ChiCon 2016 Sept 9-11, 2016
Sep. 23rd, 2016 09:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
borgmama1of5No matter what, ChiCon is the one I will always be attending because I live here! When she heard Jeffrey Dean Morgan was coming, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sandymg was definitely coming from New York again, and we had a fun time for the 3 days.
In a moment of madness, we bid on and won tickets to both Jared and Jensen's meet and greets, which are amazing 30-minute experiences...my brain may not have been completely functioning during that time…
[Hi,sandymg here. I was lucky enough to be in these meet and greets with Betty. I’m hijacking her post to add a few thoughts here and there. ]
Jared Padalecki
Before Jared came in the room, the volunteer deliberately turned his chair, which was positioned in front of our semi-circle of chairs, backward, which made us all grin…
Jared bounced in wearing a light green hoodie with the word ‘LOVE’ and no beanie. Shallow moment: his hair was perfect, and good heavens, does his face have incredible angles…and he has the BEST smile!
[SG: Bounce is definitely the word for it—like Tigger. He’s all arms and legs that go on forever. And he waved at us in this absolutely adorable manner. I had a far right seat and because of my angle I got to appreciate his super cute sloped nose. Back to the normal program … ]
There was a brief break-the-ice discussion of weather: since Chicon is usually in late October but was held in mid-September this year, Jared was surprised by the nice weather. Several people volunteered that it was really hot last week…Jared: Like Texas? For all that he lives in a hot place, he loves cold weather and wearing beanies and hoodies. But even though it’s hot, he loves Texas.
Next, Jared geeked over Star Wars and wanted to be sure we all knew that Daniel Craig (James Bond) had been a storm trooper in the most recent movie. Jared would love to have a role like that in a Star Wars movie!
[SG: His smile is huge when talking Star Wars and his eyes get all animated. Adorable.]
My friend Sandy got to ask a question. Background to it: because I live only 10 minutes from the convention site, we came back to my apartment every night. When we got home at 12:30 am after the Saturday Night Special, the front foyer door to the apartment building was locked. I have lived there 11 years and that door has never been locked because there is no key! My husband was sound asleep and did not hear his phone or the doorbell. At one point we commented that we needed a Winchester to pick the lock. (Eventually the basement tenant heard me banging on his window and came up to unlock the door.)
Sandy mentioned that we’d been locked out last night and wished for a Winchester, then asked if Jared had picked up any skills from his portrayal of Sam, like hot-wiring a car or picking a lock. Jared laughed and said he hasn’t hot-wired a car yet, but he did have to break a lock recently! When Gen was visiting with the boys, Shep managed to lock himself in the bedroom. Gen called Jared as he was on his way home from set, then while he was en route, she called Clif who directed her how to unscrew some of the door hardware. While she couldn’t get it open, Gen managed to create a space to push gummy bears through to Shep to keep him from panicking.
When Jared got there he started to hammer the screwdriver to trigger the lock but ‘Sheppie’ said he didn’t like the noise. Jared said he was thinking like Sam, so he tried a credit card but all that did was wreck the magnetic strip. Then he tried a thin flexible cutting board in the crack but that didn’t work either. Shep started to cry and Jared went ‘F… it’ and turned into Dean Winchester and just pounded the screwdriver and completely broke the lock to free his kid!
[SG: Amazingly, I was coherent enough to get both the backstory and my question out. The ‘Sheppie’ just about broke me—so cute. He also praised Gen for all she’d done before he got there. Also, after he was finished he looked at me and I got out that we were rescued by an 80-year neighbor who we’d awakened and had opened the door for us. That earned another smile.]
Jared was asked about the torture visions at the start of season 11 where Sam’s eyeballs were being pulled by hooks. How did they do that? It looked horrible—did it hurt? Jared said it didn’t hurt at all. Prosthetic skin was applied around his eyes and that was pulled by the hooks.
[SG: Yes! I also thought that looked horrible and painful and couldn’t figure out how it was done. Hearing the behind-the-scenes magic direct from the source was super special.]
He tries to be careful his kids don’t see him with fake injuries because they get upset. When Tom saw him on the phone looking beat up Tom wanted to know what was wrong. Jared told him it was make-up and said he’d bring some home for Tom to see. He brought home some fake injuries and asked Tom if he’d like to try one on. The moment Jared put a fake cut on Tom’s knee, Tom freaked and started crying that it hurt. Gen came over to see what was wrong and Tom wouldn’t even let her touch it. Jared said when the fake wounds are applied, they have to set a while before they can be removed so he couldn’t just take it right off. Jared and Gen had to hide cracking up at Tom’s distress, although Gen thought Jared ‘was an idiot.’
When Jared pointed at me next, I asked if he was aware that the Salmon Dean joke he’s been making had actually been done by Chris Lennart and Jay Grushka on the CD of Supernatural music they’d put out 6 years ago. They titled the track of the brothers’ theme ‘Salmon Dean in the Heartland.’ Jared had not known that, and said that he is routinely behind on the latest internet trend, like when he discovered an awesome kitten video and tried sending it around and everyone else had seen it 3 years ago.
[SG: Jared’s eyes lit up upon the discovery of the track song title. It was a rush to watch him learn something he hadn’t known about the Show.]
How would Sam react if it had been John instead of Mary resurrected at the end of season 11? Jared said that there is a difference between forgiving someone and having closure. He thinks Sam has forgiven John but that he doesn’t have closure to their relationship. Sam is practical, however, and John would be useful.
[SG: I was struck by the thoughtfulness of the answer. His face gets this intense inward look, really thinking through the alternate scenario and figuring out Sam’s reaction to such a situation. No surprise that he has such great insight into characters that he clearly loves. Hearing his answer was like listening to a fellow fan with a particularly great meta. A joy.]
His favorite candy from the candy store Jeffrey Dean Morgan owns in New York would be sour balls. He and Jensen told JDM that he was dead to them because he didn’t bring them candy.
He told the story, which he’s told before, of his first onscreen kiss which was with Alexis in Gilmore Girls. After the first take, the director said he was too tall so squat down, and he was in Alexis’ light so he needed to turn his head like this…and his nose was blocking her face so pull back, and his forehead is too big so do this, and as he’s talking Jared is acting out trying to kiss someone while not getting in the way. It was very funny!
There was time for one last quick question, which was did Sam have the amulet all along? Jared said yes, he knew he had it all along.
[SG: There was a twinkle in his eye as he relayed that he’d kept the secret re this.]
That was the end of Jared’s meet and greet.
[SG: Overall impression: Jared is bubbly and sweet. He shares personal stories easily and likes to make us laugh and laugh with us. He is thoughtful with his answers but not cautious. A generous person.]
Jensen Ackles
Jensen walked in wearing a gray and cream plaid shirt, looking drop dead gorgeous (as usual.)
[SG: Understatement. He’s beyond stunning. It’s like falling into a fanfiction. I played this little mental game of find the flaw. I failed.]
The first questioner wanted to know about the buttery leather jacket he had worn to ChiCon last year, as she wanted to get one for her boyfriend. Jensen immediately said he did not want us to feel bad about what happened to that jacket, so we of course had to know.
He’d bought it right before the con last year. It was the first time he’d worn it, and by the end of the photo ops the front of it was all stained with makeup from the hugs. Everyone in the room went ‘Oh’ in distress and he reiterated not to feel bad! He added that at the autographs there was a fumble as someone was handing him a gold sharpie and the final damage was a gold line down the sleeve. He took it to wardrobe in Vancouver but they couldn’t get the stains out so he couldn’t wear it again, but he didn’t feel bad, it had served its purpose. Sandy called out that it had been ‘hugged to death,’ and Jensen said that was right.
[SG: I think I thought I was talking to myself but clearly I was loud enough to be heard as he turned his gaze on me and gave a small grin. I pretty much died at that.]
It was very clear that Jensen found it amusing and he truly did not want his fans to feel bad.
Someone referenced the comment making the rounds of Jared and Jensen saying the show would end at 300 episodes, and Jensen stopped her to clarify they didn’t say that would be the end. Mark Pedowitz called to ask why they were saying the show was going to end there. Jensen said 300 was the next goal, and after that they’d pick another goal, maybe 400…
Did Jensen have any ideas on the way the show should end? He said that he’d just talked to Bob Singer about it because he’d had a dream of how the show could end. He said he’d told it before…but did we want to hear it? (Silly question!) Jensen took his time to set up the scene he was telling. He'd had a very vivid dream, complete with music—in fact he’d tracked down and downloaded the music to his phone, it was from a commercial…he paused to bring up the music on his phone.
Imagine slow, dramatic orchestra music as Jensen tells us to picture a straight two-lane highway going through flatland, nothing but grain all around. Then there is a crossroad, again very straight, nothing but the two roads and farmland…the Impala is driving down the road, reaches the crossroads, and stops. Dean gets out and walks along the field, running his hand over the grain…A motorcycle appears coming down the other road. The cyclist is covered in dark leather and wearing a helmet, you don’t see his face. He stops by the Impala.
(Remember as Jensen is telling us this, there is sad music playing…) Dean walks over to the cyclist and hands him the Impala keys, then Dean gets on the motorcycle. He looks once more at the car, but he doesn’t need a passenger seat any more, and he heads down the road alone while the cyclist, still covered, gets in the Impala and drives the other direction.
The entire room was fighting back tears…Jensen’s voice plus the music plus the image…gah!
And I think Jensen looked a little smug at being so effective at telling his ending! Those of us that could speak decried that his ending had Dean without Sam, but he defended it as that’s the way his dream went, Dean didn’t need the Impala any more.
[SG: I am not overly emotional. Even the Show has only made me cry a few times. But, damn, that boy can tell a story – complete with soundtrack. That was my highlight because watching him perform live like that was incredible.]
As he mentioned later in the J2 Panel, Jensen said the most challenging part of season 12 so far is the Mary/Dean dynamic because there is nothing for Dean to use to relate to Mary, and yet she is his mother. He said it was similar to the difficulty of playing Dean with soulless!Sam in season 6. What makes it more challenging is that Jensen and Sam Smith are friends but he can’t use that in the show, so he’s having trouble getting in the groove.
My friend Sandy asked, ‘millions of fans watch Jensen as Dean, but on social media it’s Jensen who has 2 million followers. How does he handle putting himself out there?’ Jensen said he doesn’t understand celebrities who give their opinion on politics and things. Jensen is an actor, not a politician, and his opinion doesn’t need to be out there. He tries to use Twitter for things related to being on set because that is what he’s doing and believes folks would find interesting. And he doesn’t want to get a call from his Mom asking why he said something!
[SG: Very thoughtful, measured answer. It was clear that he’s thought about this before, it wasn’t an instantaneous response. Having a strategy for social media is smart – and his intelligence just shines through when he replies. Also, throughout this he’s staring right at me. And, yes, his eyes really are fanfiction green. ;) ]
Good things to do in Austin? Jensen said go to the lake, and then talked about a walking tour called “Detour” which you plug in the app and it takes you around downtown in the footsteps of a murder mystery from Austin’s history. Again Jensen went into visual imagery, mimicking the guide saying, ‘Walk to the corner and turn right. Look up and you see the stained glass window that so-and-so saw for the last time. Now walk into the building and go to the stairs. These are the stairs where the body was found…’
Asked about the giant telescope in the Men of Letter bunker, Jensen said Phil Sgriccia had proposed that it randomly start moving and suddenly it lifts up and Frank Devereaux comes out, he’s been hiding in the catacombs under the bunker all along!
I asked what his reaction was when he found out they were having twins. Jensen said that Danneel wanted to have 3 kids, but he’d grown up in a family with 3 kids, ‘and when you go in a restaurant you always have to wait for a booth, you can’t just walk up to a 4-top.’ And you have to use a zone defense to control them, you can’t just ‘one parent takes one and the other parent takes the other.’ Besides, he felt they had created one perfect child, why mess with perfection? Danneel convinced him to go for 2, though…and she got her way like she always does…
He said he found out when she and JJ picked him up at the airport on a trip back to Austin. JJ ran up to him holding a card, and when he picked her up Danneel was across the way and mimed for him to open it, so he did, and…! He said twins run in her family.
[SG: This entire story was adorable and he was shiny happy in telling it. Also, it made me love Danneel even more than I already do.]
About funny acting stories: Jensen said he was in a Triscuit commercial when he was a teenager and spent hours eating Triscuits, and by the end he would take one bite and then puke. He then told the story of being in West Side Story in high school, in which there was a scene where Tony and Maria are singing in a shop where there are mannequins and they pretend the mannequins are their families. He was supposed to sing about what he would say to Maria’s father as he moved the dummy to a different spot. One night the mannequin’s post wasn’t in properly and as he set it down it started to tip over. He kept singing and trying to get it to stand, but finally he needed to move to a different spot on the stage so he let go and it fell over just as Maria asked what would he say to her father—and Jensen looked at the fallen dummy and improvised ‘I’ll have to tell him later.’ He could see his drama teacher hide her face in her hands…
Jensen was asked if he’d like to host Saturday Night Live. He said of course, but that wasn’t going to happen because only people with big new projects or A-list celebs got to do it. Someone said, ‘You’re A-List to us!’ and he said thank you, but he wasn’t big enough for that.
[SG: The ongoing humbleness is just such an attractive trait. You could see he really would get a kick out of hosting SNL. He and Jared together would be blast. But that’s just my opinion – he didn’t bring up Jared.]
Asked if he’d keep acting when—if—Supernatural ends, he said he will want to continue to tell stories.
Overall impression—Jared really thinks about things deeply and he seems to genuinely like talking with his fans. Also he is very good-looking…For all that we fans react to Jensen like he is a big Hollywood star, he is very grounded and humble.
They are both so incredibly NICE and genuinely seem to enjoy interacting with their fans!
[SG: Agreed. Each session had its own flavor. Jared is very conversational. Jensen is more … hard to pinpoint. Educational isn’t right. But he answers the questions so very thoughtfully. Not guarded, but very much like he wants to be sure to express himself right. And then he threw in the performance telling of his dream of how the show might end and it was just so viscerally sad. It reminded me that he’d done A Few Good Men. He must be amazing on a stage. Nobody asked about any potential future stage work – although that would be a good question.]
For Sandy's pix: http://sandymg.livejournal.
sandymg was definitely coming from New York again, and we had a fun time for the 3 days.In a moment of madness, we bid on and won tickets to both Jared and Jensen's meet and greets, which are amazing 30-minute experiences...my brain may not have been completely functioning during that time…
[Hi,
sandymg here. I was lucky enough to be in these meet and greets with Betty. I’m hijacking her post to add a few thoughts here and there. ]Jared Padalecki
Before Jared came in the room, the volunteer deliberately turned his chair, which was positioned in front of our semi-circle of chairs, backward, which made us all grin…
Jared bounced in wearing a light green hoodie with the word ‘LOVE’ and no beanie. Shallow moment: his hair was perfect, and good heavens, does his face have incredible angles…and he has the BEST smile!
[SG: Bounce is definitely the word for it—like Tigger. He’s all arms and legs that go on forever. And he waved at us in this absolutely adorable manner. I had a far right seat and because of my angle I got to appreciate his super cute sloped nose. Back to the normal program … ]
There was a brief break-the-ice discussion of weather: since Chicon is usually in late October but was held in mid-September this year, Jared was surprised by the nice weather. Several people volunteered that it was really hot last week…Jared: Like Texas? For all that he lives in a hot place, he loves cold weather and wearing beanies and hoodies. But even though it’s hot, he loves Texas.
Next, Jared geeked over Star Wars and wanted to be sure we all knew that Daniel Craig (James Bond) had been a storm trooper in the most recent movie. Jared would love to have a role like that in a Star Wars movie!
[SG: His smile is huge when talking Star Wars and his eyes get all animated. Adorable.]
My friend Sandy got to ask a question. Background to it: because I live only 10 minutes from the convention site, we came back to my apartment every night. When we got home at 12:30 am after the Saturday Night Special, the front foyer door to the apartment building was locked. I have lived there 11 years and that door has never been locked because there is no key! My husband was sound asleep and did not hear his phone or the doorbell. At one point we commented that we needed a Winchester to pick the lock. (Eventually the basement tenant heard me banging on his window and came up to unlock the door.)
Sandy mentioned that we’d been locked out last night and wished for a Winchester, then asked if Jared had picked up any skills from his portrayal of Sam, like hot-wiring a car or picking a lock. Jared laughed and said he hasn’t hot-wired a car yet, but he did have to break a lock recently! When Gen was visiting with the boys, Shep managed to lock himself in the bedroom. Gen called Jared as he was on his way home from set, then while he was en route, she called Clif who directed her how to unscrew some of the door hardware. While she couldn’t get it open, Gen managed to create a space to push gummy bears through to Shep to keep him from panicking.
When Jared got there he started to hammer the screwdriver to trigger the lock but ‘Sheppie’ said he didn’t like the noise. Jared said he was thinking like Sam, so he tried a credit card but all that did was wreck the magnetic strip. Then he tried a thin flexible cutting board in the crack but that didn’t work either. Shep started to cry and Jared went ‘F… it’ and turned into Dean Winchester and just pounded the screwdriver and completely broke the lock to free his kid!
[SG: Amazingly, I was coherent enough to get both the backstory and my question out. The ‘Sheppie’ just about broke me—so cute. He also praised Gen for all she’d done before he got there. Also, after he was finished he looked at me and I got out that we were rescued by an 80-year neighbor who we’d awakened and had opened the door for us. That earned another smile.]
Jared was asked about the torture visions at the start of season 11 where Sam’s eyeballs were being pulled by hooks. How did they do that? It looked horrible—did it hurt? Jared said it didn’t hurt at all. Prosthetic skin was applied around his eyes and that was pulled by the hooks.
[SG: Yes! I also thought that looked horrible and painful and couldn’t figure out how it was done. Hearing the behind-the-scenes magic direct from the source was super special.]
He tries to be careful his kids don’t see him with fake injuries because they get upset. When Tom saw him on the phone looking beat up Tom wanted to know what was wrong. Jared told him it was make-up and said he’d bring some home for Tom to see. He brought home some fake injuries and asked Tom if he’d like to try one on. The moment Jared put a fake cut on Tom’s knee, Tom freaked and started crying that it hurt. Gen came over to see what was wrong and Tom wouldn’t even let her touch it. Jared said when the fake wounds are applied, they have to set a while before they can be removed so he couldn’t just take it right off. Jared and Gen had to hide cracking up at Tom’s distress, although Gen thought Jared ‘was an idiot.’
When Jared pointed at me next, I asked if he was aware that the Salmon Dean joke he’s been making had actually been done by Chris Lennart and Jay Grushka on the CD of Supernatural music they’d put out 6 years ago. They titled the track of the brothers’ theme ‘Salmon Dean in the Heartland.’ Jared had not known that, and said that he is routinely behind on the latest internet trend, like when he discovered an awesome kitten video and tried sending it around and everyone else had seen it 3 years ago.
[SG: Jared’s eyes lit up upon the discovery of the track song title. It was a rush to watch him learn something he hadn’t known about the Show.]
How would Sam react if it had been John instead of Mary resurrected at the end of season 11? Jared said that there is a difference between forgiving someone and having closure. He thinks Sam has forgiven John but that he doesn’t have closure to their relationship. Sam is practical, however, and John would be useful.
[SG: I was struck by the thoughtfulness of the answer. His face gets this intense inward look, really thinking through the alternate scenario and figuring out Sam’s reaction to such a situation. No surprise that he has such great insight into characters that he clearly loves. Hearing his answer was like listening to a fellow fan with a particularly great meta. A joy.]
His favorite candy from the candy store Jeffrey Dean Morgan owns in New York would be sour balls. He and Jensen told JDM that he was dead to them because he didn’t bring them candy.
He told the story, which he’s told before, of his first onscreen kiss which was with Alexis in Gilmore Girls. After the first take, the director said he was too tall so squat down, and he was in Alexis’ light so he needed to turn his head like this…and his nose was blocking her face so pull back, and his forehead is too big so do this, and as he’s talking Jared is acting out trying to kiss someone while not getting in the way. It was very funny!
There was time for one last quick question, which was did Sam have the amulet all along? Jared said yes, he knew he had it all along.
[SG: There was a twinkle in his eye as he relayed that he’d kept the secret re this.]
That was the end of Jared’s meet and greet.
[SG: Overall impression: Jared is bubbly and sweet. He shares personal stories easily and likes to make us laugh and laugh with us. He is thoughtful with his answers but not cautious. A generous person.]
Jensen Ackles
Jensen walked in wearing a gray and cream plaid shirt, looking drop dead gorgeous (as usual.)
[SG: Understatement. He’s beyond stunning. It’s like falling into a fanfiction. I played this little mental game of find the flaw. I failed.]
The first questioner wanted to know about the buttery leather jacket he had worn to ChiCon last year, as she wanted to get one for her boyfriend. Jensen immediately said he did not want us to feel bad about what happened to that jacket, so we of course had to know.
He’d bought it right before the con last year. It was the first time he’d worn it, and by the end of the photo ops the front of it was all stained with makeup from the hugs. Everyone in the room went ‘Oh’ in distress and he reiterated not to feel bad! He added that at the autographs there was a fumble as someone was handing him a gold sharpie and the final damage was a gold line down the sleeve. He took it to wardrobe in Vancouver but they couldn’t get the stains out so he couldn’t wear it again, but he didn’t feel bad, it had served its purpose. Sandy called out that it had been ‘hugged to death,’ and Jensen said that was right.
[SG: I think I thought I was talking to myself but clearly I was loud enough to be heard as he turned his gaze on me and gave a small grin. I pretty much died at that.]
It was very clear that Jensen found it amusing and he truly did not want his fans to feel bad.
Someone referenced the comment making the rounds of Jared and Jensen saying the show would end at 300 episodes, and Jensen stopped her to clarify they didn’t say that would be the end. Mark Pedowitz called to ask why they were saying the show was going to end there. Jensen said 300 was the next goal, and after that they’d pick another goal, maybe 400…
Did Jensen have any ideas on the way the show should end? He said that he’d just talked to Bob Singer about it because he’d had a dream of how the show could end. He said he’d told it before…but did we want to hear it? (Silly question!) Jensen took his time to set up the scene he was telling. He'd had a very vivid dream, complete with music—in fact he’d tracked down and downloaded the music to his phone, it was from a commercial…he paused to bring up the music on his phone.
Imagine slow, dramatic orchestra music as Jensen tells us to picture a straight two-lane highway going through flatland, nothing but grain all around. Then there is a crossroad, again very straight, nothing but the two roads and farmland…the Impala is driving down the road, reaches the crossroads, and stops. Dean gets out and walks along the field, running his hand over the grain…A motorcycle appears coming down the other road. The cyclist is covered in dark leather and wearing a helmet, you don’t see his face. He stops by the Impala.
(Remember as Jensen is telling us this, there is sad music playing…) Dean walks over to the cyclist and hands him the Impala keys, then Dean gets on the motorcycle. He looks once more at the car, but he doesn’t need a passenger seat any more, and he heads down the road alone while the cyclist, still covered, gets in the Impala and drives the other direction.
The entire room was fighting back tears…Jensen’s voice plus the music plus the image…gah!
And I think Jensen looked a little smug at being so effective at telling his ending! Those of us that could speak decried that his ending had Dean without Sam, but he defended it as that’s the way his dream went, Dean didn’t need the Impala any more.
[SG: I am not overly emotional. Even the Show has only made me cry a few times. But, damn, that boy can tell a story – complete with soundtrack. That was my highlight because watching him perform live like that was incredible.]
As he mentioned later in the J2 Panel, Jensen said the most challenging part of season 12 so far is the Mary/Dean dynamic because there is nothing for Dean to use to relate to Mary, and yet she is his mother. He said it was similar to the difficulty of playing Dean with soulless!Sam in season 6. What makes it more challenging is that Jensen and Sam Smith are friends but he can’t use that in the show, so he’s having trouble getting in the groove.
My friend Sandy asked, ‘millions of fans watch Jensen as Dean, but on social media it’s Jensen who has 2 million followers. How does he handle putting himself out there?’ Jensen said he doesn’t understand celebrities who give their opinion on politics and things. Jensen is an actor, not a politician, and his opinion doesn’t need to be out there. He tries to use Twitter for things related to being on set because that is what he’s doing and believes folks would find interesting. And he doesn’t want to get a call from his Mom asking why he said something!
[SG: Very thoughtful, measured answer. It was clear that he’s thought about this before, it wasn’t an instantaneous response. Having a strategy for social media is smart – and his intelligence just shines through when he replies. Also, throughout this he’s staring right at me. And, yes, his eyes really are fanfiction green. ;) ]
Good things to do in Austin? Jensen said go to the lake, and then talked about a walking tour called “Detour” which you plug in the app and it takes you around downtown in the footsteps of a murder mystery from Austin’s history. Again Jensen went into visual imagery, mimicking the guide saying, ‘Walk to the corner and turn right. Look up and you see the stained glass window that so-and-so saw for the last time. Now walk into the building and go to the stairs. These are the stairs where the body was found…’
Asked about the giant telescope in the Men of Letter bunker, Jensen said Phil Sgriccia had proposed that it randomly start moving and suddenly it lifts up and Frank Devereaux comes out, he’s been hiding in the catacombs under the bunker all along!
I asked what his reaction was when he found out they were having twins. Jensen said that Danneel wanted to have 3 kids, but he’d grown up in a family with 3 kids, ‘and when you go in a restaurant you always have to wait for a booth, you can’t just walk up to a 4-top.’ And you have to use a zone defense to control them, you can’t just ‘one parent takes one and the other parent takes the other.’ Besides, he felt they had created one perfect child, why mess with perfection? Danneel convinced him to go for 2, though…and she got her way like she always does…
He said he found out when she and JJ picked him up at the airport on a trip back to Austin. JJ ran up to him holding a card, and when he picked her up Danneel was across the way and mimed for him to open it, so he did, and…! He said twins run in her family.
[SG: This entire story was adorable and he was shiny happy in telling it. Also, it made me love Danneel even more than I already do.]
About funny acting stories: Jensen said he was in a Triscuit commercial when he was a teenager and spent hours eating Triscuits, and by the end he would take one bite and then puke. He then told the story of being in West Side Story in high school, in which there was a scene where Tony and Maria are singing in a shop where there are mannequins and they pretend the mannequins are their families. He was supposed to sing about what he would say to Maria’s father as he moved the dummy to a different spot. One night the mannequin’s post wasn’t in properly and as he set it down it started to tip over. He kept singing and trying to get it to stand, but finally he needed to move to a different spot on the stage so he let go and it fell over just as Maria asked what would he say to her father—and Jensen looked at the fallen dummy and improvised ‘I’ll have to tell him later.’ He could see his drama teacher hide her face in her hands…
Jensen was asked if he’d like to host Saturday Night Live. He said of course, but that wasn’t going to happen because only people with big new projects or A-list celebs got to do it. Someone said, ‘You’re A-List to us!’ and he said thank you, but he wasn’t big enough for that.
[SG: The ongoing humbleness is just such an attractive trait. You could see he really would get a kick out of hosting SNL. He and Jared together would be blast. But that’s just my opinion – he didn’t bring up Jared.]
Asked if he’d keep acting when—if—Supernatural ends, he said he will want to continue to tell stories.
Overall impression—Jared really thinks about things deeply and he seems to genuinely like talking with his fans. Also he is very good-looking…For all that we fans react to Jensen like he is a big Hollywood star, he is very grounded and humble.
They are both so incredibly NICE and genuinely seem to enjoy interacting with their fans!
[SG: Agreed. Each session had its own flavor. Jared is very conversational. Jensen is more … hard to pinpoint. Educational isn’t right. But he answers the questions so very thoughtfully. Not guarded, but very much like he wants to be sure to express himself right. And then he threw in the performance telling of his dream of how the show might end and it was just so viscerally sad. It reminded me that he’d done A Few Good Men. He must be amazing on a stage. Nobody asked about any potential future stage work – although that would be a good question.]
For Sandy's pix: http://sandymg.livejournal.
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Date: 2016-09-24 07:54 am (UTC)I had one meet & greet with Jensen in 2015 and I completely agree with your assessment of him. Charming and a great storyteller, but definitely more reserved (or perhaps careful?) than Jared.
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