no name #6

Armageddon was yesterday - got to see Seth Green, Jason Mamoa, Paul McGillion and Joe Flanigan. This year - despite the guest list - was not as good as previous, as the talks were all held in a curtained-off section of the room - a room which was huge, hangar-like, with enormous ceilings and concrete floors ... meaning that the guests - and the question-askers in the audience - had to compete with the noise of the wrestling down the far end, as well as the damn public announcements about the Cosplay competition. Through the Robot Chicken panel I couldn't hear the questions at all (despite microphones), but Joe asked for the sound to be turned up for his session, so I got to hear that. Also, there were no damn lights on the stage (except for the backlit promo shot behind the speakers), so nobody except maybe the front few rows could take photographs (limited by how far your flash would throw.) Very frustrating. Had a constant headache from the noise, but enjoyed hanging with narellefromaus and her friends, and actually running into my old pal Quinny from Tasmania, who I haven't seen for almost 4 years. I was completely exhausted - and still am - as it was the first full day out of the house for a week and a half. While I'm much better, I'm not 100% yet, and am feeling very tired. Anyway - what I can remember off the top of my head (from Joe's talk) is below the cut. If I remember more I'll add an ETA section. Damn, I wish I had pics. He was wearing jeans, light blue button up shirt and blue blazer. When he first came out he was also wearing a light-coloured overcoat that made him look like a scientist, but he ditched that in short order. He looked very nice indeed. :) Narelle and I were secretly hoping someone would ask him why JMallozzi hates him so much, but no one did. Anyway, he may have anwered it inadvertantly:


* Jason Mamoa sat in the row in front of me, slouched down, to try to trick Joe by asking a question in a fake Australian accent. Jason has HUGE hands! And a bad Australian accent. He asked Joe something along the lines of, "You know how Jason said he was always doing things with your toothbrush - did he tell you what he did with your toothbrush and his bum?" Joe knew it was him, and yelled, "That's Jason - get out of here!" Paul McGillion also popped in to whisper to Jason while he was waiting to ask his question - I turned my head and suddenly there he was. He looked little. Even Jason didn't look as tall as he is. Maybe because the room is so enormous.

* He was asked whether it was true that he worked for the White House. Joe was at pains to make it clear that he worked for George Bush Snr, not 'W'. He said he was 20, and when he would go to the police in a town to talk security for an upcoming visit, they wouldn't believe he worked for the White House because he was just a kid. He said they never gave him breaks to eat, so he'd order a Dominos Pizza (30 minutes or it's free), and the pizza guy would arrive an hour and a half later, traumatized after being searched by the Secret Service, and Joe would get a free cold pizza. He told about a visit to Charlotte, NC, - a donor's dinner, I think it was - where he had put up a velvet rope cordon to control the queue of people who wanted to say hi to Bush Snr. While his back was turned the rope was taken down, and when the president entered he was mobbed by all the donors. Secret Service were not impressed. Also, he put them 30 minutes behind schedule, which was very bad.

* He talked about receiving a call from the network after the ep of Warehouse 13 he was in scored the highest ratings of anything ever on SciFi. He said it showed the Stargate fans were passionate about the cast & characters, and would follow the cast on to other projects. He said there was another school of thought that said that the Stargate fans were attached to the Stargate name, and would watch anything with Stargate in the title. He said that it remains to be seen which is the case. He said he hadn't seen the new show.

* Doesn't think the SGA movie will happen, but wishes it would - he said that they couldn't just leave 'em hovering in the bay in SF!

* When asked what happened to Todd at the end of the series, he said, "I shot him. I shot *all* of 'em."

* Said he loves Australia because we're all so laid-back.

* Was asked about his hair again, and told the Providence industrial strength polymer story, as well as being pulled up by the Dean at his school who thought his hair was some form of rebellion. The Dean tried to comb his hair flat, but of course it didn't work. He joked that Paul McGillion has to have a separate bag for all his hair product, and advised that if you get into acting, try to convince the producers straight up to let you be as
low maintenance with your hair/makeup as you can be - so you don't have to be in so early. He said Jason always had to go in early and leave late because of the wig, whereas he (Joe) could just rock up 15 minutes before shooting and quickly dress and he was good to go.

* He was asked if Weir and Beckett being written out made him feel like his job was at risk. He said he had too much ego to think like that. (He joked a lot about being an egotist.) He said that it's a power trip used in the business to make actors behave, but like Sheppard, he has a bit of a problem with authority figures and he doesn't buy into it.

* He was asked about the most embarrassing thing to happen to him, and told about being asked to join the basketball team after a couple of fluke good shots. He said he really couldn't play, and ended up scoring in the wrong basket. Incredibly humiliating, nowhere to hide. He also talked about the time Jason snuck an incredibly graphic centrefold into his laptop, and when he went through customs the customs lady made him open his laptop and looked at him like he was disgusting when she saw the picture and told him to GET OUT. Again, mortified.

* Talked about his pathological shyness, and how he decided to try acting because he wanted to conquer his shyness and maybe make some money because he had none (just been fired from magazine). The acting teacher he tried out for was notoriously brutal and mean, and when he didn't say anything horrible to Joe after Joe performed, Joe thought that he might actually have a shot at doing okay at acting.

* was asked what is the coolest thing that's happened due to being an actor. He pulled out a US one dollar bill, with his face on it, and explained that it was genuine currency. He was very impressed, said he told all his friends he was 'money' now. He also mentioned his action figure - that it's great seeing his kids play with it, but he *must* always win. He joked about telling his wife to talk to the action figure (he mimed holding it up, like 'talk to the hand') when she speaks to him - said that that's what happens when you're out of work.

* He talked about acting as a career, and the worry about supporting your family when you can be well-paid one minute, then out of work the next.

* He told the story of the Air Force guy talking him into trimming his non-regulation sideburns by agreeing to take him up in an F16. He told how they painted his name on the plane, and then took him for a real ride - making him puke his food (the best Sloppy Joes he's ever had) and laughing at him.

*He said "fuck off" - it was odd to hear him swear, although he did apologise for his language. He was telling the story of the schoolteacher who told him to explain to Aidan the difference between fiction and reality - and that he really didn't fly into space and kill bad guys for a living. The Fuck Off was his reaction to being told to tell his kid he wasn't a superhero. :)

* He told the Jason moons David story (Jason really worked his ass!) and the story about plastering David's caravan with extremely graphic porn ... only for David to walk in with guests unawares. He said Jason got him into lots of trouble.

That's it for now. I know there was more, but ...