephanie responded, “I am Lilah. See, I don’t seem evil and that’s the trick.”

- Stephanie was asked her favorite food and said that she loves all kinds but is really fond of Thai and chicken paprikosh (a Hungarian dish her mother and grandmother made). Stephanie and her sister have a test for boyfriends - if the guy doesn’t like chicken paprikosh, he’s out.

- Stephanie explained that Joss did call her and told her that Lilah was going to be killed, which she really appreciated. But in the script the cast and crew received it was Angelus who did the killing. The crew found out that Lilah’s killer was Cordy on the day of shooting.

- Stephanie said one of her favorite scenes with Christian was when Lilah was trying to blackmail Lindsey and he pulls the microphone out of her suit.

- Stephanie was asked how she became an actor. She moved to California and about a year later found a manager. She started sending out photos and landed an audition with “Models, Inc.” and it led to a career.

- Stephanie’s favorite car would be a 1957 Mercedes convertible and she loves old Mercedes cars. Stephanie also learned to drive on an old VW bus.

- Stephanie and her husband got married in Cambodia. Her husband talked her into eloping, which Stephanie didn’t want to do because she’d promised her mother she wouldn’t elope because S’s two sisters had eloped. Five Buddhist monks performed the ceremony right before the two of them left Cambodia to return to the US.

- Stephanie isn’t a Buddhist and believes in all and none of the religions at the same time. Stephanie considers herself a spiritualist.

- Stephanie wants 2 kids but her husband wants 1, which is an improvement over none. Stephanie is hoping she has twins because then her husband has no choice.

Stephanie Romanov was completely charming and laughed a lot during her Q&A. She really seemed to enjoy talking to the fans. She was having so much fun that she extended her 30 minutes into about 45-50. Threw the schedule off but I don’t think anyone cared AT ALL!