Tag: Tahmoh Penikett

Worth the Wait! A Fascinating Chat with Tahmoh Penikett

Worth the Wait! A Fascinating Chat with Tahmoh Penikett

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We’ve been trying to catch up with Supernatural actor (and star of numerous other genre favorites) Tahmoh Penikett for what seems like forever. So when we stopped to say hello at DCCon, Tahmoh threw up his hands when he saw us.

Tahmoh: Let’s just do it!

Lynn: Great! Let’s do it!

Kathy: (ever the voice of reason, whispering to Lynn) We don’t have the interview questions…or your iPad…

Luckily, Tahmoh is the sort of guy you can wing it with. We had enough burning questions stored up that it really wasn’t a problem. And I still had my old school audio recorder that has been with us through a ton of Supernatural interviews from the early days of researching for writing Fangasm Supernatural Fangirls and our very first chats with Jared, Jensen and Misha. I kinda love the trusty little thing.

We sat down in the green room and everyone immediately jumped up to look for an outlet and recharge our phones. You have to take advantage when you can!

Tahmoh: I’m good to go when you guys are.

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A Newbie Goes to Con

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By: Guest blogger Brigid Laurie

When your packing list includes “tube of fake blood” you know you’re going to have a good time.

Creation’s DCcon was my first fan convention of any sort. I had never been to a Comic-Con, a Wizard World, another show convention – anything like that. I have to admit, I wasn’t really well versed in how many Supernatural cons there are until about a year ago. I live in the Washington DC area and we only had our first con last year. Last year it simply wasn’t feasible for me to attend. But that gave me over a year to plan for DCcon 2015. And for all my planning, real life still managed to interfere. But overall, that didn’t matter. In fact, it might’ve worked out for the best. Let’s make that stone number one and build on it.

So, that said, allow me to be your guide to being the new kid at the con. Learn from my mistakes, and take notes on the things I did right. I’m not going to recap the panels. I’ve seen videos from DCcon online already, so that information is out there if you need it. What I really want to share with you is the first time con experience.

I’m sure many con goers did what I did. The con went on sale and I immediately bought the package I wanted. In my case, that was the Copper package. It offered admission to everything except the Sunday morning Gold Panel, but no extras. Then, like a fool, I googled SPN cons only to find an amazing array of stories ranging from blissful to horrifying. Of course, I got stuck on horrifying and thought, “Non-refundable ticket… what have I done?”

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Reunited And It Feels So Good: Supernatural DCCon

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Last weekend marked the end of one sort of Supernatural hiatus – the US Creation convention one! Not counting Comic Con, the last Creation con in the states was way back in March, so I was one of the people bouncing with excitement to reunite with the cast and with lots and lots of fangirls and fanboys. Driving to a con is a rarity for us, and so is staying at Kathy’s house instead of a hotel, so it was also a con with lots of catching up conversation (only a portion of which touched on Jensen’s sexy bowlegs or Jared’s luscious hair or Misha’s pretty blue eyes. Honest, only a portion.)

There were lots of acafans at this con too, so there was also plenty of spirited debate about canon and fanon and what a ‘text’ (including our favorite tv show) actually is and who gets to decide that. In between all that conversation, there were spectacular martinis, some truly enjoyable cast interviews, a Periscope with Chad Lindberg during which he tried to explain to us what Periscope was while connecting with fans literally all over the world, and so much laughter my stomach ached – some of that was from guest panels and some from our fellow fans. In other words, it was a great con!

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One More From VegasCon – Sunday (aka Winchester Family Day)

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Finally, the last of our VegasCon reminiscences – and more beautiful photos of beautiful subjects. Huge thanks to talented photographers (and fellow fangirls) Kim Prior and RitaKF for working so hard to get these amazing shots. Leave them some love in the comments!

Sunday is always a blur of J2, and that Sunday was no exception. The boys did their gold panel early, and I think everyone was grateful to poor Jared for coming even though he clearly wasn’t feeling well. That didn’t stop his irrepressible sense of humor or his affection for both his costar and the fandom.

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A Family Affair – SPN Family At HousCon

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I wrote this post a few days ago and then was too sick to actually post it. In the interim, there’s been some discussion about ‘SPNFamily’ and whether that term is appropriate for us when there sometimes seems like so much infighting. I hate the infighting and love the sense of community – it’s why we wrote Fangasm and why there are entire chapters on wank and the reasons for it in Fandom At The Crossroads. I hate seeing other fans hurting, whether that hurt comes from inside or outside the fandom. I guess, when you get right down to it, I hate seeing people hurting. That’s what I do for a living, after all.

So I understand why some are questioning the term ‘SPNFamily’ – who wants to believe that someone within your family could deliberately hurt you? There are people in any group who try to cope with whatever it is they’re dealing with by attacking others, or are afraid of losing something important to them and are willing to use whatever means they can find to keep that from happening. That sort of anger-based, fear-based behavior is tough to watch and even worse to be on the receiving end of. And it’s not okay. This ‘family’ we’re in is not perfect. Bobby Singer’s warning that family is there to make you miserable isn’t always off the mark. That’s true of every family I’ve ever known, blood or no blood.

At the same time, I don’t want to lose sight of the many powerful and important ways that this gigantic diverse squabbling infuriating supportive creative amazing group of people is a family. I’ve been collecting stories for a new project about how Supernatural and SPN fandom have changed people’s lives. In some cases, saved people’s lives. Fans, cast, crew – we’ve all been changed by our participation in this widespread, dynamic group. I’ve heard stories of fans going out of their way – above and beyond – to help other fans. I’ve seen it and experienced it myself, in big dramatic gestures and in small moments at cons when someone lost their photo op ticket. That feeling of belonging and acceptance that we wrote about in Fangasm is still there, and still has a strong impact on fans who discover the community of fandom. Like all large families, we have our factions and our alliances and our family feuds, and some people get along better and are happier if they just don’t talk to ‘that branch of the family’ anymore. (Of course, you may still see them at Cousin Martha’s big bash of a wedding…or run across them in the comments on a fandom blog…)

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Keep Fighting For Each Other: Jensen and Jared Meet and Greet Tidbits from SFCon

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This past weekend’s Supernatural convention in San Francisco was special for a few reasons. First, it kicked off the 2015 convention tour; second, it was the first con since we got the amazing news of an early Season 11 pickup. It was also my birthday. It’s wonderful to be home and celebrating with the family, but I can’t think of a more joyous way to celebrate than being immersed in the SPNFamily. I caught up with some of my favorite fellow SPN fangirls over drinks and dinners and room service ice cream indulgences, and birthday hugs from the SPN actors almost made me forget how old I am.

Jensen: “27, right?”

Right. Oh, wait.

Actually I’ve been around long enough to be thoroughly impressed by both the talent this cast has, and by how much they care about their fans and the show. It has apparently become a well-known ‘thing’ in the industry, that Supernatural has a reciprocal relationship with its fans that is unique. I’ve said it before, but I don’t know how we got so lucky. I’m just glad that this is the show I fell for.

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So Metatron Is A Fanboy: A Chat With Supernatural’s Curtis Armstrong

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One of the best things that has come our way as a result of writing and publishing books on Supernatural is the opportunity to meet so many fascinating and creative people – both our fellow fans of the Show and the actors, writers and crew who bring Supernatural to life. At this year’s Chicago convention, we had a chance to chat with one of those fascinating people, Curtis Armstrong. We met up with Curtis at a steak house in Chicago the night before he was set to do his very first Supernatural convention. Gotta say, we were a little nervous to be sitting down with the likes of Metatron, but guess what? Curtis is about as far from diabolical as you can get. And a lot more adorable.

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Supernatural S10 is Almost Here!

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Well SPNFamily, the wait is almost over. Hellatus always seems endless and then suddenly it’s about to end and I’m not sure I’m ready! There’s more anticipation for Season 10 than I’ve felt in a while, from both the actors and the fans, and it’s building to a fever pitch right now. Kudos to the CW for giving us a Supernatural retrospective tomorrow night, which is certain to amp up the anticipation even more. It’s a good thing it’s fall break at my university for the next few days, because I’m pretty sure my excitement would have precluded any sort of coherent teaching anyway.

We thought we’d share some thoughts and some favorite moments from the last Supernatural convention in Dallas as we wait for the season to officially kick off. Moments that remind us why we’re still head over heels in love with this Show and immeasurably grateful for this diverse, passionate, sometimes-argumentative-but-tremendously-supportive fandom.

My favorite thing from DallasCon, hands down, was the celebration of Rob Benedict’s birthday. We’ve talked with most of the cast more than once about how they have all become bonded, as much from the experience of hitting the road and doing conventions together as from working together on Supernatural. Some of the actors never even shared the small screen, but they’ve become close friends after spending weekends together and singing karaoke together and travelling the world together to meet the fans. That closeness was evident as Jared, Jensen, Misha, Tahmoh and Richard surprised Rob on the day of his actual birthday.

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Osric Chau on his Emotional Last Scene as Kevin – and the Perils of Wrestling with Jared

Osric Chau on his Emotional Last Scene as Kevin – and the Perils of Wrestling with Jared

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We were extremely excited to see Kevin mentioned on the S10 sneak peek promo with a big question mark, and to hear Bob Singer tease that maybe he’d be back – because we love both the character and the talented actor who plays him. We sat down to chat with Osric Chau over dinner at VanCon, and invited photographer Karen Cooke to join us and snap some photos (Karen’s beautiful photos are featured in Fan Phenomena: Supernatural too).

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Making History at Supernatural’s VanCon

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Best Cast Ever
Best Cast Ever

I’ve spent the week happily immersed in VanCon photos and reports and vids, like most of the Supernatural fandom, musing about why VanCon feels so special. Of course every occasion that fans have to get together is special, because we don’t often get to be with our SPN Family face to face. VanCon gives me lots of other fans to squee about Show with, to share my anticipation for S10, and to hash out what we did and didn’t like about S9 (and the eight seasons before that too). And then VanCon does other cons one better by giving me not only the actors but some of Supernatural’s writers and crew – which makes it pretty much the enactment of the reciprocal relationship we’ve written about in all our books. My week in Vancouver was all about those relationships – fans and fans, fans and actors, actors and actors, with some crew members and writers to round out the reciprocity. Relationships are what make we humans happiest, so I guess it’s not surprising that I’m still smiling.

VanCon coincided with the beginning of filming Supernatural’s 200th episode, which seemed entirely fitting. We contributed to some 200th episode gifts for the cast and crew, along with many other fans. Another group of fans arranged for a banner to be flown over the set congratulating the cast and crew on reaching such an important milestone.

The occasion made me think. When we first started researching Supernatural back in 2007, the Show was on the verge of cancellation at the end of every season, with fans rallying with postcard campaigns and network pleas and then crossing our fingers until the renewal was announced and we could finally breathe again. Nobody – not even the fandom – would have believed that we’d see 10 seasons and 200 episodes. But here we are, and going stronger than ever!

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