Getting ready for CascadeCon
Feb. 1st, 2005 09:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vamysteryfanI've officially made my countdown calendar so I can mark off the days
I see Starwatcher posted her report from FanOd 03. I thought I'd add mine as an additional little teaser/preview.
Friday's Dungeonmaster
After dinner, it was time for DungeonMaster. It was good fun. Bruce
came out in a big cloak and described the play and the rules. Spells
have to rhyme, use grand gestures, and fights are in sloooow
mootiooon. Several members of the audience participated. They were
all terrific but Spencer/Mal and Kelly/Stiletto (as the drunk wolf)
particularly stood out for me. There was a lot of audience
participation. Ooooh, aaaah.
Within the framework of the story, it's all pretty much improvised.
Each performance is different. This plot, such as it was, centered
around two immortal soldiers (The Bob and Bruce). One quick
swordfight later, one went missing and had to be rescued by our band
of adventurers, led by Bruce (in tight pants and t-shirt. Can I be
shallow and say Yum (Can I get an Amen?)). There's an attack by
wolves in the forest and two of the band were turned into wolves. The
whole group went running through the audience several times. There's
a scene where a guy (the Bob) comes out all in black, even his face
covered, but he has a little puppet Snog who looked like an Alien
baby coming out of the man. Snog's chief function seemed to be
providing smart-aleck comments. He also perodically provided such
comments on the action.
At one point during a blackout, one of the troupe came over to me,
put a stuffed bear on my lap, and said "Ssssh." (Remember this, the
bear comes up later). I spent a little while hugging the bear while
watching the show, until it was taken from me by the wolves. It was
the missing immortal soldier. Did I mention the terrific game of
Statues, led by the statue? He had great legs.
Saturday
Breakfast with Jewel, Pat, and Starwatcher. A little exploration of
the area around the hotel.
Garett and Bruce came out. Garett looked very tan. He was wearing
that blue and white plaid shirt I seem to remember from a few other
convention photos and dark-rimmed tinted glasses. I had an Ellison
moment. Garett was wearing white socks with dark shoes and trousers.
Bruce was wearing his trademark glasses. He has such a lovely deep
laugh.
Now I know why people have a hard time writing about their
appearances together. The audience just laughs the whole time. Who
could take notes? The two seem very comfortable together, joking and
teasing each other. Garett mugged a lot, lots of expressions, to
emphasize his comments. Bruce laughed a lot.
They sat down and started posing for people around the room. Someone
asked them to stand up. At first Garett stood on the chair, but then
he stood on the floor.
Bruce said he was still doing Dungeonmaster. They moved from Santa
Monica to North Hollywood. Other than that, he described himself as a
gypsy actor, at which Garett laughed. Garett has a new puppy, a mutt,
a brindled Stafford terrier type mix.
The audience was a bit shy at first at asking questions. They feigned
leaving, waving goodbye and Bruce said "We knew all our lines." That
broke the ice.
Garett said he enjoyed his trip to New York to film ER. He got to
visit his mother at her new place, though he didn't have enough time
with her. He got to work with the Flying Nun and defended her son. He
got him off in a brilliant performance which was left on the cutting
room floor (laughs).
Garett said he wanted to do more theater. He turned down one role
because it didn't feel right, but he'd like to do another play with
the group that did No Scratch.
Bruce talked a bit about Jurassic Park 3, where he ends up eaten. He
worked with the mechanical dinosaur. Garett said "like the Muppets?"
and everyone laughed. Bruce said it hurt. He got tossed around a lot,
doing a number of takes.
Bruce said one enjoyable thing about acting is learning new things
you wouldn't learn on your own. He spent six weeks studying fighting
before making that film with J. Lo. Garett asked if he wanted to
show the audience some stuff. Bruce said no, he'd forgotten it.
Someone asked for funny stories from the Sentinel. Garett said it was
a laugh riot most of the time. He started out as a serious actor,
then Richard and Bruce changed him. In the episode where he drowned,
the weather was very cold. They threw cold water on him, not just a
cup but a whole bucket. His lips were authentically blue. A bottle
fell and cut his head.
Then Richard gave him CPR. So he was freezing, bleeding, and Richard
was kissing him. Bruce started laughing and said Garett was so
miserable, it was really funny. Garett stretched out his arms, said
he made it through the scene, and he was really glad for the hiatus.
Garett said he's out there trying for new roles and he has new
agents. He made a comment about reality shows, at which the audience
hissed, and he said write letters. Bruce interjected "to the
advertisers." Garett said his golf handicap is down to about 3
which "means I'm not working enough." When asked about choice of
roles, Garett likes hospitals/dramas/legal dramas type roles.
When asked about the most peculier role ever tried out for, Garett
giggled and said "the dog boy." He had to bark and yap. He didn't get
the role. Bruce said it was Jackie in Risky Business (Garett
interjected, no that wasn't it). Bruce said there were nothing but
drag queens in full makeup trying out and he showed up in bicycle
shorts. And he got the role.
A funny interlude followed an Aussie woman's question. She asked why
fans liked the Sentinel so much, when there were plot holes you could
drive a truck through. Bruce mock-huffed and Garett said she didn't
slam us, she slammed the show. Bruce said it was because they were
really charming, they played well together. Garett said he didn't
know there were plots. Bruce said they had lots of fun every day. One
audience member offered an answer, noting that the Sentinel is
picking up new fans all the time, what with the SciFi channel picking
it up again and the first broadcast in the United Kingdom. Garett
said the Aussie woman should have just asked us.
There was one question about a DVD version of the Sentinel. Someone
said Henri Brown was involved with it. Bruce said if Henri's
involved, it'll never happen and then laughed. He wanted to do the
running commentary on the DVD for that. Garett agreed.
Bruce said the actors tried to crack the crew up. They liked things
loose but the crew was tense. Garett mimed a tense crew "we're four
days over!"
Garett thought location shots were fun (not). Bruce thought it rained
more in Seattle than in Vancouver. Garett: a little above freezing vs
a little below freezing. During the drag racing episode, it was
supposed to be warm. Instead it snowed. Garett was in the warming
tent with Lori and Jack Burgi. He looked out the entrance and saw
this big scaffolding with lights all over it go sailing by. They
pulled the plug on filming. Next day, eight of the twelve light
towers had fallen over.
There was a question about ignoring cameras and whatever's going on
in the background. Garett said it's not hard to forget. The
questioner said she was a psychiatrist, and Bruce and Garett cracked
up. Garett said he didn't worry about it, it wasn't even a question
of focusing out. It's just part of what's going on. After all there
wasn't a real dinosaur, and everyone laughed. Bruce made a comment
about the apple boxes all over that someone needed to stand on and
everyone laughed.
Some of Garett's best acting has been to a picture taped to the
camera (when the other actor couldn't be there). He acted it out: say
a line, wait for the reaction, say another line, maybe change
expression.
When asked what they do for relaxation, Garett said he played golf,
did some construction. He likes to be physical. "I like to lie on a
couch and think." The psychiatrist laughed (so did the rest of us).
Bruce likes to play board games (Garett pout: I never get called to
play). Bruce said Garett has been to Dungeonmaster but hasn't gotten
on stage. Garett: I don't want to be a frog.
They never watched the Sentinel when it was on. Bruce: they didn't
have time. Garett: because the plots have such holes. Actually, he
doesn't mind it, just doesn't do it. When he was in Europe, he liked
listening to the dubbed versions. "In Italy, I sound like a bad ass.
(he's doing this whole part in the different accents). In Spain, I'm
kind of squeaky "Andele, arriba." In France, I'm kind of cool. We
don't have fans in Spain because I am so whiny."
They think that Blair eventually would have been a cop. Bruce said
they were running out of excuses. Garett suggested a cop with a
tazer. "Hey you stop. Oh, forget it."
Bruce read one property, wanted to produce it, but someone else had
the rights. Garett has never had the desire to produce.
They discussed Survival when they were stuck in the mine shaft.
Someone reminded Garett that Blair was shot, and that line became a
running joke. Richard had to fight the bad guy and Bruce and Garett
fought the girl. Bruce told a story about shoving the guest star in
the mud. Bruce "We were doing the guest stars all the time." Garett
mimed shock. Bruce: "I meant teasing them." When asked about the
guest stars, they mentioned working with Robert Vaughn. He was fun;
he was very old school. When asked about guest stars with attitudes,
Garett said "I don't remember, I was shot. Jason Carter had a little
attitude." Everyone cracked up.
They had to stop the Q&A because it was time for Michael Shanks.
Garett and Bruce return on Sunday
They came out and posed for the flash photography part. Just after
she said no more flashes, they both struck goofy faces. Garett was
wearing a light blue shirt with shiny buttons (I've seen that one
before too) and dark blue corduroy trousers. He turned around and
bent over to adjust his chair and I think a few women whimpered at
the view. Bruce was dressed in black, with an orangey shirt open over
it. A Highlander fan told me later she thought they were both funnier
today. I had to agree. I think they were both more at ease and joking
around even more.
Bruce brought his demo reel to show us. There were a few minutes
where there were technical problems. Bruce said he was an AV guy in
high school. Garett siad he was a framer - construction type. He
started riffing on "I build little houses, popsicle stick houses."
The reel was still not working. Garett: did you break the tape? Bruce
moaning: this will be so anticlimactic. More tech problems. Bruce:
the spell didn't rhyme. Two years ago, no one would have known what
that meant. Garett: they still don't. Bruce: At least it's not the
blue screen of death.
The demo reel gets going. Scenes from Boomtown, Judging Amy, etc. The
two of them stood to one side exchanging comments. At the end of the
Boomtown preaching scene, Garett shouted "Amen." Some guy was on the
floor with Bruce next to him. Garett: he's gonna kick it. At the end
Bruce said "That's what I did on my summer vacation." Garett: "I
gotta getta job." Lots of applause.
They answered questions about whether they were ever sorry they
turned down a role and talked about roles they didn't get. They
neither turned down a role they later wished they'd taken. Bruce was
up for roles in Alias and 24. He didn't get them and it's a pain in
the side to watch the shows now. Garett tried for a recurring role on
ER. When he didn't get it they threw him the bone of his guest shot.
He read for Nate, Peter Krause's role on Six Feet Under.
Garett has no desire to produce. He'd like to be in a Western. He's
never carried a gun, not even when he played the military guy. Bruce
grew up watching Westerns. They don't make them anymore. When asked
if they could ride Bruce said yes, always say yes in auditions.
Garett said he spent two weeks every summer at a dude ranch as a kid,
so he can ride. They both liked Silverado.
Bruce talked a bit about Highlander. His friend Clancy Brown worked
on it. He learned some things from him and taught him some things. He
can do swordplay. It's part of his repertoire.
Originally in Sentinel Captain Banks was supposed to be an American
Indian. They put that in for the network. Garett made a quick comment
that he was shot and people laughed. Garett: It's not my line but I
got the laugh for it. Originally Blair was supposed to be played by
Malcolm Jamal Warner. He wanted too much money. He never even made it
to the audition. Lots of jokes about someone cutting his tires etc.
Bruce: I acted like a fool in high school. Garett: I acted in plays
and stuff in high school. Garett: In Days of Our Lives, I was always
the character that saw the affair. One time I was a room service guy
in a nasty motel. In soap operas the director sits up in a booth and
the voice comes from the speaker. The director kept saying Lets take
it from the next line of the delivery guy, cutting my dialogue. I was
the only person in the scene fully clothed. I finally said shall I
take my clothes off. The director said Let's take it from the last
line of the delivery guy, which was sign here.
Bruce is a choir director. He has a little group that performs around
the holidays. It's called Actors Acapella.
Garett's father went to college on an opera scholarship. His mother
taught singing. One sister is Fiona Apple and another is a cabaret
singer. The singing gene skipped him. When he would sing in the car,
they would stare at him. "I know I'm off key, I'm not tone deaf. I
just don't know how to fix it."
Garett talked a bit about Frasier. He worked for two hours a day for
a week. Every day his character was different.
Someone asked what classic they would like to remake. Garett started
doing a Cagney accent. He likes old gangster movies. He would still
do them in black and white, never color. There's more mystery and
suspense in black and white. Bruce just watched the Quiet Man. If it
wasn't colorized, then it was the weirdest color he's ever seen.
Bruce is a gamer. He doesn't play D&D. Garett: weren't you a high
wizard? Bruce tried to get Garett into it but he wouldn't. If he's
going to play cards Garett votes for poker. Bruce tried to get his
son into it, but he would rather get on the computer. Garett doesn't
have a computer.
The Aussie lady (they remembered her and joked about the plot holes!)
asked a question about whether Americans wear capes and hats. Garett
said "Like, out?" in this shocked tone of voice. He mimed vacuuming
while wearing tights. The Aussie lady meant while they were playing
the games. Her son thinks it's the thing to do. Bruce said he didn't,
but Garett turned to him and said he'd seen him in his trailer. Bruce
said at conventions he wears them. Bruce: we don't wear outfits while
playing at home. Garett: I think it's an outfit thing. Spikes,
harnesses.
Garett got involved with Moonridge when Debbie Richardson contacted
his manager. He checked it out first but he likes to help when he
can. This will be his third year there.
Next came the auction of the bear (remember the bear?). This was
probably one of the rowdiest moments of the convention. MaryLee
brought out the bear. Garett pointed both hands at Bruce and said he
would auction it. The bidding was very spirited. The higher it went,
the harder Garett laughed. I think he was shocked. Bruce was holding
the bear, waving its paw to the audience, saying nice bear and
kissing it. Garett jumped up and stood behind his chair. He was bent
over the back of it, laughing, repeating the bids, and saying all
kinds of things. When Bruce found out the wolf went for $200, he
started strutting around with pride. He really kept working the bear.
The audience was howling. I intimidated Cherril into dropping out of
the bidding briefly. When Elaine entered the auction, I mock-
threatened her and Bruce offered to bring out the foam swords from
Dungeonmaster so we could duel it out. Garett is bright red with
laughter at this point and Bruce is working the bear. I dropped out
at $300 and Cherril reentered the fray. Eventually Elaine got the
bear for $400. My only consolations are that I know it went to a good
home, I got to hold the Garett wolf for a while, and Bert took a
lovely photo of me strangling Elaine.
Back to the Q&As. When asked if they wanted to be a good guy or a bad
guy, both said a bad guy. Garett: they get the girl, get to rob
banks. He mimed the good guy "I'll help you." Bruce: how much fun
would a good Captain Banks be? Garett started imitating Captain Banks
calling Sandburg! Ellison! My office! in a growly voice.
When asked what character from Lord of the Rings they would be,
Garett wanted to be an elf with the arrows. He didn't want to be the
short guy with the beard and the axe. Bruce wanted to be the surfing
elf (Legolas). Then he went into a riff on JRR Tolkien, how there
were no black men in the book. Bruce would be the elf from the south
with a big 'fro instead of blond hair waving in the wind.
Time for autographs. I met Alyjude while I was waiting. The vendors
ran out of Sentinel photos. The line was fun, much more relaxed than
yesterday. Jewel, the lady with the fans, was behind me. She'd
already gotten Elizabeth's autograph and needed Roberta's. Elizabeth
was joking with Bruce about how all the women wanted the guys'
autographs. She took a quick restroom break. Jewel gave Roberta the
fan to sign. It was one of those fighting fans that makes quite a
noise when you snap it open. Roberta snapped it and Bruce didn't even
flinch. Garett jumped. She snapped it again and Garett jumped and
said something like sheesh. I told Bruce that they had run out of his
picture. Marylee was behind him and he turned to her slightly while
he said "yes I'd heard that." She was a bit embarassed. I was making
plans to steal the bear. Garett signed my picture "leave the wolf
alone."
The three women behind me all had pictures from Moonridge. Bruce
laughed at the picture of Garett holding the raccoon. "Oh it's so
heavy. Where's the other paw?" Garett: It was awesome. They let me in
the cage and I was charged by like 30 of them. Bruce: yeah sure.
Garett: okay only 10. Well, just one but it was real scary. Garett
admitted he didn't like snakes. When the third animal picture came
by, Bruce said "What are you, Noah?" Garett (in a deep voice) "I am a
friend to animals." And I heard another woman tell Bruce they were
out of his picture. MaryLee cringed.
And the bear in the story is now owned by Arianna.
I see Starwatcher posted her report from FanOd 03. I thought I'd add mine as an additional little teaser/preview.
Friday's Dungeonmaster
After dinner, it was time for DungeonMaster. It was good fun. Bruce
came out in a big cloak and described the play and the rules. Spells
have to rhyme, use grand gestures, and fights are in sloooow
mootiooon. Several members of the audience participated. They were
all terrific but Spencer/Mal and Kelly/Stiletto (as the drunk wolf)
particularly stood out for me. There was a lot of audience
participation. Ooooh, aaaah.
Within the framework of the story, it's all pretty much improvised.
Each performance is different. This plot, such as it was, centered
around two immortal soldiers (The Bob and Bruce). One quick
swordfight later, one went missing and had to be rescued by our band
of adventurers, led by Bruce (in tight pants and t-shirt. Can I be
shallow and say Yum (Can I get an Amen?)). There's an attack by
wolves in the forest and two of the band were turned into wolves. The
whole group went running through the audience several times. There's
a scene where a guy (the Bob) comes out all in black, even his face
covered, but he has a little puppet Snog who looked like an Alien
baby coming out of the man. Snog's chief function seemed to be
providing smart-aleck comments. He also perodically provided such
comments on the action.
At one point during a blackout, one of the troupe came over to me,
put a stuffed bear on my lap, and said "Ssssh." (Remember this, the
bear comes up later). I spent a little while hugging the bear while
watching the show, until it was taken from me by the wolves. It was
the missing immortal soldier. Did I mention the terrific game of
Statues, led by the statue? He had great legs.
Saturday
Breakfast with Jewel, Pat, and Starwatcher. A little exploration of
the area around the hotel.
Garett and Bruce came out. Garett looked very tan. He was wearing
that blue and white plaid shirt I seem to remember from a few other
convention photos and dark-rimmed tinted glasses. I had an Ellison
moment. Garett was wearing white socks with dark shoes and trousers.
Bruce was wearing his trademark glasses. He has such a lovely deep
laugh.
Now I know why people have a hard time writing about their
appearances together. The audience just laughs the whole time. Who
could take notes? The two seem very comfortable together, joking and
teasing each other. Garett mugged a lot, lots of expressions, to
emphasize his comments. Bruce laughed a lot.
They sat down and started posing for people around the room. Someone
asked them to stand up. At first Garett stood on the chair, but then
he stood on the floor.
Bruce said he was still doing Dungeonmaster. They moved from Santa
Monica to North Hollywood. Other than that, he described himself as a
gypsy actor, at which Garett laughed. Garett has a new puppy, a mutt,
a brindled Stafford terrier type mix.
The audience was a bit shy at first at asking questions. They feigned
leaving, waving goodbye and Bruce said "We knew all our lines." That
broke the ice.
Garett said he enjoyed his trip to New York to film ER. He got to
visit his mother at her new place, though he didn't have enough time
with her. He got to work with the Flying Nun and defended her son. He
got him off in a brilliant performance which was left on the cutting
room floor (laughs).
Garett said he wanted to do more theater. He turned down one role
because it didn't feel right, but he'd like to do another play with
the group that did No Scratch.
Bruce talked a bit about Jurassic Park 3, where he ends up eaten. He
worked with the mechanical dinosaur. Garett said "like the Muppets?"
and everyone laughed. Bruce said it hurt. He got tossed around a lot,
doing a number of takes.
Bruce said one enjoyable thing about acting is learning new things
you wouldn't learn on your own. He spent six weeks studying fighting
before making that film with J. Lo. Garett asked if he wanted to
show the audience some stuff. Bruce said no, he'd forgotten it.
Someone asked for funny stories from the Sentinel. Garett said it was
a laugh riot most of the time. He started out as a serious actor,
then Richard and Bruce changed him. In the episode where he drowned,
the weather was very cold. They threw cold water on him, not just a
cup but a whole bucket. His lips were authentically blue. A bottle
fell and cut his head.
Then Richard gave him CPR. So he was freezing, bleeding, and Richard
was kissing him. Bruce started laughing and said Garett was so
miserable, it was really funny. Garett stretched out his arms, said
he made it through the scene, and he was really glad for the hiatus.
Garett said he's out there trying for new roles and he has new
agents. He made a comment about reality shows, at which the audience
hissed, and he said write letters. Bruce interjected "to the
advertisers." Garett said his golf handicap is down to about 3
which "means I'm not working enough." When asked about choice of
roles, Garett likes hospitals/dramas/legal dramas type roles.
When asked about the most peculier role ever tried out for, Garett
giggled and said "the dog boy." He had to bark and yap. He didn't get
the role. Bruce said it was Jackie in Risky Business (Garett
interjected, no that wasn't it). Bruce said there were nothing but
drag queens in full makeup trying out and he showed up in bicycle
shorts. And he got the role.
A funny interlude followed an Aussie woman's question. She asked why
fans liked the Sentinel so much, when there were plot holes you could
drive a truck through. Bruce mock-huffed and Garett said she didn't
slam us, she slammed the show. Bruce said it was because they were
really charming, they played well together. Garett said he didn't
know there were plots. Bruce said they had lots of fun every day. One
audience member offered an answer, noting that the Sentinel is
picking up new fans all the time, what with the SciFi channel picking
it up again and the first broadcast in the United Kingdom. Garett
said the Aussie woman should have just asked us.
There was one question about a DVD version of the Sentinel. Someone
said Henri Brown was involved with it. Bruce said if Henri's
involved, it'll never happen and then laughed. He wanted to do the
running commentary on the DVD for that. Garett agreed.
Bruce said the actors tried to crack the crew up. They liked things
loose but the crew was tense. Garett mimed a tense crew "we're four
days over!"
Garett thought location shots were fun (not). Bruce thought it rained
more in Seattle than in Vancouver. Garett: a little above freezing vs
a little below freezing. During the drag racing episode, it was
supposed to be warm. Instead it snowed. Garett was in the warming
tent with Lori and Jack Burgi. He looked out the entrance and saw
this big scaffolding with lights all over it go sailing by. They
pulled the plug on filming. Next day, eight of the twelve light
towers had fallen over.
There was a question about ignoring cameras and whatever's going on
in the background. Garett said it's not hard to forget. The
questioner said she was a psychiatrist, and Bruce and Garett cracked
up. Garett said he didn't worry about it, it wasn't even a question
of focusing out. It's just part of what's going on. After all there
wasn't a real dinosaur, and everyone laughed. Bruce made a comment
about the apple boxes all over that someone needed to stand on and
everyone laughed.
Some of Garett's best acting has been to a picture taped to the
camera (when the other actor couldn't be there). He acted it out: say
a line, wait for the reaction, say another line, maybe change
expression.
When asked what they do for relaxation, Garett said he played golf,
did some construction. He likes to be physical. "I like to lie on a
couch and think." The psychiatrist laughed (so did the rest of us).
Bruce likes to play board games (Garett pout: I never get called to
play). Bruce said Garett has been to Dungeonmaster but hasn't gotten
on stage. Garett: I don't want to be a frog.
They never watched the Sentinel when it was on. Bruce: they didn't
have time. Garett: because the plots have such holes. Actually, he
doesn't mind it, just doesn't do it. When he was in Europe, he liked
listening to the dubbed versions. "In Italy, I sound like a bad ass.
(he's doing this whole part in the different accents). In Spain, I'm
kind of squeaky "Andele, arriba." In France, I'm kind of cool. We
don't have fans in Spain because I am so whiny."
They think that Blair eventually would have been a cop. Bruce said
they were running out of excuses. Garett suggested a cop with a
tazer. "Hey you stop. Oh, forget it."
Bruce read one property, wanted to produce it, but someone else had
the rights. Garett has never had the desire to produce.
They discussed Survival when they were stuck in the mine shaft.
Someone reminded Garett that Blair was shot, and that line became a
running joke. Richard had to fight the bad guy and Bruce and Garett
fought the girl. Bruce told a story about shoving the guest star in
the mud. Bruce "We were doing the guest stars all the time." Garett
mimed shock. Bruce: "I meant teasing them." When asked about the
guest stars, they mentioned working with Robert Vaughn. He was fun;
he was very old school. When asked about guest stars with attitudes,
Garett said "I don't remember, I was shot. Jason Carter had a little
attitude." Everyone cracked up.
They had to stop the Q&A because it was time for Michael Shanks.
Garett and Bruce return on Sunday
They came out and posed for the flash photography part. Just after
she said no more flashes, they both struck goofy faces. Garett was
wearing a light blue shirt with shiny buttons (I've seen that one
before too) and dark blue corduroy trousers. He turned around and
bent over to adjust his chair and I think a few women whimpered at
the view. Bruce was dressed in black, with an orangey shirt open over
it. A Highlander fan told me later she thought they were both funnier
today. I had to agree. I think they were both more at ease and joking
around even more.
Bruce brought his demo reel to show us. There were a few minutes
where there were technical problems. Bruce said he was an AV guy in
high school. Garett siad he was a framer - construction type. He
started riffing on "I build little houses, popsicle stick houses."
The reel was still not working. Garett: did you break the tape? Bruce
moaning: this will be so anticlimactic. More tech problems. Bruce:
the spell didn't rhyme. Two years ago, no one would have known what
that meant. Garett: they still don't. Bruce: At least it's not the
blue screen of death.
The demo reel gets going. Scenes from Boomtown, Judging Amy, etc. The
two of them stood to one side exchanging comments. At the end of the
Boomtown preaching scene, Garett shouted "Amen." Some guy was on the
floor with Bruce next to him. Garett: he's gonna kick it. At the end
Bruce said "That's what I did on my summer vacation." Garett: "I
gotta getta job." Lots of applause.
They answered questions about whether they were ever sorry they
turned down a role and talked about roles they didn't get. They
neither turned down a role they later wished they'd taken. Bruce was
up for roles in Alias and 24. He didn't get them and it's a pain in
the side to watch the shows now. Garett tried for a recurring role on
ER. When he didn't get it they threw him the bone of his guest shot.
He read for Nate, Peter Krause's role on Six Feet Under.
Garett has no desire to produce. He'd like to be in a Western. He's
never carried a gun, not even when he played the military guy. Bruce
grew up watching Westerns. They don't make them anymore. When asked
if they could ride Bruce said yes, always say yes in auditions.
Garett said he spent two weeks every summer at a dude ranch as a kid,
so he can ride. They both liked Silverado.
Bruce talked a bit about Highlander. His friend Clancy Brown worked
on it. He learned some things from him and taught him some things. He
can do swordplay. It's part of his repertoire.
Originally in Sentinel Captain Banks was supposed to be an American
Indian. They put that in for the network. Garett made a quick comment
that he was shot and people laughed. Garett: It's not my line but I
got the laugh for it. Originally Blair was supposed to be played by
Malcolm Jamal Warner. He wanted too much money. He never even made it
to the audition. Lots of jokes about someone cutting his tires etc.
Bruce: I acted like a fool in high school. Garett: I acted in plays
and stuff in high school. Garett: In Days of Our Lives, I was always
the character that saw the affair. One time I was a room service guy
in a nasty motel. In soap operas the director sits up in a booth and
the voice comes from the speaker. The director kept saying Lets take
it from the next line of the delivery guy, cutting my dialogue. I was
the only person in the scene fully clothed. I finally said shall I
take my clothes off. The director said Let's take it from the last
line of the delivery guy, which was sign here.
Bruce is a choir director. He has a little group that performs around
the holidays. It's called Actors Acapella.
Garett's father went to college on an opera scholarship. His mother
taught singing. One sister is Fiona Apple and another is a cabaret
singer. The singing gene skipped him. When he would sing in the car,
they would stare at him. "I know I'm off key, I'm not tone deaf. I
just don't know how to fix it."
Garett talked a bit about Frasier. He worked for two hours a day for
a week. Every day his character was different.
Someone asked what classic they would like to remake. Garett started
doing a Cagney accent. He likes old gangster movies. He would still
do them in black and white, never color. There's more mystery and
suspense in black and white. Bruce just watched the Quiet Man. If it
wasn't colorized, then it was the weirdest color he's ever seen.
Bruce is a gamer. He doesn't play D&D. Garett: weren't you a high
wizard? Bruce tried to get Garett into it but he wouldn't. If he's
going to play cards Garett votes for poker. Bruce tried to get his
son into it, but he would rather get on the computer. Garett doesn't
have a computer.
The Aussie lady (they remembered her and joked about the plot holes!)
asked a question about whether Americans wear capes and hats. Garett
said "Like, out?" in this shocked tone of voice. He mimed vacuuming
while wearing tights. The Aussie lady meant while they were playing
the games. Her son thinks it's the thing to do. Bruce said he didn't,
but Garett turned to him and said he'd seen him in his trailer. Bruce
said at conventions he wears them. Bruce: we don't wear outfits while
playing at home. Garett: I think it's an outfit thing. Spikes,
harnesses.
Garett got involved with Moonridge when Debbie Richardson contacted
his manager. He checked it out first but he likes to help when he
can. This will be his third year there.
Next came the auction of the bear (remember the bear?). This was
probably one of the rowdiest moments of the convention. MaryLee
brought out the bear. Garett pointed both hands at Bruce and said he
would auction it. The bidding was very spirited. The higher it went,
the harder Garett laughed. I think he was shocked. Bruce was holding
the bear, waving its paw to the audience, saying nice bear and
kissing it. Garett jumped up and stood behind his chair. He was bent
over the back of it, laughing, repeating the bids, and saying all
kinds of things. When Bruce found out the wolf went for $200, he
started strutting around with pride. He really kept working the bear.
The audience was howling. I intimidated Cherril into dropping out of
the bidding briefly. When Elaine entered the auction, I mock-
threatened her and Bruce offered to bring out the foam swords from
Dungeonmaster so we could duel it out. Garett is bright red with
laughter at this point and Bruce is working the bear. I dropped out
at $300 and Cherril reentered the fray. Eventually Elaine got the
bear for $400. My only consolations are that I know it went to a good
home, I got to hold the Garett wolf for a while, and Bert took a
lovely photo of me strangling Elaine.
Back to the Q&As. When asked if they wanted to be a good guy or a bad
guy, both said a bad guy. Garett: they get the girl, get to rob
banks. He mimed the good guy "I'll help you." Bruce: how much fun
would a good Captain Banks be? Garett started imitating Captain Banks
calling Sandburg! Ellison! My office! in a growly voice.
When asked what character from Lord of the Rings they would be,
Garett wanted to be an elf with the arrows. He didn't want to be the
short guy with the beard and the axe. Bruce wanted to be the surfing
elf (Legolas). Then he went into a riff on JRR Tolkien, how there
were no black men in the book. Bruce would be the elf from the south
with a big 'fro instead of blond hair waving in the wind.
Time for autographs. I met Alyjude while I was waiting. The vendors
ran out of Sentinel photos. The line was fun, much more relaxed than
yesterday. Jewel, the lady with the fans, was behind me. She'd
already gotten Elizabeth's autograph and needed Roberta's. Elizabeth
was joking with Bruce about how all the women wanted the guys'
autographs. She took a quick restroom break. Jewel gave Roberta the
fan to sign. It was one of those fighting fans that makes quite a
noise when you snap it open. Roberta snapped it and Bruce didn't even
flinch. Garett jumped. She snapped it again and Garett jumped and
said something like sheesh. I told Bruce that they had run out of his
picture. Marylee was behind him and he turned to her slightly while
he said "yes I'd heard that." She was a bit embarassed. I was making
plans to steal the bear. Garett signed my picture "leave the wolf
alone."
The three women behind me all had pictures from Moonridge. Bruce
laughed at the picture of Garett holding the raccoon. "Oh it's so
heavy. Where's the other paw?" Garett: It was awesome. They let me in
the cage and I was charged by like 30 of them. Bruce: yeah sure.
Garett: okay only 10. Well, just one but it was real scary. Garett
admitted he didn't like snakes. When the third animal picture came
by, Bruce said "What are you, Noah?" Garett (in a deep voice) "I am a
friend to animals." And I heard another woman tell Bruce they were
out of his picture. MaryLee cringed.
And the bear in the story is now owned by Arianna.
