Con Report: Salute to Supernatural New Jersey 2013, Sunday and Monday
Monday report
Wait a second, a Monday report? Yes. You see, since I had lost my job on that previous Friday, I suddenly didn’t have to rush back to Ohio to go to work. I could actually be casual. The plan was I would take Lynn back to her home in PA and we would spend the day together. This is the best thing that happens with these “Supernatural†cons. You make some amazing friends. I met Lynn and her Fangasm cohort Kathy at the very first New Jersey con during the Dessert party (yes, it was a dessert party back then!). We hit it off from the word go, and we’ve been friends ever since. We often hang out together at cons, and I’ve even roomed with Lynn a few times when Kathy couldn’t make it. Lynn makes it to every single con, so I always see her every time I go to one.
Monday morning was a big bonus though because Lynn was able to schedule an interview for Fangasm with Ty Olsson. It was supposed to happen on Sunday, but there wasn’t any time, and it just so happened we were all down at breakfast around the same time. The pub in the hotel had a second bar area, a quiet private room which was ideal to have a conversation. So Lynn and I settled down with Ty and had a wonderful chat. It was such an honor to get to know this man, who’s basically a hard working, dedicated, but often struggling actor from Canada.
Lynn had already had questions prepped, so I mostly sat in and threw in a few off the top of my head questions here and there. I did get a couple of good pictures though! Lynn used one of them for Fangasm’s article, which has an entire transcript of the interview. This was really, really, a great chat, so if you haven’t read this article, I implore you do.
Out of the discussion, I was stunned by just how smart and philosophical Ty is about many things. He gets Benny very much and he’s so thoughtful about his character. He deeply understands Benny’s troubles and his issues with finding a place in this world. I loved the quote, “But what happens when you’ll never die? I love in my episode when we see my nest, the leader who was so young, which was a nice surprise and well played – but his character had been around so long, you could just see that he was ready to go. And that’s such a scary thing to have to face, that realization that, I’m not suicidal, but I’m happy to cease to exist. It’s so bizarre.â€
It was during our chat that I remembered watching for the first time ever “Beauty and The Beast†on The CW a couple months ago. Ty was actually in that episode, and his character died! This was just before Benny dies in “Taxi Driver†the following Wednesday. I couldn’t avoid but bringing that up when the talk about Benny turned depressing.
(Some strange redhead with Ty)
Alice: Talk about depressing, I watched you die twice in two weeks on two different shows.
Ty: Try doing it!
Alice and Lynn: Point taken.
Ty: I’ve died so many times, my poor body. Because as an actor, you convince yourself of things, that’s why actors have to be careful sometimes that you don’t carry your work home with you. Imagine the lashings you’re giving your psyche by dying over and over again.
When the talk about doing the cons came up, Ty echoed what other actors have said to me before. These cons are so wonderful for them, because they get to be rock stars for a weekend, before going back to their struggling acting jobs. Ty did mention that he worries about hurting feelings when on Twitter or Facebook, because people don’t always realize he’s entertaining hundreds of people at the same time.
Ty: And it’s there forever (when you’re tweeting), and it’s easy to misunderstand. We’re actors, we’re artists, we’re emotional people, and it’s easier to go arghaughaghhh oh yeah well fuck you – and then you’re misunderstood. I had to laugh at Vegas con. Because I like to have fun, clearly.
(Isn’t this a great picture of Ty and Lynn?)
I also got to ask Ty if this was his first experience with a big fandom. Yes, and he wasn’t aware of any other fandom right now larger than “Supernatural.â€
Ty: The biggest for me, certainly. Wait, is there a bigger fandom than Supernatural?? I don’t think there is! I’ve had little tastes of it before, but certainly not in the thick of it like this. I’m handling it pretty well, don’t you think? The fandom is the reason why these weekends happen, it’s the reason the show has run 8 seasons, and it’s a unique part of the whole package of Supernatural. I go to Rome in 2 days, to Germany, the UK. I’ve had this ongoing joke with the actors I know who get to go to great places to shoot, and I’m like, I’m going to Prince George in the winter. Finally I get to go somewhere!
Ty also talked about at length that iconic scene between he and Jensen in “Taxi Driver,†(a lot more detail here than what was given at his panel), and that the idea for calling the sick woman came from Rick Worthy, who ironically ended up showing up a few minutes later to join us for breakfast! His ears must have been burning. For those wondering what happened to Ty’s project Borealis, the whole story behind that is here as well. Let’s just say that Canadian TV politics has all but buried that project. It’s quite a shame, because many saw it and loved it. The You Tube link is here if you want to watch:
http://youtu.be/XVMvqNygFk4
After this, we also chatted a bit with Rick Worthy, who was killing some time before he had to catch his flight. We weren’t talking “Supernatural†much, but if you ever want to know where to go in Atlanta for great entertainment, Rick is your resource! Louisiana too. Rick and Ty also understood what it was like to be hanging out on a Monday with nowhere to go. That’s the life of an actor. I had mentioned my job loss, but honestly, my words seemed rather petty considering the amount of time that passes in between jobs for these guys. We often take for granted our regular day jobs, but it’s security, which is something actors like Ty and Rick often don’t have.
(That annoying redhead hit up Rick Worthy for a photo too!)
By this time, we all had already exceeded our hotel check out time, so it was time to go. The rest of the day was fun and casual. Lynn and I drove to PA, we hung out, and we watched “The Great Escapist†again on her DVR. It’s so much fun watching an episode like that with a fellow fan. We had an awesome discussion about it afterward. Lynn had some interesting theories that I remember Pragmatic Dreamer sending in an article that I had to publish. I did that actually, that evening. Great minds think alike I say.
The next day, it was time to go home. Another New Jersey con behind me, another great opportunity to connect with friends, meet new ones that I hope to see again, and take home yet another stunning experience that’s come with a TV show that I found five years ago while flipping channels. Next year New Jersey con is in early September. Thank Chuck, because even though I had tons of fun, early
May is not a good time for me. The delay in publishing this report is living proof.
Thanks everyone for taking time to read my lengthy ramblings. Here all the pictures from Sunday that I took. Feel free to share, but please give credit!
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Thank you, Alice, for this sweet, positive and detailed report! Hope you had as great time visiting the con as you gave me with this read! Never enough of a good thing, so looking forward to reading your next reports – and shame on Creation for being greedy!
Alice, nice to read this report. Do you think this format change will be at all the conventions or only at the biggest ones, like Las Vegas and New Jersey? Is Vancouver a large convention? I finally decided to buy a gold ticket to Vancouver, after reading how wonderful the meet and greets were but if the format has changed, I want to prepare myself as much as possible for the changes.
So glad we are able to read these personal reports of the different conventions.
Thanks for yet another great report. Nice to see you in some of those pics! 🙂 Ty Olsson sounds like such a nice person to meet. I can’t wait for my first con in Toronto, he’s one of the invited guests. But I have the same question as EireneS about the format of the convention. Do you know if all of them will be changed? Because I have a gold ticket, and as you’ve stated, they are pretty pricey, so I want my money’s worth for sure. 😀
Thanks, Alice!
I’m just clarifying something without opinion: On the first question, the audience did not groan when the questioner said “bisexual”. They groaned when she said “subtext”. As a member of the audience, It’s an important distinction. I listened to it a few times to be sure.