John Lennon once said that life is what happens while you're busy making other plans and today was undeniable proof of that - a mindblowingly cool day that I could never have predicted. The madness started while I was waiting in (yet another) queue and overheard a guy behind me talking about 'Human Target':
ME: Human Target? I saw that at preview night.
BEARDIE MAN: Oh yeah? What did you think of it?
ME: Really liked it. The sense of humour was really refreshing - can't wait to see how it develops.
BEARDIE MAN: I'm really glad! (reads my name badge and extends a hand) Hi, Amelia, I'm Lenn Wein.
Un. Be. LIEVABLE. For those who don't know, Lenn was the mighty brain behind not only 'Human Target' but also 'Swamp Thing' and a bunch of the new X-men characters to name but a few. Such a lovely bloke and he was more than happy to give me an interview while we waited. That man totally rocks the baseball cap/beard combo.
Oh look, more famous people!
While the Caprica/BSG panel was going on in the geek-infested Ballroom 20, Damian and I bumped into Battlestar Galactica's Richard Hatch (Apollo in the original and Tom Zarek in the new series) who seemed to enjoy talking to me so much he couldn't stop! This guy has multiple fingers in about a billion pies and chatted to us about his upcoming projects, the 'dating site for geeks' he's just launched, soulgeek.com, and his own personal quest for love (yes he's single, ladies!).
Gorgeous BSG actress Luciana Carro (Kat) told us about the difficulties of making the show, her favourite on-screen moment (which included a MASSIVE spoiler so I wont tell you!) and her Japanese fighting fish named Damian (which made the non-aquatic Damian very happy indeed).
And if all that wasn't enough (and trust me, by that stage I was well and truly buzzing) I met up with the star of 'Farscape' Virginia Hey (Zhann), who is so much more beautiful and down-to-earth in real life than you could imagine. She nattered with me for ages about life in England (she lived in the UK for years and misses it terribly), her favourite behind the scenes moment on the show (clue: it involves meat pies!) and how women over 40 are finally making their mark in Hollywood. We also swapped horror stories about having facial prosthetics casts done and she gave me a BIG exclusive about a new show that's currently being written for her where she'll play a mix between her characters on 'Farscape' and 'Mad Max'. I'm not allowed to tell you what it's called because Virginia said "the writers would kill me" but it sounds completely awesome so keep your mince pies peeled! See what I did there? Pies, meat... Ahem. Sorry.
The eternally glamorous Nichelle Nichols (Uhura in the original Star Trek) was even there, signing autographs for the fans, and I have to say if I 'grow up' to be even half as classy as her I'll be a very happy girl. Heheh, as IF I'm ever going to grow up. All the interviews will be up online very soon. Promise!
Joss Whedon plays with dolls - FACT.
Meanwhile the Dollhouse panel, headed by Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku was joined midway through by two surprise guests: Dichen Lachmann (Sierra) and Fran Kranz (Topher). Dichen apparently loved the episodes where she played Topher's friend, and the one where she got to play with guns - a girl after my own heart! - and Fran, who I adore, seemed totally stunned by the turnout - aww, bless.
Before the panel Joss, who's clearly still gutted about the cancellation of 'Firefly' after only one season, showed 'Epitaph One', the 13th episode of Dollhouse made during production of the first series (for half the budget of a normal episode) just in case the show was axed. He also talked about his plans for the show's scope to become broader and more political in season 2, plus gave us some exciting teasers about what else we can expect, namely a recurring role for Buffy and Angel actor Alex Denisoff (Wesley Wyndham-Pryce), the return of Felicia Day, Zack Ward and Adair Tishler (who all starred in Epitaph One) and possibly a role for Summer Glau if they can manage it. My GOD this is going to be cool.
Joss described his shows as "marathon runners, not sprinters" and thanked the viewers for their campaigns to save the show, saying "it really took the hardcore fan base, the people who are here, to tip the scale." Power to the people.
Run, don't walk from... the scooter people!
Before heading home Damian and I were randomly grabbed by a reporter from Fox 5 News to be part of their report on new methods of journalism (part of which required me to use Damian's iphone, which I have NO idea how to operate and nearly deleted the entire inbox after a person on a scooter ran over my foot during a take!). Then we met up with Huw and his dad Keith Bowen. As well as siring Huw, Keith was also the 'Schrodinger's Girl' science advisor and is actually a real life scientist who works with lasers and stuff. My favourite bit of scientific advice he gave Huw in the lead-up to filming was "scientists don't wear labcoats! And they're messy". Also, I HAVE to mention the coolest costume I saw today - a sort of weird inflatable anti-grav rabbit/cat... thing. Which did headstands! What will they think of next?
But the biggest news for today? I didn't spend any money! Don't worry, I'll make up for it tomorrow... Oh yeah, and Huw met 'Torchwood' star John Barrowman and gave him a 'Schrödinger's Girl' flyer. Cheeky beggar!
Yes, I am totally jealous.
Milly
No comments:
Post a Comment