The very first thing we did at Comicon was attend Cary Elwes panel. Cary was Wesley and "The Dred Pirate Roberts" in the classic movie called, "The Princess Bride." Cary is an amazing person. He was so personable and friendly to every person he met. His answers showed that he is not only a very talented actor, but he is a family man too. He responded to one fans question, "what is your favorite sound?" by stating, "listening to my daughter talk and laugh." Cary even agreed to participate in the "Battle of Whits" scene with a fan who had it memorized. After seeing his panel, Steve and I knew we just had to meet him.
Here is Cary doing the "Battle of Whits" scene with a fan
Here is Cary answering questions
Cary autographed this picture for me and initially wrote, "As You Wish." As we got talking, I asked him to say, "Drop Your Sword," so he added that quote to the autograph as well. He is so thoughtful.
Cary was so friendly and so nice. After this picture was taken, he even commented on my Yoda backpack and said, "I love your backpack, that's great." He was amazing.
While we were waiting in line for Cary Elwes, John Barrowman was signing autographs at a booth nearby. He was equally as friendly as Cary Elwes, but much crazier. I would go as far as to declare him 'insane'. The first thing I witnessed, while waiting in line for Cary, was when his Torchwood co-star, Eve Myles, started running through the crowds only to be tackled by John. He wrestled her to the ground, started kissing her all over her face as she squirmed, and then rolled around with her on the carpet. She escaped only to be wrestled to the ground once again. It was hilarious.
On the last day of Comicon, while I was at a baby shower, Steve had the pleasure of seeing Eve's panel and apparently she told some crazy stories about John. John would regularly break into her trailer in the middle of the night and pose in the buff until she woke up. Of course, it would terrify her to wake up in the middle of the night with a naked man in her room posing, but he would laugh and run away. She declared him to be crazy, but also stated he was "my soul mate." And incase you are wondering, "No, they are not a couple as he is gay." Here is a picture of Eve Myles during her panel. Unfortunately, Steve had a hard time getting a really good picture of her as he was too far away, but this will do.
Shortly after John wrestled Eve Myles to the ground, while we were still in line to see Cary Elwes, John saw this costume of an ATST from Star Wars and immediately jumped over his booth to pose for pictures. I'm so glad I was able to catch these two shots of him. He was so hilarious.
He couldn't just pose like a normal person. He also had to lay on the ground and let the ATST pretend to stomp on him. He is such a fun person. I can tell it would be very exhausting to be his friend, but you would NEVER be bored either.
After Johns amazing ability to entertain while we were in line, I knew I just had to meet him, especially since Steve and I are such big "Dr. Who" and "Torchwood" fans. John plays an immortal character named Captain Jack Harkness and Eve plays his "Torchwood" co-star named Gwen Cooper. John was very friendly to Steve and I and he is definately a hugger. He hugs every single fan no matter what. You can see him hugging both Steve and I in this picture. I can tell John genuinely loves people and his job.
One of our favorite TV shows is "Big Bang Theory." So, when we found out Simon Helberg was there, we decided to get our picture taken with him. The problem was that it was around $80 for his picture and we did not have that kind of money. But, people at Comicon are so nice that some strangers gave us a ticket for $20.00 off any photo opportunity. In addition, we received another $20.00 ticket exclusively for Simon Helberg's photo opportunity just because we purchased a Gold (3 day pass) to Comicon. As a result, we got this picture taken for only $40. Simon was much cuter in person and very different from his creepy/nerdy character named "Howard Wolowitz."
Steve was able to see Simon Helberg's panel on Saturday morning while I was at a
baby shower and gymnastics with Alissa.
Joss Whedon is one of our favorite writers and directors of all time. One of his best shows was "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". We also loved Whedon's spin off series called "Angel". Charisma Carpenter was a character in both of these TV shows and we loved her. Here is a picture of Steve with Charisma. Her characters name in both shows was Cordelia Chase. While I wanted to be in this picture with Steve, I was unable to make it in time since I was with Alissa at her Gymnastic class and a baby shower. Steve not only had his picture taken with her, but he was able to see her panel as well. He didn't get very good pictures from the panel though.
Steve and I were both able to see Eliza Dushku's panel. Eliza played a second vampire slayer, Faith, on the TV Series, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". In addition, Steve and I enjoyed watching her in another Joss Whedon TV series called "Dollhouse," with Alan Tudyk below. Eliza also played a diamond thief in the movie "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" and was the daughter of Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Harry Tasker (Arnold Schwarzenegger) in the movie, "True Lies." Another interesting fact: Eliza grew up in Utah and her grandparents and mother were mormon. Eliza serves on the board of directors of the THRIVEGulu organization (The Trauma Healing and Reflection Center in Gulu founded by her mother Judith Rasmussen Dusku), an organization dedicated to helping the survivors of war (including former child soldiers) in Northern Uganda.
Eliza's mother with Eliza
Joss Whedon wrote and directed another TV series called "Firefly" in 2002, which was cancelled after the first season. The fans were so upset that Joss Whedon ended up redeeming himself by finishing the series off with a movie in 2005 called "Serenity". Ironically, our daughters middle name, River, came from this movie as we loved a female character who went by the name River. Prior to this series and movie, Steve and I had only heard the name River used for a man, but we both liked it for a female. Another panel we saw at Comicon was for Alan Tudyk, who played the character named Hoban Washburne or "Wash" in the Firefly series and Serenity movie. He was so entertaining because he brought a bag full of random stuff and gave something away to each person who asked him a question. He also asked each of them a question in return. I loved this approach since it was so unique and different from the other panels we watched.
This fan was dressed as character Kaylee Frye, who was "Wash's" love interest in Firefly and Serenity. As a result, I felt the need to take this picture of the two of them together as it's very fitting.
One fan brought these Dinosaurs so Alan could do a scene from one of the Ice Age Movies as he was the voice of Cholly and several other characters within these movies. Alan also worked with Eliza Dusku on the set of "Dollhouse."
Another panel member we saw was Patrick Warburton, who has an extremely memorable voice. Patrick has a huge career and it would be impossible for me to name every show he has been in. However, You may know his as "David Puddy," Elaine's boyfriend in Seinfield. He also voices the character "Kronk" in "Kronk's New Groove". For all you Disneyland fans, you have likely seen him as the Pre-Flight Instruction Officer for the ride "Soaring Over California". Finally, Steve's favorite role of Patrick Warburton's is that of "The Tick," who is an unintelligent blue superhero.
