Woot! I got in to the SPN Con in Chicago!
Nov. 16th, 2009 06:28 pmSo I needed some time to digest my experience before writing about it.
Background (which some people already know)--
In August, thanks to Erica, I discovered and became obsessed with the tv show "Supernatural." At that time I discovered, to my glee, that there was going to be a Supernatural Convention in Chicago this past weekend. Then I discovered to my dismay that all the tickets, including general admission, for Sunday when the two main actors were coming, were already sold out.
So I pouted until Saturday, periodically checking the website just in case tickets would magically be available. Which they never were. However, Saturday I noticed a small line, new, that any still available tickets would be sold at the door. Clearly tickets were still available for Saturday. Sunday was still listed as sold out.
And at 10 pm Saturday night I decided what did I have to lose besides some sleep. I would go to the hotel early in the morning, stand in line, and see if I could get lucky. I completely did not expect success, BUT if I didn't try, I'd never know if I could've gotten in.
My long-suffering spouse drove me to Rosemont, fortunately very close, at 8 am Sunday morning. I wondered around, asking if anyone knew about tickets, and eventually was told to stand in the check-in line and talk to the staff in the next room when the doors opened.
As I waited in line, I struck up a conversation with a nifty lady who was sympathetic to my plight, and we shared our fandom-geekiness. Making a new friend alone was worth getting up at 8 am.
Then the doors opened, the line moved, I got in to the check-in table, and...
TICKETS WERE STILL AVAILABLE!
And, to be perfectly honest, the fact that my faith in the universe being good panned out was the best part of the experience.
Never having been to a tv show con, I didn't know what to expect. The answer: not much. From 9 am till noon all the people who bought pricey tickets to get photographed with the stars got that done. Not having one, I wandered around. Sadly the photo room was arranged so that even walking past the door repeatedly did not provide a glimpse of the actors. Sigh. A once-over of the vendors' room took 45 minutes looking at every table 3 times in case I missed something. Fortunately I then ran into my new friend from waiting in line, and after she had her photo op she suggested we get something to eat.
That was a lot of fun, I got to be obsessive about the show with someone who didn't roll their eyes at me after 5 minutes *cough, my family, cough* and who was as into analyzing the details as I am. Also halfway through breakfast Erica joined me, dropped off by my saintly spouse so that I'd have someone to share the experience with. (Awful person that I am, I insisted she stop working on her term paper at home and use the second ticket I bought. After all, she is the one who brought the Supernatural dvds into the house.)
Finally we were allowed to take our seats in the ballroom for the Q & A with Jensen Ackles and Jared Padelacki. We snagged seats in the second to last row. Sadly from there we couldn't really see them in their chairs on stage, instead we had to watch the big video screen. Thank goodness it was there, and gave a decent image, but it felt the same as watching them on tv, not like in person.
It was still fun, though, to hear their answers to the fan questions firsthand, and to see how they interact as themselves. All reports are that the two guys are great friends, and from the good-natured ribbing between them, that is clearly the case.
Part of why I wanted to see them so badly was to glimpse what the actors are like in comparision to the characters they have portrayed for nearly 5 years, and I did feel satisfied that I got a little of that. It was also very clear that they appreciate their fans, in a somewhat "I don't get why they're doing this but it's really amazing that they do" kind of way. There was a definite of "we're just normal guys, not celebrities" quality to both of them, along with "this is crazy and we might as well just enjoy it while it lasts."
I appreciated that nearly all of the audience questions were intelligent ones, and Jensen and Jared tried to give thought-out answers.
Of course the actual panel is all jumbled together in my head, but highlights that are sticking with me (totally not in any order) include:
Jared, joking, starting things off by asking the audience to please ask some questions for Jensen, because Jared has to work with him tomorrow. There was a playful competition between them about whose name was said first by the questioner.
Jared enthusiastically talking about the mythic arc and the archetypes of the characters, after explaining that his mother was a teacher (as the reason why he knew this stuff.) I found it interesting that Jared came across a bit like the 'geeky' brother he plays...
Jensen's thoughts on why Lucifer had to be a sympathetic character to lure people into doing the wrong thing: because if he just (rubbed his hands) said "Come do this, it's evil!" no one would ever fall for it.
Jensen on how he is similiar to and different from Dean Winchester: they share a sense of humor, but Dean has a lot more anger than Jensen.
Jared, asked the same question about Sam Winchester, gave an interesting answer, saying that Sam always thought he was doing the 'right thing'--even when he was doing things like drinking demon blood he thought he was doing it for a good reason. Jared said he likes to think he does things for good reasons too.
Halfway through the hour Jared started complaining that he was so hot he was sweating, and asked if there was a towel or some ice he could have. Someone handed up a square-shaped box of pastel green tissues and he stuck it down the front of his plaid shirt and proceeded to pull tissues out of the neckline to wipe his face. Much laughter ensued, which he and Jensen played to, with Jensen even reaching over to pull a tissue out of the front of Jared's shirt for himself.
Jensen then proceeded to relate that Jared sweats more than anyone else he knows, and told how during the filming of a scene where they were talking face-to-face Jared was sweating so much that Jensen grabbed the makeup towel and they'd say some lines, Jensen'd say 'pause' and wipe Jared's neck, put the towel back behind himself, and they'd resume where they left off.
One fan asked about the telephone call in the last episode of season 4, when Sam 'got the wrong message.' Amusingly, Jared and Jensen didn't know what the question was referring to and the audience had to explain it to them: how the message Dean left for Sam saying Sam was still his brother was not the message Sam got on his voicemail--he heard Dean calling him a monster and disowning him. Jared finally got it and said they had no idea whatever happened with that. Jensen kept saying it was all in Sam's head, though it sounded like he still wasn't really sure of what phone call was being talked about. Both of them wanted to blame Zachariah for it, though, not thinking Ruby or Lucifer could have mucked with it as well...
Most bizarre question: a fan listed several presents that Jensen reportedly gave Jared (a watch, a Gameboy, and a third item I don't remember) and then asked Jensen what presnts Jared has given him. Wonder if anyone else thought that was sort of stalker-creepy that she knew these details...Jensen seemed perplexed by this one, said Jared had given him a watch too, and then Jared jumped in with "a lacy negligee" which set the crowd off. Then Jensen explained that it was hard to buy him presents because if he wanted something he would just go buy it, which left his mother giving him socks for Christmas...again the crowd found this funny, as he intended.
Both actors talked about the late Kim Manners being a big influence on them; about never knowing where the writers were going to take things and not really worrying about it; really enjoying the caliber of guest stars and re-occuring actors they get to work with; and Jensen talked about the challenge of playing 2 versions of himself in episode 5.04. Jared said he met with Kripke about how to portray the devil.
Another funny was Jensen describing how Jared always cleans Jensen's plate if he doesn't finish everything when they go out to eat, and cleaning up everyone else's leftovers as well so that when the waitress comes Jared has all the plates sitting empty in front of him...
Another questioner asked what non-career dreams they wanted to achieve. Jensen said he wanted to have kids, which got a big "Awwww!" from the audience, and Jared instantly said, "I want to have kids too!" which got a laugh. Jensen then came up with wanting to do something involving jumping from a plane in a special suit that eliminates using a parachute, and Jared smirked about throwing the kids from the plane. Jensen retorted that's why Jared shouldn't have kids--Jared said he meant he'd throw Jensen's kids--and Jensen said Jared was never babysitting for him!
When asked about future roles when Supernatural is done, I though it reflected on their matter-of-factness that Jensen's answer was along the lines of "given the level of actors we are...," which sounded like being surrounded by a roomful of obsessive fans was not deluding them into thinking they were big stars who would have projects thrown at them. Both of them talked about acting being a craft, that being a celebrity and being an actor were different things (and they clearly preferred to be considered actors.) Jared quoted another actor's rules: "know your friggin' lines, hit your friggin' mark," and two other basic 'friggin' things to do.
Jared said the hardest thing for him to do is comedy; Jensen said it is the big emotional scenes, explaining that those scenes really take it out of him because "your body doesn't know you were acting," it is as drained as if the experience really happened.
Asked about the accomplishments they are proudest of in their work on Supernatural, Jared didn't have a specific moment but was happy about how he's grown as an actor. Jensen, after some thought, cited the scene in "All Hell Breaks Loose 2" when he had to talk to Sam lying dead. He said he talked to the director, Kim Manners, about not being able to do the scene multiple times because it was too draining, and Kim was fantastic, setting the scene up behind screening, reducing the crew, and setting the cameras up to minimize number of takes.
My personal favorite moment of the panel came when a questioner started by saying, "Please don't laugh at my question..." and Jared and Jensen instantly began fake laughing...stopped at the same time and then SIMULTANEOUSLY sighed "Ahhh" to catch their breath which set them off laughing for real. It was a moment like Sam and Dean are scripted in the show of saying things at the same time, and it was really neat to see they do it in real-life too. When they finally got to the question it was actually a decent one and Jared said so, adding, "I thought it was going to be a question like who farts louder" and Jensen broadly pointed at Jared, setting off more laughter.
One moment during the Q & A struck me as weird, when they were asked if they had to write each other's ad on match.com, what would they write--a sort of strange question, made odder by Jared's quick answer that he'd write "desparate" for Jensen's ad. Made me wince, given that Jensen just got engaged this week...Jensen had a decent comeback, however--Jared's ad would would say "SWF--single white female" to which Jared promptly added, "with flowing locks" and he flicked his hair.
Their favorite episode to shoot? "Changing Channels" which aired 2 weeks ago. They had a lot of fun filming it.
Asked what sightseeing was like in Vancouver (someone must be planning on vacationing at the Vancouver con next year) both Jared and Jensen said the aquarium, Stanley Park, and the seawall were must-sees, and that there are lots of great restaurants to choose from.
Throughout the hour both actors clearly appreciated their fans. It made me happy to see that they seemed like genuinely nice people, and were conscious that a lot of people involved with the show contributed to making them look good.
When the hour was over, Jared said he had something else to talk about before he left. His mother's students are trying to participate in some type of academic contest (he gave details but I didn't get them) and they need to raise money for the travel expenses, so he was going to auction off the watch Sam Winchester wore in season 3. He took it off his wrist, and someone in the audience yelled "$500!" Jared was told by the organizer to go ahead and do the auction now, at which point he seemed clueless as to how to do that. Jensen came to the rescue, grabbing a mike and doing a spot-on auctioneer call, narrowing the bidding down to two people in the front and finally getting a winning bid of $3500 for a watch that Jared had pointed out didn't work "but had his sweat on it." Wow. I was much too far away to really see Jared's reaction, but I don't think he was expecting that much!
Then it was over for me...the boys were hustled away to sign autographs for those who had purchased those tickets...
I could have stayed for a 4 pm panel with one of the guest stars--mind blanking on who it was--but Erica had to get home to work on her term paper, and I couldn't ask my husband to drive there and back another time...
Was it worth it? Yes...probably part of human hard-wiring to want to see what stars are 'really' like, and Jared and Jensen seemed down-to-earth and funny, as I wanted them to be. It was just a little disappointing that I never got close enough to really see their faces. Okay, I'll be shallow...I wanted to see if they are as pretty in real-life as they are on tv.
So next year--the con is already scheduled for October 2010--I am buying a closer seat and an autograph ticket as soon as they go on sale!
And the other thing that was part of the best part: making a friend who is in the LJ community! I am looking forward to keeping in contact with her! In fact, one of the best things about my entire Supernatural obesseion has been connecting kindred spirits online. It's a new experience for me, and it makes me happy.
So that's my report on my first-ever Supernatural Convention in Chicago, November 15, 2009.
Background (which some people already know)--
In August, thanks to Erica, I discovered and became obsessed with the tv show "Supernatural." At that time I discovered, to my glee, that there was going to be a Supernatural Convention in Chicago this past weekend. Then I discovered to my dismay that all the tickets, including general admission, for Sunday when the two main actors were coming, were already sold out.
So I pouted until Saturday, periodically checking the website just in case tickets would magically be available. Which they never were. However, Saturday I noticed a small line, new, that any still available tickets would be sold at the door. Clearly tickets were still available for Saturday. Sunday was still listed as sold out.
And at 10 pm Saturday night I decided what did I have to lose besides some sleep. I would go to the hotel early in the morning, stand in line, and see if I could get lucky. I completely did not expect success, BUT if I didn't try, I'd never know if I could've gotten in.
My long-suffering spouse drove me to Rosemont, fortunately very close, at 8 am Sunday morning. I wondered around, asking if anyone knew about tickets, and eventually was told to stand in the check-in line and talk to the staff in the next room when the doors opened.
As I waited in line, I struck up a conversation with a nifty lady who was sympathetic to my plight, and we shared our fandom-geekiness. Making a new friend alone was worth getting up at 8 am.
Then the doors opened, the line moved, I got in to the check-in table, and...
TICKETS WERE STILL AVAILABLE!
And, to be perfectly honest, the fact that my faith in the universe being good panned out was the best part of the experience.
Never having been to a tv show con, I didn't know what to expect. The answer: not much. From 9 am till noon all the people who bought pricey tickets to get photographed with the stars got that done. Not having one, I wandered around. Sadly the photo room was arranged so that even walking past the door repeatedly did not provide a glimpse of the actors. Sigh. A once-over of the vendors' room took 45 minutes looking at every table 3 times in case I missed something. Fortunately I then ran into my new friend from waiting in line, and after she had her photo op she suggested we get something to eat.
That was a lot of fun, I got to be obsessive about the show with someone who didn't roll their eyes at me after 5 minutes *cough, my family, cough* and who was as into analyzing the details as I am. Also halfway through breakfast Erica joined me, dropped off by my saintly spouse so that I'd have someone to share the experience with. (Awful person that I am, I insisted she stop working on her term paper at home and use the second ticket I bought. After all, she is the one who brought the Supernatural dvds into the house.)
Finally we were allowed to take our seats in the ballroom for the Q & A with Jensen Ackles and Jared Padelacki. We snagged seats in the second to last row. Sadly from there we couldn't really see them in their chairs on stage, instead we had to watch the big video screen. Thank goodness it was there, and gave a decent image, but it felt the same as watching them on tv, not like in person.
It was still fun, though, to hear their answers to the fan questions firsthand, and to see how they interact as themselves. All reports are that the two guys are great friends, and from the good-natured ribbing between them, that is clearly the case.
Part of why I wanted to see them so badly was to glimpse what the actors are like in comparision to the characters they have portrayed for nearly 5 years, and I did feel satisfied that I got a little of that. It was also very clear that they appreciate their fans, in a somewhat "I don't get why they're doing this but it's really amazing that they do" kind of way. There was a definite of "we're just normal guys, not celebrities" quality to both of them, along with "this is crazy and we might as well just enjoy it while it lasts."
I appreciated that nearly all of the audience questions were intelligent ones, and Jensen and Jared tried to give thought-out answers.
Of course the actual panel is all jumbled together in my head, but highlights that are sticking with me (totally not in any order) include:
Jared, joking, starting things off by asking the audience to please ask some questions for Jensen, because Jared has to work with him tomorrow. There was a playful competition between them about whose name was said first by the questioner.
Jared enthusiastically talking about the mythic arc and the archetypes of the characters, after explaining that his mother was a teacher (as the reason why he knew this stuff.) I found it interesting that Jared came across a bit like the 'geeky' brother he plays...
Jensen's thoughts on why Lucifer had to be a sympathetic character to lure people into doing the wrong thing: because if he just (rubbed his hands) said "Come do this, it's evil!" no one would ever fall for it.
Jensen on how he is similiar to and different from Dean Winchester: they share a sense of humor, but Dean has a lot more anger than Jensen.
Jared, asked the same question about Sam Winchester, gave an interesting answer, saying that Sam always thought he was doing the 'right thing'--even when he was doing things like drinking demon blood he thought he was doing it for a good reason. Jared said he likes to think he does things for good reasons too.
Halfway through the hour Jared started complaining that he was so hot he was sweating, and asked if there was a towel or some ice he could have. Someone handed up a square-shaped box of pastel green tissues and he stuck it down the front of his plaid shirt and proceeded to pull tissues out of the neckline to wipe his face. Much laughter ensued, which he and Jensen played to, with Jensen even reaching over to pull a tissue out of the front of Jared's shirt for himself.
Jensen then proceeded to relate that Jared sweats more than anyone else he knows, and told how during the filming of a scene where they were talking face-to-face Jared was sweating so much that Jensen grabbed the makeup towel and they'd say some lines, Jensen'd say 'pause' and wipe Jared's neck, put the towel back behind himself, and they'd resume where they left off.
One fan asked about the telephone call in the last episode of season 4, when Sam 'got the wrong message.' Amusingly, Jared and Jensen didn't know what the question was referring to and the audience had to explain it to them: how the message Dean left for Sam saying Sam was still his brother was not the message Sam got on his voicemail--he heard Dean calling him a monster and disowning him. Jared finally got it and said they had no idea whatever happened with that. Jensen kept saying it was all in Sam's head, though it sounded like he still wasn't really sure of what phone call was being talked about. Both of them wanted to blame Zachariah for it, though, not thinking Ruby or Lucifer could have mucked with it as well...
Most bizarre question: a fan listed several presents that Jensen reportedly gave Jared (a watch, a Gameboy, and a third item I don't remember) and then asked Jensen what presnts Jared has given him. Wonder if anyone else thought that was sort of stalker-creepy that she knew these details...Jensen seemed perplexed by this one, said Jared had given him a watch too, and then Jared jumped in with "a lacy negligee" which set the crowd off. Then Jensen explained that it was hard to buy him presents because if he wanted something he would just go buy it, which left his mother giving him socks for Christmas...again the crowd found this funny, as he intended.
Both actors talked about the late Kim Manners being a big influence on them; about never knowing where the writers were going to take things and not really worrying about it; really enjoying the caliber of guest stars and re-occuring actors they get to work with; and Jensen talked about the challenge of playing 2 versions of himself in episode 5.04. Jared said he met with Kripke about how to portray the devil.
Another funny was Jensen describing how Jared always cleans Jensen's plate if he doesn't finish everything when they go out to eat, and cleaning up everyone else's leftovers as well so that when the waitress comes Jared has all the plates sitting empty in front of him...
Another questioner asked what non-career dreams they wanted to achieve. Jensen said he wanted to have kids, which got a big "Awwww!" from the audience, and Jared instantly said, "I want to have kids too!" which got a laugh. Jensen then came up with wanting to do something involving jumping from a plane in a special suit that eliminates using a parachute, and Jared smirked about throwing the kids from the plane. Jensen retorted that's why Jared shouldn't have kids--Jared said he meant he'd throw Jensen's kids--and Jensen said Jared was never babysitting for him!
When asked about future roles when Supernatural is done, I though it reflected on their matter-of-factness that Jensen's answer was along the lines of "given the level of actors we are...," which sounded like being surrounded by a roomful of obsessive fans was not deluding them into thinking they were big stars who would have projects thrown at them. Both of them talked about acting being a craft, that being a celebrity and being an actor were different things (and they clearly preferred to be considered actors.) Jared quoted another actor's rules: "know your friggin' lines, hit your friggin' mark," and two other basic 'friggin' things to do.
Jared said the hardest thing for him to do is comedy; Jensen said it is the big emotional scenes, explaining that those scenes really take it out of him because "your body doesn't know you were acting," it is as drained as if the experience really happened.
Asked about the accomplishments they are proudest of in their work on Supernatural, Jared didn't have a specific moment but was happy about how he's grown as an actor. Jensen, after some thought, cited the scene in "All Hell Breaks Loose 2" when he had to talk to Sam lying dead. He said he talked to the director, Kim Manners, about not being able to do the scene multiple times because it was too draining, and Kim was fantastic, setting the scene up behind screening, reducing the crew, and setting the cameras up to minimize number of takes.
My personal favorite moment of the panel came when a questioner started by saying, "Please don't laugh at my question..." and Jared and Jensen instantly began fake laughing...stopped at the same time and then SIMULTANEOUSLY sighed "Ahhh" to catch their breath which set them off laughing for real. It was a moment like Sam and Dean are scripted in the show of saying things at the same time, and it was really neat to see they do it in real-life too. When they finally got to the question it was actually a decent one and Jared said so, adding, "I thought it was going to be a question like who farts louder" and Jensen broadly pointed at Jared, setting off more laughter.
One moment during the Q & A struck me as weird, when they were asked if they had to write each other's ad on match.com, what would they write--a sort of strange question, made odder by Jared's quick answer that he'd write "desparate" for Jensen's ad. Made me wince, given that Jensen just got engaged this week...Jensen had a decent comeback, however--Jared's ad would would say "SWF--single white female" to which Jared promptly added, "with flowing locks" and he flicked his hair.
Their favorite episode to shoot? "Changing Channels" which aired 2 weeks ago. They had a lot of fun filming it.
Asked what sightseeing was like in Vancouver (someone must be planning on vacationing at the Vancouver con next year) both Jared and Jensen said the aquarium, Stanley Park, and the seawall were must-sees, and that there are lots of great restaurants to choose from.
Throughout the hour both actors clearly appreciated their fans. It made me happy to see that they seemed like genuinely nice people, and were conscious that a lot of people involved with the show contributed to making them look good.
When the hour was over, Jared said he had something else to talk about before he left. His mother's students are trying to participate in some type of academic contest (he gave details but I didn't get them) and they need to raise money for the travel expenses, so he was going to auction off the watch Sam Winchester wore in season 3. He took it off his wrist, and someone in the audience yelled "$500!" Jared was told by the organizer to go ahead and do the auction now, at which point he seemed clueless as to how to do that. Jensen came to the rescue, grabbing a mike and doing a spot-on auctioneer call, narrowing the bidding down to two people in the front and finally getting a winning bid of $3500 for a watch that Jared had pointed out didn't work "but had his sweat on it." Wow. I was much too far away to really see Jared's reaction, but I don't think he was expecting that much!
Then it was over for me...the boys were hustled away to sign autographs for those who had purchased those tickets...
I could have stayed for a 4 pm panel with one of the guest stars--mind blanking on who it was--but Erica had to get home to work on her term paper, and I couldn't ask my husband to drive there and back another time...
Was it worth it? Yes...probably part of human hard-wiring to want to see what stars are 'really' like, and Jared and Jensen seemed down-to-earth and funny, as I wanted them to be. It was just a little disappointing that I never got close enough to really see their faces. Okay, I'll be shallow...I wanted to see if they are as pretty in real-life as they are on tv.
So next year--the con is already scheduled for October 2010--I am buying a closer seat and an autograph ticket as soon as they go on sale!
And the other thing that was part of the best part: making a friend who is in the LJ community! I am looking forward to keeping in contact with her! In fact, one of the best things about my entire Supernatural obesseion has been connecting kindred spirits online. It's a new experience for me, and it makes me happy.
So that's my report on my first-ever Supernatural Convention in Chicago, November 15, 2009.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 12:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 03:45 am (UTC)Thanks for writing this up! I still haven't written most of my memories of Vancon ... I'm so far behind on my life, I don't think I'll ever catch up! (The hiatus might be good for me ...)
no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 05:06 am (UTC)Hee. :3 This was actually me. I had said, "Don't laugh, but I wrote it down" and I had freaking notecards with my question on them, and of course they started laughing and Jared did that impression of how I was standing and I was basically bright red at the end... Oh well, at least it got a laugh out of everyone!
(hope you don't mind me commenting, this was linked on superwiki)
no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 11:10 am (UTC)and it blows me away everytime that jensen and jared are so down-to-earth. i love them.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 03:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 07:06 pm (UTC)Oh. So. Funny. That you said this because I said the exact same thing in my recap!! LOL!
I wish I'd known you were there! I would have loved to meet you face to face. Soooo happy that you were able to grab some tickets. YAY!
no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 08:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 08:53 pm (UTC)what did you ask anyway?I couldn't understand(I'm not english,sorry)
no subject
Date: 2009-11-23 01:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-24 02:02 pm (UTC)Thanks so much for posting this!
no subject
Date: 2017-09-21 02:10 am (UTC)How have your thoughts on the guys changed in the EIGHT YEARS do you think?
no subject
Date: 2017-09-21 02:40 am (UTC)I'd say they are no longer surprised at the fact that fans come from all over to see them...but they are still amazingly humble and appreciative, and still want to be 'actors' not celebrities.
Thanks for the nudge to go down memory lane!
Wonder if anyone else thought that was sort of stalker-creepy that she knew these details...
Oops, I think I am now this stalker...
no subject
Date: 2017-09-21 12:05 pm (UTC)We are blessed to have joined a fandom with such longevity!! I discovered SPN in 2011 and never could have dreamed that it would still be going \o/