Sheesh, after day one of a convention getting up in the morning is that little bit harder. This was not aided by the fact that I went to The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers with the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra straight after day one. Therefore, I trundled in a little later than usual and went over to artist’s alley to pick up some commissions.
First up, the amazing watercolour artist (whom none of us can remember by name so please please let us know if you read this because we all love you and would love to promote you) who had completed my commissions; a Winter Soldier as a gift for my friend Bene and an Oberyn Martell. Any of you who have already seen Jacinta’s glorious Oberyn know how talented this young lady is at capturing these characters and something I loved about mine is that it is different to Jacinta’s so we all have something unique and wonderful. Her Winter Soldier was also beautiful and I hope to see and get more of her work.
I also visited Lauren Marshall who had completed my amazing Scarlett Witch, which I love very much so you should check her out online and get something drawn by her. She does an amazing Elsa, which I would be very keen for.
Early in the day we headed into the John Barrowman line for panel two of crazed fun. Many of us had brought food and books and were determined to sit because the lines were taking their toll on the old bones. I was interested to see how many people were reading A Song of Ice and Fire and I am really happy so many people are getting into that book series (you may have seen it’s a passion of mine).
This time for Barrowman we got a seat and somewhere to put down all of our heavy bags of loot and settle in for what was indeed a fast paced ride.
Given how jet-lagged every other guest seemed I cannot explain the fact that John Barrowman didn’t look like he’d even lost an hours sleep. He was literally bouncing around the stage from the moment he came in to the crowd’s cheers and rendition of Matt Smith’s Doctor dance.
This time John shared more on-stage encounters with fans, completely making these peoples days, weeks, months… maybe even years or lifetimes. In response to a question about one piece of advice he would give, he reiterated he comment the previous day about just being who you are no matter what and added that you should never apologise for being yourself. He explained that he has a lot of insecurities and he works on those and comes across as confident by being genuine. Many people took that to heart. He also said that this was linked to a previous quote of his; that you shouldn’t apologise for being a geek because the other people won’t admit to being or apologise for being arseholes.
One fan asked what his current favourite musical was and if he could sing something from that musical. He mentioned that he has a mint green classic car named Elphaba and my heart leapt! He proceeded to talk about how he loved Wicked and how he asked Stephen Schwarts if he could cover The Wizard and I and make it The Doctor and I as he felt it reflected Captain Jack’s feelings towards the Doctor. Then he sang a verse of The Doctor and I. I was pretty excited about that.
When asked, even though he doesn’t choose favourites as a rule, John admitted that David Tennant’s Doctor what ‘his’ Doctor or rather Captain Jack’s Doctor which was very interesting as many people associate ‘their Doctor’ with their first Doctor. Captain Jack’s would be Eccleston by that reasoning so it’s interesting to see how the character has evolved over time and how John’s own feelings are worked into the character development.
A fan asked about a crazy night that John had in Germany with Eve Myles who plays Gwen on Torchwood and he described a night of drinking and dancing with fans which sounded like a blast, followed by he and Eve going back to his hotel room to dance some more. This turned into a late night naked dance party and unfortunately for them, they were seen by a lot of the guests and crew at the convention. Sounds like these guys really know how to make the most of life!
Everything John spoke about was so honest and warm and genuine that again many people left talking excitedly about what an inspiration it was to see someone be 100% themselves, have that much energy and be that genuine and giving to a room full of strangers.
I have to admit, when one lady asked what his favourite Captain Jack flirt was and came up on stage and he shook her hand and simply said ‘Captain Jack Harkness’ in Jack’s voice, I too swooned.
That wonderful experience over, we headed onto the convention floor to seek out more things to buy and find some excellent cosplayers. I like dressing up a bit at least one day of the convention, it makes me feel like I am with my people, so I dusted off the old bow tie and suspenders and walked around the place with my sonic screwdriver pocketed. There were a lot of Doctor’s around and I loved that there were so many kids and women also dressed as the Doctor. He seems to be such a non-gendered character in the convention circuit. I especially liked the David Tennant Doctor that I see around at many conventions who looks at other ‘Doctor’s’ (myself included) and nods a greeting of ‘Doctor’ as you walk by.
Here’s a quick snap of me and another Matt Smith Doctor complete with HANDLES!!
I was completely devastated that I didn’t get a picture of the amazing Margaery Tyrell in her wedding dress. There was so much detail and it was so magnificent! Please, if someone has a picture let me know!
We did however catch a great Merlin, a few Green Arrow’s, a rad Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon and many daleks. Check out our photo gallery on Facebook for Jacinta’s official and awesome photos.
Also visited the Perth Browncoats stall and picked up a set of awesome badges. There were some great posters and hats there too so you should check those guys out. They also have a Can’t Stop the Serenity screening coming up in early August so get onto that!
Lining up for Ming-Na Wen was another long but fairly civilised deal. We got really good seats and settled in for the last panel we were going to see of the weekend.
Let me just start by saying that Ming-Na kicks all of the arse. She will kick your arse with humour. She will kick your arse with talent. She can also probably physically kick your arse. She was so happy to be at the convention and such a lovely person and that really shone through in her panel.
She jumped straight in when the host called her ‘The Cavalry’, which Agent May hates in Agents of SHIELD, and gave him a great dramaticised bollocking. She also periodically adopted the Agent May stance and death glare, which made the crowd go wild.
Many people screamed when Stargate Universe was mentioned but surprisingly, there were no questions about her role in that show. This was slightly disappointing because I don’t love Agents of SHEILD right now so I wasn’t totally engaged with what she was speaking about. Having said that I didn’t like Stargate Universe the way I love SG1 and Atlantis and she was an engaging and fun speaker nonetheless.
Ming-Na talked about her training for her stunts, of which she does 80%, and her joy at playing tough women. She said that her values are somewhat reflected in the roles she chooses. Certainly, she seems to enjoy playing different facets of engaging and independent women and that’s a great gift for viewers.
Interestingly, many fans were still enthralled with and wanted to talk to her about her performance voicing Disney’s Mulan which she seemed really happy about. Mulan seemed to touch a lot of people’s lives in a way that I didn’t realise before so it was really lovely to see her appreciated for her role in bringing that character and that story to life.
She commented that Agent Ward’s betrayal of Agent May’s trust in Agents of SHIELD would be something that he would have to work very hard to get back, but noted that as a character with a dark past herself, May might be more inclined to identify with his situation than some of the other characters might be. She also reflected on the long wait to seeing if they would get picked up for a second season and if she would get signed on to be a part of it. She seems thrilled that she will be back playing May and said that May is definitely one of her favourite roles thus far.
Ultimately, her panel was a lot of fun and a nice way to round out the weekend at Supanova. Thanks so much to everyone who helped make it happen, to all of the guests and to all of the people who feature in our gallery. You can also check out Jacinta and Luke’s podcast of their experiences of the weekend. We’d love for you to share your experiences too, either here or on our Facebook page, so please let us know what you think!
Events such as this particular Supanova Perth is definitely not to be missed. Though the aim is simply for entertainment purposes targeted at the general public, but the messages that the artistes convey across to their audience mean much more than just mere performance. Their words often hold true meaning of their very own past experiences, hence their audiences can relate and feel close to their idols.
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