A Fan’s Notes: Fan Expo Veteran John Kirk Flashes Back to Rhys-Davies and More
By John Kirk
Fan Expo Canada is the largest comic convention in Canada and third biggest comic convention in North America, behind San Diego Comic Con and New York Comic Con.
Boasting celebrities and creators like John Travolta, William Shatner and superhero comic writer John Byrne, it’s been running for 27 years and has a projected attendance of 125,000 this year.
Let that sink in. Torontonians sometimes need be reminded of our accomplishments. Fan Expo is one, and after a pandemic-induced hiatus, Canada’s flagship convention opens its doors again for four days starting August 25 and running to August 28 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
I’ve covered the event for 15 years and I’ve been lucky enough to interview guests on stage. This week, I’ll be moderating and hosting panels with Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings, Stranger Things), Brent Spiner and LeVar Burton (Star Trek: The Next Generation and Matthew Lewis (Neville in Harry Potter).
John Rhys-Davies as Gimli in Lord of the Rings.
Great things happen here. There are interviews that remain vivid in my mind, so I thought I’d share some.
My debut interview was lovely Terry Farrell (Jadzia Dax from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). Terry seemed shy. Our conversation morphed into reminisces about the show, and how the challenges of motherhood led to her leaving DS9. It was a sweet meeting and I remember it fondly.
It was my first lesson in pop-culture journalism. A great story can be a simple one.
https://www.popmythology.com/terry-farrell-interview/
Another memorable interview was Jonathan Frakes, Commander William T. Riker from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The interesting feature in the interview with Frakes was how involved he was. He didn’t just answer questions. He wanted to ask me questions as well.
It took me by surprise. It was a difficult interview in that, at the end, I felt like a cotton-mouthed imbecile who couldn’t match Frakes.
He answered my questions thoroughly, to be sure. But when he asked me questions, I had difficulty coming up with answers, overwhelmed by his charming but direct personality.
I asked Jonathan what his favourite TNG episode was.
“Well, ‘Best of Both Worlds’,” he answered. “That’s an easy one, when we were first introduced to the Borg. But I clearly have a soft spot for ‘The Offspring,’ as that was the first episode I ever directed. What was yours?”
I wasn’t prepared for that. ‘Best of Both Worlds’ is actually my favourite, to my luck. But I was mentally busy trying to cross-reference episodes in my head that featured Riker. ‘The Inner Light’ is another of my favourites, but not a Riker episode. So, I paused, and stammered that I agreed with ‘Best of Both Worlds’ and silently cursed myself for not thinking about ‘The Offspring’. I mean, I should have gone to that one immediately, but who could have known that the interviewee was going to turn the tables on his interviewer?
Original-Cin writer John Kirk
Frakes was having fun with this interview, to my mind. At least three times, he interrupted the interview with joking praise about the quality of my questions. Comments like “Boy, you ARE really all over this”, or “Who do you know?” were occasions when he managed to throw me. Again, Frakes was having fun, but spinning things as if I was in on the joke.
My takeaway from this interview was to not let my inner fanboy take control. Frakes is my favourite actor in TNG. Riker was supposed to be a next-generation Kirk. And if you’ve ever met Frakes, his charisma is legendary.
https://www.popmythology.com/jonathan-frakes-interview
An on-stage interview I was lucky to run was with John Rhys-Davies, a.k.a. The Lord of the Rings’ Gimli.
To say I interviewed John Rhys-Davies is stretching it. He didn’t answer any questions, refused to sit at the table to be interviewed and in fact, took over the entire proceedings of the forty-five minute session with over four hundred fans in the room, microphone in hand. I swear he didn’t breathe.
Think about this guy’s filmography: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Lord of the Rings, etc. He is a tremendous acting talent. But he’s also the kindest and gentlest person you’ll ever meet. I was grateful that he let me introduce myself and keep a microphone. But make no mistake, as soon as he stood up, it was his show.
“I can’t sit!” He exclaimed. “Let me stand!”
With that, he was up and wandering around the back of the table and addressing fans one by one. He was mesmerizing. I was able to pepper in a couple of questions, but the fans were completely enthralled by his energy. He was kind, funny and even his sarcasm had a gentle tone that confirmed he wasn’t making jokes at people’s expense, but he was letting them in on it.
Even though I didn’t do much, I have to admit I was tired after the Q&A. It was exhausting, watching this septuagenarian hold this audience in the palm of his hand, spouting lines from his past performances, speaking in his best Gimli or Treebeard voice. He was the master of the event.
At the time, my two daughters, Helena and Hope were 13 and 7. Both knew him as Gimli and they knew he played my favourite LOTR character, and was therefore a big deal.
My oldest knows celebrities. She was calm, happy to see him and gave him the proper deference that John deserved. But, my youngest daughter is a kid who marches to the beat of her own drum.
“And who might you be? “He asked Hope.
“Hope.” She shyly replied.
“And do you know who I am?” He asked.
“Yes, you’re a dwarf.” She replied.
John feigned mock indignation at this.
“Not just any dwarf, young lady! I am a Lord of Dwarves. Royal blood flows through my veins! I am the Son of Gloin and one of the Companions of the Ring!”
Hope had a stuffed toy that she had purchased with her own money at the con. It was a chubby cat with a donut in its mouth called Pusheen.
“And who do we have here?” He asked, indicating her cat.
“It’s my kitty.” Hope replied meekly.
“A kitty?” John asked, incredulously. “Surely not. It looks like a piggy.”
Hope is very keen on cats; they are her favourite animal and this sparked a bit of dissension within my little shy girl.
Pusheen eating a donut
“It’s a kitty.” She affirmed, her voice developing a little bit of steel.
“Of course not! Look: here’s it’s little pink mouth and what cat would ever be this fat?” he declared.
I was a bit worried. Hope can be sharp if you piss her off and the last thing I wanted was my kid offending the talent. However, John knew what he was doing. Slowly he was bringing Hope out of her shell.
“It’s a donut!” Hope said loudly.
“A donut? No … what cat would ever eat a donut? No, he is definitely a piggy!”
“It’s a cat! She’s a she and she’s called Pusheen! Donuts are her favourite food!” Hope shot back.
I reached out to settle her down, worried what she might say. I mean, she was only 7. Knowing Hope, she might have said something about his axe, his beard – anything.
“Pusheen?” John continued, seemingly oblivious to the flaring temper of this little cat-warrior. “What sort of a name is that? It must be a little piggy’s name – after all – it has a ‘p’ in it doesn’t it?”
“IT’S A CAT!” Hope shouted back! I had to reach out and settle my enraged child down a little bit. Before I could say anything else though, John’s demeanour completely changed and he threw up his hands in mock surprise.
“Wait! Of course! Now I see it! Of course! It – SHE – is a cat! My apologies, my dear young lady! My apologies, Pusheen! How could I have not seen that before?” John said, adopting an apologetic manner.
Hope settled down and proceeded to tell John all about Pusheen’s history. John smiled, still at her eye-level and listened intently to everything this little cat-warrior had to tell him. Afterwards, he apologized again and begged her forgiveness.
Hope smiled and her face wore an expression of satisfaction.
“That’s okay. Everyone knows that dwarves aren’t good with animals.” She declared.
John threw back his head and roared a rich, deep laugh.
“You are so right, Hope! We aren’t! Just promise me that you won’t tell the elves!”
Hope promised she would keep quiet about it.
It was my warmest memory of that particular con. I did get to meet and chat with John again about a film he was in. We spoke for almost two hours.
The takeaway from this interview was that comic conventions aren’t just gatherings for geeks or other pop-culture junkies. They’re places where people can interact, share interests and develop relationships.
In short, Fan Expo is a place where great things can happen. Maybe I’ll see you there!