Oz Comic-Con Smallville Dinner

My friend Adam bought me an Oz Comic-Con special event ticket for my birthday. Basically, there's a plethora of dinners you can choose from, attended by one or two genre stars. He wisely let me decide which dinner he'd gift (because I'm fickle) and read me the list of actors (from various tv shows) scheduled for each event. 

At one point I yelled "Stop! Did you say just say Aaron Ashmore??" He confirmed AA would indeed be at the Smallville dinner, before starting to read down the list again. I cut him off with, "No, that's enough- I'll go to that one!"

I'm a longterm fan of the Ashmore brothers. I like them for a lot of reasons, including the fact twins fascinate me. Most of the stories I've written have a set of twins in them. (I could go on about why I find the concepts of twins endlessly interesting- but I'll refrain.)

Twins who also happen to be actors? That's a whole other level of interesting. Separately, I enjoy/appreciate the Ashmores' performances (though Aaron more so). Weird fact: For quite a few years I thought they were one actor, and was slightly puzzled at odd differences in the looks and gestures between each of Aar-awn's performances. (Yes, explained by the fact I was actually watching two completely different people in various separate roles- and morphing them!)

Originally, I loved Aaron Ashmore in the tv show Veronica Mars, portraying the charming but dastardly Troy. I also thought he was great in Smallville as the earnest Jimmy Olsen. Lately he's popped up in Lost Girl and Warehouse 13, both shows I watch, and been fantastic in each (playing extremely different personalities), so I was more than happy to eat dinner at the same table as him.

Onscreen, both Ashmore brothers have what my mother calls "speaking" eyes; the kind that emote, making them perfect for television and cinema. Secondly, they have an almost impeccable sense of timing, in terms of performance. I'm not sure if that's instinctive, or learned, but somehow they always work a scene to borderline perfection.

When Aaron Ashmore appears onscreen, you really do believe he's a spoilt rich boy conning Veronica/photojournalist who married Chloe/musician in love with Kenzi/gay Warehouse agent partnered to Claudia, and so forth... by which I mean, his performances are alway understated, yet strikingly realistic. (It's also interesting to note he's often cast in roles that see him paired with multi-faceted female characters). He never overpowers his co-stars, making no attempt to dominate ensemble scenes (a professional show of restraint too often underrated). Somehow, he consistently projects a certain authenticity, as if the character he is playing really is someone you might meet on the street. 

 My goal is to write for television, so I watch and study television the way Tarantino studied film... Noting popular narrative arcs, the power of ensemble casts, discrepancies in editing and pacing, preferred narrative templates for various networks and demographics (God save us all from television's dependency on procedurals). I process the structure for myriad reasons, ie to understand why some shows are successful, to pinpoint when popular programs jump the shark- and so on. I devour all the behind the scene information I can find. This way, when I do get my break, I'm pretty much as informed as I could possibly be without actually working on a set (& dare I say, possibly more informed than some with experience under their belt).

The idea of chatting with someone who had worked on various shows I admired, for whom television production is how they make their living (and who is notably good at it)… well, that was definitely something I wasn't going to pass up! Insider info over a meal sounded like a divine birthday present.

Off I went to the Smallville dinner. I was slightly nervous someone would start quizzing me on arrival and I'd be ejected for not being a "real" Smallville fan (yes, these are the things I worry about). I'll admit I even read ScifiNow magazine's Complete Guide To Smallville feature the night before the event, LOL.

The email notification specified the dress code was smart casual, which made me wonder if this was to subtly dissuade costuming? (Or maybe I was reading too much into it?). Either way, I left my Peter Alexander superhero nightie in the wardrobe HAHA and went for an all-black ensemble with a Great Gatsby original cover print bag. 

Note: There's always time for literary pretension in the form of a book-based fashion accessory, especially if said novel is currently experiencing a resurgence in popular culture. (Thanks Baz.)

The most surreal moment of the evening took place upon arrival. The dinner events were on the first floor of the hotel, but since they weren't finished preparing the rooms, we were told to wait in the foyer.  A few couches were arranged in a circular pattern, with a couple of dozen people waiting (if not more). I sat down next to two teenagers, then realised, hey, wait a minute… some of these people look HIGHLY FAMILIAR.

Basically, the stars from Oz Comic-Con booked to attend the dinners were also waiting in the foyer and appeared to be in no hurry to get upstairs and segregate themselves from their fans (serious kudos for that). It was bizarre, though, to be surrounded by cast members from so many popular genre shows!

To set the scene: Aaron Ashmore and Patricia Quinn (Rocky Horror Picture Show) were chatting nearby. A guy who looked vaguely familiar waved, & it took me a second to realise it was Eddie McClintock, and he looked familiar because I'd been watching Warehouse 13 on Foxtel that morning! 

Glancing around, I noticed some Star Trek alumni mingling, and was trying to take all this in when Jason Momoa from Game of Thrones and Stargate Atlantis rocked up and started high five-ing people... at which point my brain literally short-circuited. (The list of stars goes on, but I'll stop here so no one dies of envy.)

We finally went upstairs, trudging into the elevators en masse. I think it's fair to say you couldn't have found a friendlier, chattier group of Comic-Con celebrities. Major props to whoever selected the easygoing crew (visiting Perth in Australia, in case I hadn't mentioned).

Dinner was nice, although sitting with people you don't know is always kind of weird. (I guess it's weirder for the actors, although the paycheck probably helps!). A little like being at a wedding, except everyone was wayyyy more excited to be there- and we actually wanted to hear some speeches.

Aaron Ashmore proved to be as charming and intelligent as the organisers (and diners) could have hoped for, with a lot of interesting and insightful things to say about his career and place/s of work (ie the sets of small screen productions). He even took extremely predictable questions seriously and refrained from the eye rolling I would have probably indulged in, LOL.

I mentioned that I'd heard the set of Lost Girl it was in a warehouse, with small corridors between each "location", and he added that the corridors have green screens at the end, to make it appear that they go on for miles… basically he was full of these sorts of tidbits which (of course) I soaked up like a sponge. He laughed when we all pointed out that extras in Canadian shows seem to pop up repeatedly, over seasons and across many a' show. When talked turned to movies, he admitted he can't stand people who talk in cinemas, to the point where he'll tell them to can it… which led to a pros and con round-up of Cabin In The Woods, randomly enough. (AA was pro, btw).

When someone asked if there were any difficult people among the casts of the shows he's worked on, I like the way he tried to explain that the set of a tv show isn't really a place where actors can throw tantrums. He said that some actors may have what he would call big personalities, but that's a different thing. From what he was trying to articulate, I got the impression television productions are primarily a business, and that to stay employed on a set, people have to work hard, that the tv community in Canada is quite small, and you basically need to have a good professional reputation to continue to even hope to gain employment- like any workplace, really.

On the Smallville front, someone mentioned the fact his brother Shaun also appeared on the show and he said he'd been surprised to be considered for a role after that- but it hadn't appeared to bother them at all. He admitted he'd been waiting for a sly reference to Shaun's character Eric (and their startling physical similarity perhaps?) to show up in the script- but surprisingly, it never did.

Overall, just awesome dinner conversation with a soft spoken, polite and interesting special guest! Definitely worth the money, and I completely urge anyone who loves Oz Comic-Con to save the cash and go to a special event next year. They're basically a much more informal meet 'n greet, with some lovely grub thrown in the mix...

...Speaking of eating (or not), the funniest moment was when the waitress put my main course down just as someone realised she'd missed Aaron. Flustered, she grabbed my plate and whisked it away to give to him, pretty much the exact second I was about to eat from it. That provided a few laughs for the table. (Later, I pointed out to him it was pretty clear which one of us was the celebrity in this scenario.)*

(*I feel I should mention Callum Blue was also at the Smallville dinner- but since I don't really know him from any shows, I can't say much aside from the fact he was sassy, cheerful, and bought the entire table a round of drinks).

By the by, everyone working for Oz Comic-Con was polite and helpful. A great relief, considering someone else bought my ticket for this name-on-the-door event and I had to rock up kind of hoping for the (organisational) best.

After dessert, both stars were told the event had officially finished, so they were free to leave, but of course, welcome to stay. They chose to stay. Interestingly, none of the stars from any of the other meals seemed to be bolting for the exit, either.

I left feeling inspired and determined. It was fantastic to be around people who work in scripted television- to feel that for some, your dream is an everyday reality. It made me realise entering the industry is not so much about making a wild leap, as it is about about taking well planned steps to render your goal achievable. 

Undoubtedly a brilliant birthday present. Sure, I enjoyed meeting the celebrities, but the impression that working on a narrative-based television show is a job I'm just as capable of doing as the next (creative) person, was the truly priceless gift.