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ILLYRIA NO LONGER
Fred or Illyria, the forever charming
Amy Acker
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Motherhood looks like it is going to suit Amy Acker as she is positively glowing during her pregnancy. Just when you think she can't possibly become any more beautiful, she proves the old wives tale that woman truly blossom when they are expecting a baby. Now in her seventh month, (even though she barely has a bump), Amy radiated on stage as ever as she talked about the Illyria, the role that truly brought her into her own during Season 5. A lot has been said and written about this character already in magazine publications and during Amy's appearances at other events, but how Illyria's role was due to develop had the show been renewed was a piece of information Amy did not mind sharing. "No one expected Angel to finish when it did," she commented, "so I was only supposed to be in three episodes with the blue hair before Illyria was transformed into someone more human. Joss told me he originally planned for a Fred/Illyria hybrid where Fred could have switched into Illyria's powers whenever she needed to. If they had gone another year then hopefully Wesley wouldn't have died and we'd have explored that more as it was fun to do." Amy of course was the principal female in Season 5, did this ever prove to be a problem in a predominantly male cast, "and all the boys played practical jokes on me. David was like my big brother and we joked around a lot and gave each other a hard time. I remember my first day on set as Illyria, I was working with David and James and I thought David is gonna make so much fun of me but after the first scene both David and James came to say, 'That's so cool'. The crew wouldn't talk to me however!" Illyria has quite a unique look, not only because of the blue hair and makeup but also because of the rather snug looking costume. Amy's love of food is well documented so did Amy have to cut back on the tacos to get into it. "The costume looked uncomfortable but it was cotton and breathable and not very restricting," she says, "although it took about four fittings of me doing one kick and then having my butt hanging out. Just working with the costume designer made me realize how Illyria was going to have to move."
Squeezing into the Illyria costume now may be a little more difficult as Amy and her husband, James Carpinello await the arrival of their first child. "It's going to be a boy," she happily tells everyone, "but we have not decided on a name yet. We have to find something that goes with Carpinello so it's a really complicated decision." Since the show ended, Amy has made a point of trying to keep in touch with her former cast mates, "I've seen J (August Richards), Alexis (Denisof) and Joss. I try to see Alexis and Joss once a month and I was excited to see David in London. At the time we didn't spend too much time hanging around together but now we make a point of trying to see each other." She was also planning to go to dinner with J that very same evening as he was in London at the same time attending another event in a different part of the city and wasn't surprised to hear that he had been dancing until the early hours of the morning. "It's strange," she admits, "J called me feeling a little low around the middle of July as that was the time we would usually get together to start filming the new season. I'm gonna miss Angel because I'm gonna miss going to work with people you look forward to seeing every day." Both Luke and Juliet also had Q&A sessions but their moments at the microphone unfortunately clashed with other items on the tight schedule. All day long, tickets had been drawn for a long list of approximately 100 raffle prizes. Despite the mouth watering prospect of collecting a full 12 inches of Angelus from the main man himself (in the shape of an action figure), or witnessing James willing enough to climb a balcony like a modern day Romeo to get to a lucky ticket holder, it must have been a bitter sweet feeling for those who had won the prizes earlier in the day as it made them ineligible for the early evening main prize draw which was a chance to have breakfast with David and James the following day.
THE GIRL IN QUESTION
If a poll had been taken by attendees minutes after Halloween 2004 had closed its doors, the most memorable moment cited by many would either be James' acoustic session or perhaps more probably the absolutely hilarious episode commentary for The Girl In Question provided on Saturday night by Mr Boreanaz and Mr Marsters. Episode commentaries are a popular feature on DVD box sets as actors, writers and directors alike often give away trade secrets and interesting explanations as to how an episode is put together. If that was the mission statement for TGIQ commentary then somebody forgot to tell David and James. Sitting on opposite sides of the stage (after David had once again assaulted the inflatable cat and had his chair moved forward so he didn't fall off the edge) and casting their attention to the large screen that played the episode, they took their attentive audience on a roller coaster journey. So quick was their wit, notebooks and pens were cast aside as it was impossible to keep up with their banter. David shone and showed he has a real talent for improvisational comedy to the point that at times he got carried away resulting in James finally handing David his microphone laughingly stating "you are so much better at this than I am." There are far too many jokes to list and remember but the ones that stick in the memory are - James complaining about the chaffing of the ropes during the dungeon flashback scene only for David to have no sympathy but instead complain about the wig they made him wear and how never in five years did they ever get him a decent wig - David's comments about the mile-high club during the flight to Rome, "Angel's just joined the Mile High Club -oh so has Spike!" - James' impression of The Birkles and their bartering skills - the slow motion dialogue in the slow motion fight scene - James' impressive impersonation of the villain's getaway car while David countered with his pathetic interpretation of the pursuing vespa - neither one of them wanting to make fun of Amy when she was on screen and of course David bringing everyone's attention to where James' eyes wandered whenever the buxom Italian lawyer, Ilona came into view. David had a lot of fun with that one much to James' denial and red-faced embarrassment.
"Angel's just joined the Mile
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High Club - Oh, so has Spike!"
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They did manage to make some comments about their fellow cast members at times, (although for most of the
episode you got the feeling that this was actually the first time they had actually seen it all the way
through), describing Tom Lenk as a 'funny guy to be with', explaining that they couldn't stop
laughing at Julie Benz for some reason and James ending by saying that it was in this episode that
he realized Illyria was more than just a blue wig and a costume, she was all about Amy's acting. Before
fans had a chance to catch their breath or stitch their sides after the TGIQ commentary, David once again
graced the stage but this time on a more serious note. Although everyone was led to believe that David
would be reading a spooky Halloween ghost story, this actually turned out to be a trick as David decided
he wanted to treat some deserving people instead with gifts both he and his manager Tom had
collected over the years. Deserving recipients of these gifts included Charlotte, a lady who had
flown thousands of miles from Alaska especially for the event despite being wheelchair bound and suffering
from cancer. David described her as having 'an amazing spirit' and was truly touched by her presence.
He also paid special tribute to Margaret who donated a ticket at auction for an AIDS fund, and
another lady who had bought an extra ticket simply because her friend could not afford to go. He donated
a memento from his collection to a young girl called Lisa who was attending the event with her
blind mother and was trying to raise some money for the guide dogs association. He also couldn’t resist
awarding the strange and quirky and a lady by the name of Alison walked away with a piece of David
Boreanaz memorabilia just because she had the devilish privilege of being ticket holder 666!
A slight worry foreshadowed James as he stood on stage, guitar in hand ready to play his first solo
European appearance since leaving his band earlier in 2004. "For all those who told me that they were
nervous during the photo session," he anxiously admitted, "well this is right back on you now." Before he
even played a note, he explained that he was using a different guitar as his usual has been damaged at the airport but he was more than happy with the replacement. He opened his set with This Town before moving on to Goodbye, Bad and Katie. At one point he paused in between songs as his hand had become very sore. Although the countless handshakes and innumerable autographs he had signed that day couldn't have helped his cause, James told the story of how he had once broken his hand by punching a concrete floor rather than punching an over zealous and intrusive priest. As he didn't have insurance at the time to have the injury treated properly, he actually ended up having to have his broken every couple of weeks or so to reset it as he couldn't afford pins. He continued his set with Runaway, Dangerous, Every Man and Patricia before finishing with Over Now and Smile. Most songs had been played at various venues around the globe but there were a couple of rarely played or completely new songs also included. Although admittedly nervous James didn't let the nerves get the better of him. All the notes may not have been perfect and he may not always have hit the right key but he played a heartfelt and extremely enjoyable session. Whatever inspiration James had drawn upon to write his songs he tried to convey to those sharing the experience with him. James' passion for music will take him on a new journey in 2005, and although he may now be a solo performer, he will not be making the trip alone if the Halloween crowd has anything to do with it.
ANGELUS & WILLIAM THE BLOODY
Sunday morning brought more of the same as the day before with photo sessions, auto sessions and a lesson from Jane Espenson on how to truly run an episode commentary as she took on the task of telling some home truths surrounding the entertaining BTVS Season 4 episode Pangs. Primarily this particular episode was about "Buffy's yearning for normalcy and not being influenced by a supernatural force," but it also brought about the return of Angel and the appearance of a very 'neutered' Spike. One of the first things Jane mentioned was the Buffy the Vampire Slayer theme tune. She said that Anthony Stewart Head told her that the sign of a good theme tune is when you can sing the name of the show in time to the music. She then proceeded to demonstrate this and admitted that the ring tone on her cell phone just happens to be the ditty penned by Nerf Herder so every time she gets a phone call she thinks of Tony Head. Hearing the writer's perspective on an episode is so intriguing. Jane talked about the need to draw or 'hook' an audience to care about its characters before unleashing on them 'a roller coaster of menace' citing this as one of the reasons as to why Buffy has been successful over other shows. She also knows that Buffy fans do not miss a trick and that, "if something in your script seems very familiar to something you've done before, you just have your characters reference it and it makes it less familiar and more intentional." This particular skill is apparently called 'hanging a lantern on it.' As the episode ran its course on screen, Jane mentioned other little tidbits like how The Initiative were never quite as cool as they had hoped, how it had been planned quite early on that Spike would fall in love with Buffy, how Riley was from Iowa as is Jane herself, the amount of research Jane had to do in the museums at Santa Barbara to study the Shumash knives and costumes, the testy emails she received at declaring the tribe extinct and just how cuddly that bear really was. Unfortunately, if Jane thought her duties were completed once she finished the commentary, she was mistaken as she was asked to join fan fiction writers, website owners and one of the editors from Buffy magazine to discuss the quality and inspiration behind fan fiction in a special Writers Panel discussion. Jane is a big fan and had mentioned more than once during the weekend that, "fan fiction writers get the tone of the show in fact the show should be written by fan fiction writers" where as those who do tell their own tale about their favorite show suggests, "those who are authorized to write characters should try to write short stories as fan ficcy as possible and not be afraid to take characters away from the premise of the show."
"Put Angel in an embarrassing situation then the humor comes, add Spike to the mix
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and it comes out even more, put them in dresses and it would have been hilarious!"
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Being the headliners of the event, of course David and James for a Q&A session made an appearance on Sunday but this time they appeared on stage together. Back at Flashback Weekend in Chicago in May, David had mentioned that he would loved to have seen Angel and Spike in an episode that rather resembled the movie Some Like It Hot but unfortunately it appears he had forgot to mention it to James who looked rather disturbed when it was finally brought to his attention. "It would be such an interesting storyline with these two," David reasoned, "Put Angel in an embarrassing situation then the humor comes, add Spike to the mix and it comes out even more, put them in dresses and it would have been hilarious!" There were a lot of Angel and Spike innuendo questions asked some of which David and James played along with although they drew the line at the request to kiss one another and suggested experimenting with Photoshop rather than ever seeing them in a naked magazine centerfold together! David's obsession for ice cream and where to put it reared its head on more than one occasion as he wickedly answered if he only 24 hours to live he would use 8 to 9-hrs up to fly home to Jaime and the rest would be between him, his wife and a pot of Haagen Daz. In a similar vein both he and James food would they choose for their last ever meal. James immediately answered "proscuttio and melon…..mmmm salty goodness" and before he even had chance to open his mouth, the crowd shouted back at David - Haagen Daz! "Ah ah not necessarily," he retaliated, "I've just had a really nice curry so I think I'd spice it up baby. In fact I have spices dancing in my belly right now." At that point James moved the chair away from David.
Besides hearing David and James joke with fans and share a part of themselves with those around, the really good things to witness are those times when they do something a little out of the ordinary to make someone's day. Whether it be James trying to encourage David to a cavemen versus astronaut debate (defiantly pointing out by the way that Fred uttered astronauts on her death bed) or David suddenly realizing that he's being filmed on the big screen behind him and wiggling his ass to see what it looks like on screen, its often these small things that are the most memorable. A young woman came to the microphone to ask her question and at the daunting sight of seeing two of the most handsome men on television sitting before her she unfortunately found herself a little lost for words. Seeing her dilemma, David immediately came off stage and swapped places making the woman sit next to James as he asked the question instead. Whether it be James' calming influence or not to her credit the young girl suddenly found her voice, turned to David and in true celebrity style said, "Now, now don't be nervous, take your time, what's your name?" David played along superbly, mumbling the words on the card as an incoherent sentence of nervous grumbles much to the amusement of others. When he got back to the stage he made mention of a young girl who every time she went to have her photo taken she would burst into tears. "It's just to let you know whenever you're ready honey, we'll be here," David assured. "But if you don't want to, that's fine too. We still love ya." James added. Of course David and James were asked far more questions than covered in this review and it is obvious the mutual respect they have for another and it was their camaraderie that proved to be the winning formula of a successful weekend.
David initiated the goodbyes by giving his thanks to the fans for the support of Angel not only during the five years of its solo series but since his time on Buffy. He mentioned that he had witnessed two Indian Punjabi gentlemen greet each other by holding their hands over their hearts and then showing it to the other in an open gesture of affection. With no other words than a simple thank you and goodbye, this heart-opening gesture was how David bid his farewell to a standing ovation. James walked on stage for his final time armed with a multitude of flowers, which he deservedly distributed to the organizers and staff, all of whom he brought before the crowd to receive their plaudits. Like David, he thanked the attendees for their warmth and to a deafening cavalcade of appreciation; he walked off stage pulling the grrr argh man behind him. Halloween 2004 was an event that many had been dying to see happen. The two main star attractions won a lot of people over during this event as the two fan bases for the actors can be quite competitive and the supporting cast, (who in reality are stars in their own right), were as superb and as gracious as ever especially Luke Perry who turned out to be a little diamond. There were flaws as there are at every event such as this but they were few and far between and dealt with. Jackie who had flown in from The States to be a part of it can sum up the event. "This London event was my 6th con this year. I've found that each event has had it's own little glitches which cause some bitching by the fans. This one was no exception. But overall, I have to say it was a wonderful experience. All of the con staff, stewards and security team were helpful and very pleasant. They seemed to be having as much fun as the fans. And while I did make some new friends, it was especially great to see many of the "Chicago Ultimates" again. That would have to be another big highlight for me. We had such a blast in Chicago, and got to relive the fun again in London. I guess we really have David Boreanaz to thank for bringing us together the first time, and for giving us a reason to travel such distances to meet again. I'd do it again, in a heartbeat."
Written by CoA UK Staff Writer, Sue Grimshaw
CityofAngel.com would like to extend our gracious thanks and congratulations to
JamesMarstersLive.com . All information with regards
to James Marsters 2005 Tour can be found on their site.
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