Dragoncon 2001

Saturday

Chris Demetral - 11:30am / Andy Hallett & Mark Lutz - 1pm / Getting Autographs - Andy, Chris, Mark

Chris Demetral - 11:30am Panel

he has the devil in him!  just look at those eyes.
check out davodd on the right chris after the panel chris again
The ones of Chris on stage are BAD. For better ones, go see someone else's pics HERE.


The first thing we went to was Chris Demetral's Q&A at 11:30. I didn't write down any questions in my notes, so if I remember what the question was about I've put it, otherwise you just get a lump of info.

We got there a couple minutes late, and he was talking about the scifi "This is scifi" spots, and how he couldn't believe that Good Humor man suit they put him in. And he hoped that they'd have more of the cast doing the spots; he got sick of hearing himself say those slogans.

The first thing I have in my notes was him talking about how he expected Michel to be older since he's so famous. He talked about how Michael was just starting his sideburns when he first met him, and that they really ended up working for the character. He called Michael a generous actor who wants the whole scene to work, not just his scenes or lines. Chris had worked with other actors who'd only shoot their own lines, and then leave the other people to work off their stand-in when they weren't in the shot, and Michael was not like that at all. He also said Michael was interesting with lots of great stories to tell.

He never auditioned with Michael. He'd auditioned with a different Phileas candidate who was much older than he was, and he thinks it would have ruined the dynamic between Jules and Phileas if Phileas was 70 years older than he was. He said Michael reflects power, and working with him has been a learning experience.

Someone asked about whether we'd get a chance to see more of the cast at conventions, and Chris said he hoped so. He said it's definitely an ensemble show. It's tough to link the schedules with everyone living in different places. NAPTE was great because they all got to be there together. He joked that he'd try to do his best for the "ghosts" of the others.

There was some sort of question about his character or how he played it. He said Gavin gave them all several pages about their characters, but the actors were allowed to develop their characters. Playing Jules Verne was trying to fill some really big shoes, the father of sci-fi. He felt he better do something really good, and not mess it up. He tried to portray him with enthusiasm for the future, optimism about what could be, and passion for literature.

He talked about the challenges for each of the actors relative to their characters. Francesca for instance had nothing to go on, since she's not in the book. Michel, he felt was playing a smarter Passpartout than is in the book. And Michael had also adapted Phileas into something different from the book.

He talked about the first day of shooting not going smoothly. They were behind schedule. Cameras were breaking. The first scene he shot was from Rocket to the Moon, when he's meeting the Count and Natasha (there was a cute moment where he asked the audience if that was her name, because he wasn't sure, and he knew we'd remember :)

He talked about little things that came out in the shooting, like in the script he calls Phileas by his first name, but he called him Fogg. And then Michael turned it around and called him Verne. Those sort of organic changes brought a nuance that wasn't planned.

He said he thinks his nervousness about playing Jules Verne actually helped in showing the character's naivete.

He said there wasn't a lot ad-libbed. All of the actors agreed to always do a reading before shooting, and most of the important changes came during the rehearsal process.

He talked about Rockets of the Dead and Michael struggling with the idea of Phileas killing Rebecca. He didn't think Phileas would kill her because he loves her. Chris joked that the production people hate it when the actors start thinking. But Michael had to work through it to come to a place where he could understand, and finally he felt as much as Phileas loves Rebecca, he'd rather she be dead than undead.

He talked about Michel changing dialogue, because he had the most confusing lines with the most twisted verb conjugations. They reduced that some, because it felt like a one-trick pony, and they thought it would get old. Michel was concerned that Passpartout was just running around going "Master!" (and Chris did a cute little thing where he put his hands up by his face and pitched his voice up). So they tried to give Passpartout more depth, and he got to have the vision of heaven and understand time travel. Chris still thinks he's the most underused character. Most of his lines are reactionary. And he thinks the character showed the least amount of Michel's talent. He said Michel is brilliant, and he's going to blow up...not literally.

There was a question about whether they knew when they were filming that it was going to take 2 years to air. Chris said the producers did the 22 episodes themselves, without a network backing them. It was a gamble. There were negotiations with Fox and CBS, but the producers were adamant about being guaranteed that all 22 episodes would air. Many shows aren't given a chance, the artistic gets kind of lost when you're dealing with dollars and cents. For a while they talked about turning some episodes, like Cardinal's Design, and Cardinal's Revenge into a movie. He said it was long enough with all the stuff that got cut out, but that was one of the more bizarre permutations that came up as they tried to figure out where the show would go.

He said the producers always intended for it to be in syndication, that seemed to fit best.

There was a question about changing the episode order. He said he hated it. It wasn't his favorite decision. When they were filming Queen Victoria and the Giant Mole he knew it wasn't their best episode. They filmed a new first episode to give needed information and background. He talked about a scale of action vs. background, and in the end they picked a more action packed episode over one with more information.

He talked about the possible second season. He said the producers are very passionate about it, and they've talked about character arcs for the second season, and who to cast for Captain Nemo. They want to use the Nautilus in several episodes because it'd going to be very expensive to build the ship. Nemo was almost in the first season, but they wanted to save something. He said if you're a gambling person, you'd be betting on it coming back for a second season. (yay :) And we'd hear his screams of joy when he finds out there will be another season.

Then he talked about how high he jumped when he found out he got the part. He said it's fun because he gets to do everything, stunts, humor, drama.

He talked about how they shoot two episodes at once, so in the same day they'll switch between episodes. There was a question about whether that's difficult. He said usually a costume change changes your perspective, but Jules isn't a very daring dresser. So he does have to stay on his toes.

They had a list of when the episodes would air, and they based the character arcs on that. For Jules, he started out scared of his ability. And he changes through his interaction with the others, through learning fencing from Phileas, and mechanical skills from Passpartout, and his secret romantic feelings for Rebecca. But the episode order was switched in the middle of the season, and 4 or 5 episodes were scrapped, so the character arcs were more confusing and convoluted.

He said it was tricky, but not difficult. Actors are overpaid for what they do. It's so much less work than firefighters or teachers (like Jana) or other jobs. They get trailers and Kraft services. He doesn't get actors that don't realize how lucky they are. And it's luck, not always talent. He thinks some actors just buy into their own press, and forget. And he can't stand it when actors say...oh I'm such a good actor, or I'm so intelligent. He said...have you ever noticed the smartest people don't claim intelligence like that. He'd never say...I'm a good actor. (Of course the audience objected to that and insisted that he was great :)

There was a question about how he got the part. He said if it weren't for his wife, he wouldn't have tried out. He was given 3 scripts written by Gavin, which was great because it's more than the pilot and gives you a better sense of the show. He didn't feel he was right for the part. It was originally written older. And he didn't want to waste the casting director's time. Jana convinced him he could do it, so he tried out in LA. It was intimidating; he was by far the youngest actor trying out, but he thinks that ended up working to his advantage. He said he knew so little French he called Passpartout, Passpar"tout" (pronouncing the T at the end) and they had to correct him. After trying out in LA, his final audition was in Montreal. It wasn't just acting, they also wanted to see if he could handle the physical aspect of the role so he had to do some fencing. He talked briefly about how the original stunt coordinator's idea of how to do the stunts was to have the actors move out of the way of the sword. It looks good, but is dangerous, and Fran almost got cut in Eyes of Lazarus. At the audition, his fencing teacher only spoke French. He had 1/2 an hour to learn, and they were communicating through sign language and grunting. Like Planet of the Apes.

He tried out with 1 other Phileas. They did a reading off the script. Then he got a tour of the set. The streets of Paris had already been built, and it was beautiful. He got to see part of the Aurora, and he was thinking how tough it was going to be if he didn't get the role because he was already in love with the show. He'd have to watch the show even if he wasn't in it, so it was almost like being tortured.

Then he got sent home early, and he was crying on the phone to Jana thinking he hadn't gotten the part. Jana kept him going, and took him to Lilith Fair and stuff to keep him from thinking about it too much. Then his agent called and said...I have bad news...you got the part. And that's when he jumped through the ceiling. He joked that he got plaster on his head. The funny part is he almost didn't try out at all.

A question about who his favorite guest star was. John Rhys-Davies had great stories. David Warner (Arago) was amazing. In rehearsal he asked if he could give Chris a suggestion, and basically the suggestion was a reading for each line in the scene. And Chris changed his whole performance, because it was a cool version. He'd seen Warner in Jack the Ripper as a kid, and been scared by it.

He said Warner could actually give a brilliant performance even when he wasn't there. In Book of Knowledge, when he's talking to Arago in a tunnel, he was actually playing off the stand-in.

He mentioned Patrick Duffy. It was his third time working with him because Chris had been on Step by Step and one other show I can't remember.

He said shooting in Montreal helped with the other characters' French accents.

Someone brought up Jules and dark alleys. He laughed about it, and said it helps move the plot along. He said alcohol seems to reverse he process, when Jules is drunk he meets nice people. He talked about Jules not having good luck with girls; they're always out to do him wrong. He joked that Jules should carry a flashlight at all times. He also said that for a brilliant guy, Jules has really bad hearing. He never hears anyone behind him. Or when the Prometheus is going overhead. (And he made little propeller motions and stuff. It was really cute. :) He compared the Jules/dark alley thing to the red shirt thing in Start Trek, and called it a necessary evil.

A question about who he'd like to cast as Captain Nemo. He said Donald Sutherland was a main contender. He has a great voice and presence. He's one of those guys who could be reading the phonebook, and you'd watch him. Chris said Nemo's a great character, an anti-hero, a rogue agent. He said he'll probably keep popping up. And Laura Nemo is supposed to be Jules' first real love interest. So Jana wants an ugly girl to be cast for that role. (heh heh)

A question about whether there's a blooper reel.
There is. It was shown at Christmas. About 80% of it was Michel mispronouncing things. He said something about doing 40 takes at some point because they were all laughing. But no one knows where the blooper reel is now. He's trying to find it, and he'd like to show it at a con, or put some of it on the internet. He said, unlike a lot of blooper reels, it's not a lot of inside jokes.

He talked about trying to keep a straight face in his scenes with Michel, and it's a little easier for him because he can smile and stuff at Passpartout's antics, but Michael and Fran have to be more serious. He said sometimes he bites his tongue to keep form laughing. Michel has an amazing face, and he can switch back and forth telling jokes in English and French.

I *think* the question was whether the second season would be in HDTV.
Yes. It's cheaper and it's amazing quality. And if a line is blown, you don't have to stop, which helps to not break the mood of the scene. They actually had to downgrade it to make it look like film. And you have to change the way you do make-up, the detail is so clear. You can see the lace lines in the wigs, and he could see a place where he cut himself shaving.

Something about it being in letterbox, and no pan and scan (which got a cheer from the audience).

He said the picture is so clear it's like being there. George Lucas has watched the show to see how they used it on TV. You can edit instantly. He said they'd call him over after he did a scene and ask if he wanted to see what it looked like with that week's monster or whatever.

The set is huge, a converted train repair station. Everyone is in the same building, you can jump from set to set.

Someone brought up Crusader in the Crypt, and he said for a 60 million dollar show, they had one of the cheapest gimmicks. They had to imagine the alien in Crusader, there was no stand-in. But they needed to keep their eyelines consistent, so it looks like all of them are watching the same thing. First they tried putting tape on the wall, and it didn't work. So they ended up with a prop guy holding a broom, dancing around. They have all these special effects, and they were using one of the cheapest bits of all time.

He talked about the huge wall of green screen, and said it's boring when you're acting on it.

A question about his favorite episode.
Dust to Dust. It was fun filming. But it's hard to pick. There are special memories for each one. He mentioned a thing on the internet where they say as Jules' sideburns get longer, the episodes get better. He said that's because, at first he had fake sideburns (and they looked especially bad in HDTV). They had a Christmas break and he decided to grow his own sideburns, and they were longer than the fake ones. Because it was deeper into the shooting, they had better writing, and the cast had gelled, so the episodes are better.

A question about whether Book of Knowledge was the hardest episode for him to shoot.
He said it was tough because it was a lot of reacting. He didn't want to do the same look of fear in every scene. He said he tried to keep track...okay, I had my mouth open in that scene, so let's do mouth closed here. But when you're in the scene it doesn't really work that way. But he said the hardest thing to shoot emotionally was the interrogation scene with Phileas in Queen Vic. He was being throttled. And the scene they shot was longer. He said in Jules' garrett the walls are soft, but he was getting his hand slammed against the wall repeatedly. And he was dizzy, which he said helped his performance for the rest of the day.:)

A question about whether Passpartout's teapot would ever work. He said it didn't make sense to him that it didn't work, because Passpartout is a genius. It seemed too much like a sitcom to him.

He talked again about episode order and length. He clarified that the producers were the ones who chose to show the episodes out of order, not scifi. He said some of the episodes were "stinkers," and partly they were trying to not show a bunch of those all together. But it made things more confusing. Like Rebecca's broken leg actually was explained, and it never was shown.

He said each episode was longer, and CBC has the better versions.

There was a question about the target length for the episodes. He said the general rule is 1 pg per minute, and he said that rule doesn't work. But all the scripts were overwritten. None were under 43 pages. He said when they were shooting he couldn't figure out where the commercials would go because it was so packed, and there ended up being some really strange breaks.

Someone brought up the idea of DVD with the extra footage and he thought that would be great. He mentioned the scene with Phileas and Sir Boniface getting chopped short, and he couldn't understand why. And when he'd watch the episodes, he'd think...do we really need another landing scene with the Aurora? It's pretty, but... He said the landings were usually at dusk cause it's easier to do the effects.

He talked about them debating how you were supposed to pronounce dirigible, Melchezidek, Amateratsu.

A question about his best work on the show.
He said he doesn't think any of his work was particularly good (the audience objected to that again. :)

He mentioned the interrogation scene with Phileas again, and that it was many takes. He said he was crying from a natural place, and it bugs him when he sees actors who're "crying" but there are no tears, they're just contorting their faces. But he's gotten to a point where he has a few things he can bring to mind to make the tears come. But he said the scene doesn't make sense as it's shown in the episode because of how it was edited. He's nervous, and then he's suddenly crying. He joked that it was like he was a pregnant woman. They were shooting the scene around the time of Columbine, and it seemed too violent, so they cut it. There was a part where Phileas punches him while he's tied up, and that seemed like too much since he couldn't fight back. The Russian Roulette with Cavoir also almost got cut because of Columbine.

Some question about Count Gregory. I don't really know what.
He said they should kill him by everyone just grabbing a limb, and burying them in different places. But then they'd come crawling back. He said the character is too good to kill. Phileas sent him over the waterfall, but he's hard to kill.
That was one of the only special effects that looked just as scary off camera as on. It looked real. He said the guy who plays the count was sometimes in the outfit, but a lot of times it was a robot since the head was separated from the body. And he said between takes, the man doing the voice would be telling dirty jokes and singing show tunes with Count Gregory's head.

A question about flaws in Jules.
The fact that he's so positive about the future. He can't see the wrongs technology can bring. In real life, later in his life, Verne became anti-technology. But at this point, he's innocent, excited. Chris said he plays his character arcs over several seasons, even if they aren't filmed, and that Jules will change.
He talked about the Strange Death of Dr. Marechal (which he said was his least favorite episode) and how Jules didn't want to destroy the machine, even though it was really a horrible thing. He joked about the poor zombie cat that was never resolved.

I didn't hear the question but I think it was something about Rebecca in regard to her not being in Around the World in 80 Days, and if there's a theory about what happened there.
Chris' theory is that it's because she was a secret agent, and Jules had to keep her secret. That she really was there, but he had to protect her and keep her safe. He mentioned that in real life, Jules based the Phileas character on his father, which brings another interesting dynamic to the Jules/Phileas relationship.

He apologized formally for "Fusion Power!" He said it had seemed cool on the page, but it just came out really cheesy and cartoonish. And he said maybe in the future they could just have the Count wink at the screen, and we'd know it was fusion power.

I think the question was about where the characters are going next season?
He said that it is an ensemble, and that they work well as a team, there are checks and balances, and great character interaction. But they will separate more, it's hard to have all four together, and Jules has a separate place to stay. There will be certain episodes focusing on each character, Jules-centric, Rebecca-centric, etc.

This was the last question because he had another panel at 1.

Chris was great. He was open and articulate and funny. It was really entertaining to watch him, and he never seemed to get tired of answering the questions. He actually stayed over his scheduled time 10 or 15 minutes. He was a fun person to be around, and full of interesting stories


Andy Hallett & Mark Lutz - 1pm Panel

mark waits to go on stage (in the blue) andy gets a workout
There are better pics at the Sunday panels. We were too far away here.

At 1, we went to see Andy Hallett's first panel. Dare went to get something to eat since we hadn't had breakfast. That's when she discovered she'd lost about 40-50 dollars. She's opening a collection if anyone wants to donate to the next time bring traveler's checks fund. :) I went to get a seat, and she came and joined me after getting a sandwich. My notes really don't do this panel any justice at all. A few minutes in, Andy was joined by Mark Lutz (who played the Groosalugg in the Pylea arc). The two of them are good friends and play off each other beautifully. Mark is hilarious, and the whole time we were there, we were in stitches. But I don't think it's going to come across too well, so just imagine everything 50 times funnier than it seems as you read it :)

Andy talked a little about 3rd season Angel. He said he'd been leaking too much info the day before, so he was trying not to give anything away. He said they were in the middle of filming episode 4 during the con. He was going back to LA Monday, and he said he was really excited about the 5th episode. It was going to have some good stuff.

He poured himself some water, and joked that he hoped it was something else. Then he saw himself on one of the two big screens they had (since it was a big room) and got startled by it.

He said he was shooting with Amy Acker (Fred) whose a regular this season. Her character is very complicated because of her past, her personality. He explained about how she'd been sucking into Pylea and the Host got "sucked the other way." He sure did. Everyone cracked up. He said she's a doll and they hang out because they live close to each other.

He said the first three eps of Angel are really cool, "a blast." Last season he was in 17 of 22 episodes. In the beginning he came in for one episode with the possibility of return. He loved doing the Pylea arc. They shot it on location, and it was really wild to get 100 extras, all ages, with make-up like his. They shot at Ventura Farms. And he got a chance to meet new actors, work with new people. Then he introduced Mark Lutz, the Groosalugg. Mark came out and Andy told us how excited he is because Mark is working in Canada on the Facts of Life reunion, and he's playing Natalie's boyfriend.

Mark was trying to find a mic that worked. There were about eight mics on the table, and none of them, except Andy's was working. So there was a really funny few moments where he was testing them all, and moving them all around. Finally they got them working. Andy asked Mark about his projects and he said something about guesting on a new X-men based show in October. I think it's Mutant X. And he's playing a pretty evil guy named Eric Tanner? My notes are really illegible here. But I think Andy teased that he was playing himself.

Mark got Andy to tell us this great story about how he owned a school bus when he was 13. He joked that Andy would be signing buses outside after the panel. Andy said he loved driving big things like trucks, whatever. And there was this old 1976 bus, that was for sale for 500 dollars because after ten years in Massachusetts, you're not allowed to carry school kids in a bus that's over ten years old. He saved up his money and bought the bus, and was only supposed to keep it for a short time. Mark broke in that he still had it, and he drives it down Sunset in full make-up, and then he was kidding around going...no, Officer, I swear it was a green demon driving a bus. He had a cocktail in his hand. There was this guy dressed like Conan with him. And we were cracking up. Andy continued the story that he was allowed to drive the bus up and down the driveway, and it was in the paper that he had bought it and everything because he's from Osterville, MA and it's tiny. Anyway, on voting night, the streets were closed, and he took the bus out for a drive. There was something here about his friend Rachel and taking it out of second gear, and Mark saying that was code, and something about taking it into fourth gear. Anyway again, some old woman called the cops. He was driving around and he had gathered up all his friends, and they were doing emergency evacuations and they did a really funny thing where one of them was going...beep, beep. And eventually he dropped everyone but Rachel off, and went home. When he got there, there was a cruiser in his driveway, and the officer (it was his first night on the job) came over to the side of the bus, and Andy looked down out the window. Mark said the officer was expecting Mrs. Partridge. They asked for his license and registration, and he said he didn't have it. So the guy asked if he could go get it, and he was going...no, you don't understand, I don't have any. So he got arrested and cuffed and taken down to the station. He was waiting in the cell for a few hours, and his dad came to get him, but one of the officers came to him and told him there was good news and bad news. His dad had come, but he said he was too pissed to see him and left. So his mom was on the way to get him. He had to go to court, and he had to pay a $200 fine. But he ended up selling the bus for $700 so he broke even. Mark was drying his eyes as Andy finished with one of the name cards in this really funny exaggerated way.

Someone asked if there was going to be an Angel movie. Andy said, not that he knows of.

A question about whether they relate to their characters.
Andy said, "Hell, yes." He doesn't have all the clothes. But he hangs out in places that look like Caritas. And the whole lounge, drink in hand, karaoke addiction is like him.

Mark joked and said that he was a pit fighter for 13 years, so he can really relate to the Groosalugg. He killed many flame beasts, and is really good with kitchen knives.

Andy said something about Mark signing pictures later, and Mark said that Andy would be signing mug shots from his arrest later.

Mark said originally, he was going to be blue. But someone, I think David Greenwalt, said he looked like he'd been sunk in a frozen lake. So they tried making him gold, and he looked like an Oscar. And then he was like the silver surfer, but it got a little cold.

They told about how they met. Andy wasn't in make-up. And then he came up and said hi the next day when he was in make-up, and Mark didn't know who he was. Then there was some confusion about it, and Andy asked if they were in or out of make-up when they met, and Mark said melodramatically...you don't remember?!

Andy explained that he got the part of the Host because he was singing at a B.B. King dinner theater thing. Joss and his wife were there, and Joss had the idea for the Host. 5 or 6 months later, he approached Andy with the idea when he ran into him in the airport (there's more on this at a later panel).

Someone asked if there were going to be any surprise visits between Gru and Cordy. Mark said, there's going to be a whole spin-off the Groosalugg and the Host: The college Years. They go to UCLA, and he gave them each majors that I can't remember.

Andy talked about episode 13 of season 2 (Happy Anniversary) which was his first big experience with the show, where he goes to Angel and is outside the bar. They were on location in Angel's convertible, being towed through the streets, and there were people in the clubs, and he could just look up at the stars, and he thought it was incredible.

A question about romantic interest for the Host.
He didn't think so. He's too busy drinking and singing.

Someone asked if David's singing is really that bad.
He said David came in and sang Mandy really, really badly and they asked him to do it better. And then he sang it too well. So there was some experimenting. He said there were outtakes at the end of that episode (which I never saw :P) And he said David is always rapping and doing little beatbox noises. And then he tried to do them and he couldn't.

Someone asked about the working environment, and Mark said everyone is really professional, except Andy. At some point around here, he said Andy was kicking him under the table. :) He said Angel was the first thing he shot in LA. And they showed him the fight he was going to have with David, and he had to see it a few times. And then David came over, saw it once, and was ready to go. And Mark was going...who does he think he is? But he got it the first time.

They said for the 4th Pylea ep (There's No Place like Plrtz Glrb) it was raining and it was freezing, 6 degrees. And Andy got to say home warm for that one, so they were calling him to bug him.

A question about their favorite muppets.
Andy said his were the two old guys in the box. And Mark said his was Beaker.

A question about ad-libs.
They said no. Andy said the only person who gets to ad-lib is J. August Richards if he thinks something doesn't sound right. And Andy gets some input into which songs he sings. But mostly otherwise they stick to the script. Mark said something about giving idea to David Greenwalt and him just going...no.

Question about educational background.
Mark - B.A in political science. Took an acting class the last year of University. Then took some classes in Toronto. They said a whole bunch of things on his resume and the only one I remember is La Femme Nikita because that's the only one I watch.

Andy said Angel is his first acting gig. He went to a small Catholic school in MA. He has all the priests there watching Buffy and Angel. He joked that the WB was desperate to get that demographic. And he said one of the priests sends him critiques after each episode. His degree is in Business Management/marketing. Mark asked how that was working out for him. He took acting classes once he moved to LA.

For some reason, they were talking about Richard Dawson (the old host of Family Feud.) He said he calls him Dick Dawson like he knows him...which cracked me and Dare up cause I had said earlier that day that I call him Andy like he's my friend. And they were talking about how they love him because he's the biggest perv on TV, and he would kiss every girl on the show. And then he was demonstrating with Mark as the girl, this one time it was in the final feud or whatever it's called. And he had his arm around the girl and asked, how old are you, honey? And she said, 16. And he said good luck or something, and kissed her. And he moved in like he was going to kiss Mark, and Mark dropped his jaw like he was in shock. It was very cute.

A question about whether they watched Buffy and Angel before they were on it. Andy said he watched Buffy more than Angel.

I don't know what this was in reference to but he said Mercedes (Harmony) is really funny in person.

A question about whether he's going to put out a CD.
He said he's working on it, and asked if any of us would buy it. Everyone cheered. Mark said he's buy three copies. One for the home, one for the car, and one for a coaster.

Someone said they liked how the Host can look into a singer's soul, and asked what the two of them do to look into their souls. Mark joked around saying that was all the time they had, and pretending he was going to leave. Then they got serious about it, and Mark said he writes a lot and keeps a journal. Andy said Mark's a great writer.
Andy said he drives, when he's learning a script or just thinking. He also said he goes to old people, and that the old have words of wisdom. Except in LA, where all the old people near him are nuts. Somewhere in there he also said his mom is in love with Mark.

A question to Mark about what working with Charisma was like.
He jokingly said "terrible." Then he talked about her coin bikini thing, and said that he kept going...do you have change for a five? He said she has great comic timing. And he was starting to tell a story, but he said Charisma would kill him. The crowd was urging him to tell it anyway. And some guy shouted out, we won't tell her who told it when we put it on the internet. And that basically decided it for Mark, and he didn't tell it.

Andy talked about how first season he didn't have a contract, it was just a weekly thing.

Someone asked about coming from New England to LA. He said it was a huge change. Mark said that Andy is like the mayor of his town. He knows everyone. I think they asked the guy in the audience where he was from, and he said Boston. Mark asked...Do you know Bob?

Someone asked if Joss was Numfar.
Yes. He didn't want anyone to know it was him beforehand. He had his make-up done in a different trailer and everything, and it takes 3 hours to do that make-up. Andy said it was a hot day, and he was working his butt off dancing, and he was out of breath. David Boreanaz gave it away. He hadn't been told either, but he figured out who it was. Andy was laughing saying even Joss' little legs were green.

He said this season he has a contract for 13 episodes guaranteed, and a possibility of more.

Andy's also in Amber Benson's movie, "Chance." He's a lounge singer. Everyone laughed at that. And he's in Mere Smith's "The Enforcers."

A whole big group of people dressed like Starship Troopers came in at this point and Mark was going...is this a raid? Am I double parked?

A question about whether they were into scifi. Mark said he used to watch Star Trek. And he was going to name his kids Captain Kirk, Batman, and Sam Malone. Then he did a little thing where he was calling the kids in for dinner. And Andy was laughing, saying that Sam Malone was the funniest.

A question for Mark about whether he was embarrassed playing this romance hero type guy. He said his family helps keep his ego down, and his sister sent him a comment from the internet after his episodes aired that said...when did Fabio and Keanu Reeves have a love child? Then he joked that he was going to tell an embarrassing story about her now. But he was a Conan fan, so he thought it was a cool part.

Then Andy ended the session talking about Fabio getting hit by that goose and they were joking going...Fabio was saying...I can't believe it's a goose! And the goose was going...Oh my God, that's Fabio. We went up to the front after they got off the stage to try to ask them when they were going to be signing. And we ran into Mala and Chelle who were already up there. I don't really remember any of what happened then except that Mala asked Mark what episode of Nikita he was in and it was Third Party Rip-off. So then Mala and I were trying to figure out if we remembered him in that episode. We met up with Lex and Lynn, who were at a Laurell K. Hamilton panel, and then we headed for the dealer room.
laurell waits for the elevator


Autographs

andy and dare andy and mala mark and andy
mark signing this pic cracks me up

When we got there Mark and Andy weren't there. A few more people got temporary Empire tattoos, and we left for a while to get lunch. We went back a while later, and Mark was there, and then Andy came in right after we got there. We were right at the head of the line because he was just sitting down. Dare got her autograph and talked to him about Miami, and he was saying how much he loves South Beach. Then I got mine, and I told him about how my mom doesn't even watch Angel but she loves him, and she's always saying the Host is her favorite. And he thought it was sweet and asked me if the autograph was for her, and I was like...no it's for me. (I am a selfish daughter. :) So he signed mine, and then he signed a free one for my mom which was really, really nice of him. I took a picture with him, and of course my flash didn't go off, but Lynn took a second one for me. (I was SUCH a doofus with my camera all weekend.) Then we hung around while the rest of our group got autographs. And then Mark and Andy posed together for us to take pictures of them. It was all fun.

I wanted to get Chris' autograph too, but everyone else was done, so I told them to go ahead, and I would catch up. I saw him at a table, but I figured I'd have time to catch him later, so I went after the others. I finally found them a couple levels up, and it turned out Dare had gone to find me, and I'd missed her. So I went back again, and looked for her in the autograph room and couldn't find her, and then ran into her at the top of the escalator. So I ran around like an idiot for a while, and didn't even get Chris' autograph. And I was like...forget it, I'll go back later. So we went and caught up to the others in another dealer type room with official booths and stuff for publishers and companies and stuff. Anyway, we'd planned to go to the Laurell signing, but they'd closed the line at a certain point and said come back the next day and get there an hour early. We wandered around looking at the stuff for a while, and then it was getting close to 5, when I was supposed to meet my roomie from college to go to dinner. So I left the rest of the group, and went back to the dealer room to get Chris' autograph.

There wasn't any line, so I asked if he'd sign a magazine I'd brought with an article on him. He said sure. My arms were so full cause I'd been carrying Laurell books around all day (and for nothing :P) So I had some trouble getting the magazine out, and finally I used my teeth to pull it out of it's little plastic thing, which I think amused Chris. I handed over the magazine and asked him to find the article. And at first he flipped through and couldn't find it. Then he did, and Jana teased him about one of the pictures they used because he hated that picture. He signed it, and I said thanks. And then as I was getting ready to leave Jana asked if I had a good time at the dinner, and I said we had a great time. And that I had a great time at the 11:30 panel too, that Chris was really fun and funny. And she told me there was a panel at 5:30. And my jaw dropped and I went...today?! She said yeah, it was last minute, and I told her I was meeting someone at 5, but if I could make it I would. Then I went back to the hotel to dump the stuff I'd been carrying everywhere.

It sucked because it was too late to tell Mahogany (my ex-roomie) to come later, and I couldn't tell her...just sit by yourself for an hour while I go see Chris. sigh. And I really wanted to see her since I hadn't seen her since graduation in May. So we met around 5 and we walked around the mall for a while, then we went to Benihana's. And afterwards we went back to the hotel. At that point I was starting to get sick, so I skipped the 8:30 Laurell panel because I felt like crap. I took some Tylenol though, and by the time we were supposed to go to the fanfic panel at 10 I felt much better.

We went over to the fanfic panel. It was listed as fanfic reading, but it turned out only one fanfic excerpt got read and the rest was discussion...which was good because the discussion was more interesting than readings would have been I think. There were a lot of B/S writers there, definitely the majority. A couple B/A people besides me. And a little W/A contingent. Most of the discussion was also about Spike, but it was pretty interesting. I spoke up about twice on the whole soul vs. chip thing. The best part about the fanfic panel though was that there were a couple people at the panel who got in a discussion with Mala and Lex afterward, and then all of us ended up talking for literally like 3 hours out in the hallway. It was an awesome experience and I was doubled over laughing for a lot of it. Plus, some drunk guy knelt down and recited that speech Madmorigan says in Willow when he's under the love spell to me. You are my sun, my moon, my starlit sky...etc. How often does that happen?

After the discussion broke up, we made a cameo at the 80s dance, and Dare and I got home around 3.


continue to Sunday