Serenity Cubed Report - Sunday
The Sunday Talk with Gigi
or Clare Kramer, Watch And Learn How To Be A Good MC And Captivate An Audience
- In the Peacekeeper Wars, she had a falcon on her wrist and a bow on her back and ferrets in a bag on her side. And then she had to take off the falcon's hood so it'd fly away, but when she did, the falcon just turned and looked at her going "...what?" and then he actually went for the ferrets. Yep, big mess.
- Producers at first couldn't decide whether they wanted Chiana to be Australian or American, so she did all her lines with the Australian accent with no clue, and when it was over they came to her and asked her to dub herself with an American accent, but only the lines with the heavier Australian accent, because they didn't have time to do more. So Chiana has a half American half Australian accent, completely inconsistent and weird. Gigi asked them if they could attach a note to the end of the episodes going "Gigi was unaware people were gonna be screwing with her accent." They surprisingly didn't go for it.
- She said that she'd worked with all the best Australian directors and actors on Farscape and the Secret Life of Us.
- She would like to explore directing at some point.
- She storyboarded a story happening in Luna Park, all about circus performers.
- Chiana's brother Neri was initially supposed to be her sister, but Gigi only managed to collect when thinking of her own little brother (18 years old, but he's sort of like her mentor), and she asked if it'd be okay to change that character's gender.
- She likes filming in Australia better, because she's got her family there, and there's fresh air (by opposition to LA). Also, Australia will always be home.
- The most challenging she had to do for Farscape was when she had to play D'Argo and Pilot.
- She said that meeting Pilot for the first time was magical.
- How does she feel about being the only one shown having sex in the credits? "Pretty priviledged."
- The day the news came that they were cancelled, she was in full body make-up and she had to do a scene with she empathised so much with a rat that she cried for him. She was in her trailer trying to get into the right mindset when her make-up artist told her. Jim Henson came and hugged her and she couldn't hug back because of the make-up, and she had to bend over to cry so it wouldn't ruin her facial make-up. Eventually she went to have lunch with the guys, even though she didn't usually do that because of her make-up in the Australian heat.
- The last scene she shot was a great one, since it was Chiana putting make-up on and reflecting on those weird humans, and it was about not understanding this world and how things worked, which was thematically a great reflection of how she felt about the cancellation.
- She gets recognised in Australia but not in LA.
- She's still in touch with David Frankllin (Brakka) since he also lives in LA. Virginia Hey and she keep planning on meeting up but it never happens. Also Wayne Pilgram from time to time, since he's going back and forth between Australia and LA.
- She picked up all of her circus skills at the circus, surprisingly enough. Her father used to bring out shows. She's looking for a trapeze school in LA now. It's her favourite, even though she still does it with a wire. She loves the rush. When she had wire stunts in Farscape, she'd mess the first take on purpose just to do it again.
- She would have loved to play the Fairy Queen, or the White Witch from Narnia.
- Chiana was originally supposed to be fairy-like. ...not so much.
- She's all about juice, her characters have to have juice, that's what she's looking for. That choice of word? I think it sums her up perfectly.
The Sunday Talk with Mark and Nectar
or I'm Now Wondering If Badger Would Buy A Lovebot
- Mark explained that there were two types of acting: those that do stuff on their own and those that are collaborative. Mark is all about practicing and working together on things. The good directors encourage and push actors in that direction, and the best directors know what they want and know when they get it - but they let you find it. It's not about creating magic, but creating a place where magic can happen.
- Nectar explained that when she played a Siamese twin, they were connected for fourteen hours at a time. Which was really awkward in the bathroom. Nectar: "I'd bring a stool and -" Mark: "You might wanna change that word."
- Mark is supposed to direct a big bank robbery movie in England, but they wanted to see what he could do, so he wrote and shot a short called Room 101, directing his own father, also an actor.
- Nectar: "You know, I actually met your father." Mark: "Really? ...Mummy?"
- Nectar explained her trick to get herself to cry for scenes, to which Mark went, "so you just stare at one place until it becomes painful? ...so stabbing myself with a fork...?"
- The casting director was praised and said to have "picked some amazing people for Joss to play with."
- Mark was a drummer and "played with every band in Europe that almost made it in the eighties."
- When asked how he went from music to acting, he answered, "it's a blur." And, actually, it's all about storytelling. He also said that acting was scarier and weirder than writing, directing or playing music.
- They were asked if there were any jobs they regretted taking, and Mark went, "four years in the porn industry. But I was only a fluffer so it doesn't count." Nectar said she was always happy to get a job. One, though, on a soap, "taught her how to be a bad actor."
- Mark went on to talk about how a character in a soap could have changed by the end of the sentence, and how delivering such a line as "I truly love you" could be problematic because the actor always had to make sure he didn't suddenly want to kill his wife or something. It was hilarious to see him act that out.
- He then acted out what the very meaningful staring before each commercial break was like: "Did I leave the gas on? ...no. Did I? ...no I didn't."
- Nectar was in a Café Latte commercial with Jodie Foster.
- Mark's only experience with commercials traumatised him: his agent sent him to an audition for a Coca Cola commercial. He gets there, and all the guys are like big tal tanned hunks of men. The casting director comes in and goes, 'alright, everybody shirtless.' And so they're all super fit and tanned, and Mark is white and tattooed. The casting director looks up and frowns at red-faced Mark, "You sure you're in the right place?" He went purple. He called his agent and it turned out that he was supposed to go to a Diet Coke commercial.
- Mark is, however, the voice of Kumho Tyres! "When you're in your car... in the street... Kumho!"
- Nectar would love to play a rock'n'roll star (that's what she originally wanted to be, except she says she sucks at it). She'd love to do Nancy Wilson from Heart.
- There was some question I really should have written down where Mark went, in earnest, "It's a very good question. I'm just not gonna answer it." ...I think because he couldn't choose between different things or something?
- He explained how there was very little trial and error in American theatre, that shows stay on a week or are huge productions.
- When some place where somebody she knew had told everybody else she'd been in Serenity, great upcoming sci-fi flick, Nectar pissed off Nicolette Sheridan because they were sitting next to each other and everybody came to ask Nectar for autographs.
- If she had to pick who to be a Siamese twin with for a day, Nancy first said Joss, to which Mark went, "For a whole day?", then Nathan, before they figured the height difference would really be a problem, and then Alan, which she was very happy with. Mark went, "you'll get used to the singing."
- When an attendee didn't know she was at the party, she went, "I was there last night. Didn't you see me start the mosh pit?" and then added that it was a happy mosh pit, which made Mark crack up and say, "that's like military intelligence."
- Mark's father was brought up by Jesuits in Ireland. Ouch.
- Nectar, about being a robot: "I was ecstatic! And trying not to show it."
- In Boa, Mark had to shoot with a green screen. He was supposed to picture a big boa on the ground, and the wind machine sounded like a plane taking off. So he vaguely heard the director yell "Action!" and couldn't for the life of him get into the scene and went, "Ooooh, a snake!" very Alan-Partridge-like. He vaguely heard "Cut!" and they cut the wind machine and the director came to him and went, "That was a little gay."
- For some reason, Mark did the sign of the cross at some point, then winced and hissed and shook his hand as if that had just burnt it.
- When asked what his most embarrassing professional moment was, Mark just pointed down to the floor as if to say "right here right now."
- Nectar's most embarrassing was having to do this love scene with a guy whose tongue was possessed by Brad Dourif (don't ask me). It was reverse acting, since it was quite a physical moment when she got strangled (it took us all, including Mark, a while to figure out why reverse acting was even necessary, and it's because some really physical violent stuff is much easier done backwards and then put the right way around and sped up). Anyway. It was supposed to be a closed set, but everybody and their nephew were there. Mark: "Did you have all your bits out?" Nectar: "Yes. I was having an orgasm." Mark: ...what movie's this?"
- Mark was in a mall's food court with his kids, and a woman sat down at the next table, and stared at him, and then went, "You're an actor." He said yes, and she went, "You creepy creepy man."
- Nectar was waitressing between acting jobs, and she had to wait on a pap that had just taken her picture on the red carpet. She was like, "yeah, I'm doing research for this movie..."
- They were asked if people ever mistook them for anybody else. Nectar said she thought Mark had something of Robbie Williams. He said people mistook him for Marty Feldman or Robert Downey Jr.
- About getting recognised by celebrities: Mark went all fanboy inside and only just managed a thank you when Lawrence Fishburne (Gina's husband, for those that don't know) told him he was good. Also when Peter O'Toole complimented him, all he could think was "Fuck me, that's Lawrence of Arabia!"
The Sunday Talk with Christina and Michael
or Niska And Saffron, A Match Made In Hell
- This time Michael didn't say he became an actor for the girls, but that he was an actor because it's human to want to create. An actor looks at the world and sees different people doing different things, and they want to do things that they wouldn't do, or not that way. It's about getting into other people's skins. It's about diversity, creation and communication.
- To which Christina added, "I just like playing dress-up."
- The seriousness meant that they had to get "unserious" again. Yes, he got up and went crazy with the dancing all over again. I heart this man. And then he said, with the creepy Niska accent, "Anyone who wants serious will have to deal with Niska."
- He then talked a lot about the way acting evolved. This man should teach. In the 1800s, the lead would stand centre stage, with the supporting cast around him, like a true star system. When movies appeared, they overacted to make up for the muteness. Sound made it more natural and subtle, which is a process that has been ongoing since. James Dean brought something brand new to it, followed by Marlon Brando and Montgomery Cliff. Watching James Dean was like watching him in his bathroom (Christina giggled, at which Michael laughed, "Not litterally."). Then minimalism appeared, which works only to a point. Anthony Hopkins is brilliant at combining natural and theatrical, best of both worlds.
- Michael finds that American actors work from the inside out (psychological make-up of a character, tapping inside their psyche) whereas British actors work more from the outside in (they look at the way their characters walk, talk, act, etc).
- Christina, about Niska and Saffron: "Do you think your character would have seen through my wiles? My wiley wiles?" Michael: "I woulda liked to have the opportunity!"
- Christina loves period pieces.
- Christina thinks that the worst directors are the ones that give contradicting directions, they just want to make her pull her hair out.
- Michael had this experience once, when he was a romantic lead on stage, and the Indian director went, "Michael! There's something missing! You'll need more hero hair!" And Michael had no clue what he meant, and the director couldn't explain. It was hilariously told.
- It's also horrible when directors want you to do a scene "30% faster!"
- Michael crosses out all stage directions from scripts. (He mentioned that Christopher Walken did the same with punctuation.)
- Christina is into Jimmy Steward and Cate Blanchett. Michael is into Antony Hopkins, Marlon Brando, Meryl Streep, Kim Stanley.
- The script from Thirteen Days was adapted from "the Kennedy Tapes," which are recordings of those very meeting.
- When asked what period they would like to do a period piece from, Christina said she wanted to wear a corset. Michael went for the 1700s and Roman times.
- Christina: "I would love to work with Richard Burton." Michael: "Richard Burton?" Christina: "Did I say that? Tim Burton." Michael would love to work with Scorsese and Ron Howard.
- Christina was a little, momentary Bond girl since she did a commercial with Pierce Brosnan. She'd like to be a Bond girl over a Bond villain. Michael would love to be a Bond villain.
- Christina has no clue how directors do it. She could direct actors, that's all. Michael felt the same.
- Christina mentioned that Yo-Saf-Bridge would have to study Niska to find his weakness, to exploit them. Michael: "You just look at me and I'm weak."
- Costumes are integral to getting a part right, especially in period pieces.
- Christina was just on a show with Taye Diggs, who was wonderful to work with.
- Michael loved working with Ryan Kwanten in Dead Silence.
- If there was a biographical movie made about Michael, he'd love for himself to be played by Gene Hackman.
- Christina's pet peeve is people standing too close to the conveyor belts at the airport, to pick up luggage. She got into a fight with somebody about that, once. Michael's is traffic in LA, people cutting you off, or driving too close to you ("if you happen to stop you're wearing their car"), people going when the light is red, and how rude people get. So rude that it contaminates him and he's Niska behind a wheel.
The Sunday Talk with Sean and Jewel
or How Much Do They Love Each Other
- The version of Simon that we see in the movie is actually the one that Simon's evolution in the series was supposed to lead to. And Sean actually asked Joss to get his hands dirty this time.
- Sean, about River and why he loved her despite the freaky shooting-at-people-with-her-eyes-closed thing: "And she protected the person that I love the most." *meaningful glance at Jewel* Jewel: *meaningful glance right back* Audience: "Awwww." Jewel: "Moving on!"
- Sean, when asked which character they think could be changed into the opposite sex without compromising their integrity: "Adam Baldwin likes to dress up as a woman."
- Jewel: "A child would be the best next member of the crew. And it would soften you up." Sean: *nods* *turns to the audience* "We're pregnant!" They then argued about boy or girl.
- Jewel said that shooting Dead Like Me was very embarrassing, she had to shoot the sex in the closet scene on her first day and she didn't know these people and she was in full goth make-up and and and.
- A kid came to the mike and apologised to Sean in advance, that he was asking this question because he'd promised his little sister who couldn't afford to come to the con, and that it was on behalf on all of Sean's fangirls. "Boxers, briefs, or thongs?" Sean cracked up incredulously, and answered, "I don't wear underwear!" and then actually truthfully, although hesitantly, "It depends... but - boxers."
- He spoke to Picollo's widow to play him in Brian's Song, which was brilliant, to actually have such a source of information. She actually cowrote the script. So it was all accessible research, as was football training and looking into the sixties.
- The Miranda scenes were shot in a high school in California.
- There was one of the corpses of the Pax people on the floor, and Sean-as-Simon ran to it and started giving it mouth to mouth.
- Jewel's reaction to finding out how Kaylee got aboard Serenity was to laugh. Sean, with his big dorky smile, "I thought it was hysterical."
- Her reaction when she found out that they finally kissed in the movie was, "I hoped he'd brush his teeth!" Sean: "Which she did not."
- Jewel said her biggest disappointment when the show got cancelled was that Simon and Kaylee never got to kiss. At which point Sean went all mock-bashful and said, "I love you, Jewel." To which she similarly answered, "I love you, Sean."
- Jewel wants to work with Spielberg, except she didn't like War of the Worlds, so Tim Burton really. Sean would like to work with Jim Sheridan, Alexander Payne or Darren Aronofski. He said he should write that list down and "keep it in his hope chest," since they always get asked that and he never knows what to say.
- Jewel warned us that she was going to take her sweater off, and not to say a thing about it. And when she did Sean went "yeaaaah!" And then agreed that it was hot up here but wouldn't take his shirt off. Tsk.
- Sean, about holding the mike with sweaty palms: "It smells like metal." Jewel: *sniffs hers* "It smells like more than that." Sean: "I wonder what Christina did up here!"
- Sean was asked about playing gay, and he said that he approached it like any other role. There was no difference, really, it's always people.
- Alan and Nathan still make fun of Jewel for Space Cases, from when we all watched it at the first Serenity con.
- Jewel, about her favourite Serenity scenes: "I love watching the one where you get shot. ...not for that reason!" She said it always made her cry. Sean, same question, answered that her "Wash! Where's Wash?" line always ripped his heart out. And that he also loved her "Hell with this, I'm gonna live!" He also loves watching that scene where everybody thinks Simon is going to die, just to reminisce about that day of shooting.
- After the movie, Sean thinks that Simon has changed so much that he doesn't need his parents' approval anymore. But he might send his mother a card on Mother's Day. No! On Christmas, on Christmas.
- The medical stuff was very difficult to pull off, but they had a nurse on set to help him. The stitches were the hardest.
- Sean, about the future bandage thing: "That's fucking shaving cream! That's so lame."
- Jewel loves peanut butter. Especially the one with the peanuts on top (Squirrel). Sean is more into almond butter.
- He went to an ice cream place in Santa Monica with his niece and nephew, and he was asked for like, five dollars and then some, and he was like, "that's not possible," and then he was told, "I gave you a special Firefly discount."
- They both like Jaffa cakes. Sean likes English cakes and cookies. Jewel likes cheese sandwiches with chutney.
- The worst practical joke she had done to her was Nathan putting hand lotion and shaving cream under the door handle of her dressing room, so that she slipped and fell down the stairs.
- They weren't sure who had done it, but somebody had put a potato in the exhaust pipe of Nathan's new car. I think that they said it was Adam at the Flanvention, but then Jewel went, it was probably Adam. He's always sitting all quiet in a corner, looking all devious. Sean: "Especially when he's dressed as a woman."
- Jewel would like to reshoot the scene where she says goodbye to Simon before the Maidenhead scene.
- They did the making out scene 20,000 times. Joss kept wanting to redo it. That's when Sean admitted to having forfeited his paycheck for that.
- Sean always wants more time, or realises stuff he should've done later, especially when drifting in bed. But if he could redo two things, it would be cutting his hair and "getting rid of those fucking pants." They were apparently much too tight for his comfort.
- They deem the movie very political, and Sean wouldn't put it past the current American government to want to pull off Pax-like stuff. He loves the flawedness of the characters, and everything about imperfect world and the reality, realism of it, based on a future what-if.
- Sean got confused when a question was asked about fanfiction, and then went, "ah, I thought you were saying people wrote stories about us, as actors." (People also do that, Sean dearie.) They're both too scared to read fanfiction. Jewel is traumatised by the idea of Kaylee/Jayne.
- Jewel, about Jayne/Simon: "See, that I'd agree."
- Jewel, about Simon/River: "'Cause I always thought you were pretty flirtatious with each other."
- After the premiere in Edinburgh they went straight to Dublin, where they thought it'd be a good idea to just not go to sleep. They visited nine different pubs, and ended up drinking vodka in Chris Buchanan's hotel room until 9am. ...it was a bad idea.
- Joss has talked to Jewel about the very beginning of the possible sequel: apparently the first five minutes are very dark and scary, and the rest of the movie is a flashback of what led up to this.
- Sean really likes an idea that Joss had toyed with, that Simon was in fact the big man-weapon, and that River was just a decoy, a way to get the attention off of him.
- Jewel, about Simon and Kaylee's future: "You wouldn't be perfect. You'd screw it up." Sean: "Really?" Jewel: "No, I was kidding Sean." Sean: *sobs dramatically*
- When asked if they would be in the sequel if they got killed on page one, Sean immediately answered yes. Jewel thought about it for a while, went, "Page one... with that flashback thing... yeah!"
- Sean thinks it's an honour to be killed by Joss. He said it was "intense" to watch Wash and Book go.
- Question: "Jewel, boxers or briefs?" Jewel: "Thongs!"
- Sean's favourite colour is blue, if he has to choose, to which Jewel asked "What kind of blue?" and proceeded to list all kinds of blue. He ended up going for dark blue, ocean blue. Jewel's changes with each season, and each time she buys a new pair of shoes she needs an outfit to go with them. But right now she's into red a lot. To which Sean mimicked, with all the maturity of a ten year old, "What kind of red?"
- Jewel thinks that Kaylee and Inara should have an affair. Then she saw we were taking that quite seriously and added, "That was a joke."
- They think crying on set is more exhausting than laughing, which they never had trouble doing on Firefly.
- They both cracked up so much - mostly Sean - it was quite a sight - trying to tell us an anecdote from shooting. It was Simon's birthday, and then all Sean could get out was "And then Ron..." and he'd crack up too bad and Jewel would follow suit. Eventually they explained that there was a joke, and Nathan had told everybody but Ron not to laugh ("you know how Ron laughs," one of them went, and oh, yes, we do). So Ron laughed alone, then looked at them all, and just kept laughing like mad.
Signings and Photo Shoots,
or A Quick Look From Up Close
- I completely blanked on Morena and had no clue what to tell her. Ack ack ack! She had to go quickly anyway, since she had to get everybody in in one day the others would do in two days.
- Fred had the misfortune to have a wedding on Saturday he couldn't kiss, so he flew back to France and was supposed to get back on Sunday morning. He missed his flight and couldn't get back in time for his photo shoots, so rather than let them go to waste Delphine and I used his tickets (at his request, thank you). So I got a picture with Sean and Jewel. I went up to him and asked "Bonjour! Ca va?" And he went, "Ca va bien, merci, et toi?" which was the cutest fucking thing EVAH. Just sayin'. Hmm, anyway. Quick picture time, nothing like with Alan bless you Cap'n.
- On her picture with just him, Joey and Sean look distressingly like siblings. I swear.
- While we were queuing for signatures, Sean picked up a baby that was in the line and walked over to Jewel's table, "It's ours! Somebody just gave me this baby!"
- A random stewart walked by Sean's signing table as he wasn't doing anything and he went all offended, "What! You don't want my signature?"
- I asked Michael if he had ever thought of teaching, because I do think he'd make an amazing teacher, he's got the exact right energy and thirst to share, and he said something along the lines of how his wife kept nudging him about that, but he didn't think he'd do well with a class, just with one-on-one.
- Joey told Sean in French "tu étais très drôle avec Jewel" (you were very funny with Jewel) which he understood, but we had to teach him "hilarant" (hilarious). Joey wanted him to sign something in French and he went "comment on dit... avec amour?" (how do you say... with love?) which was, again, die hard cute.
- Then Joey asked if she could say goodbye to him the French way (air kisses on each cheek) and he asked if it was two or four, and we explained that it depended on the different regions of France and then he gave her four, and then signed my stuff and gave me four, and then signed Delphine's and gave her four too... and then I don't think Elisa asked for them. Tsk. And the very nice bit: oh dear god his skin is so soft! That guy must take excellent care of his skin.
- Joey asked Christina if she spoke any French: "Un petit peu." Cute!
- Mark was about to sign a girl's book, and he asked his PA to give him the post-it with her name on it, to know how to spell it. The PA went, "she's called Helen! How hard can it be?" Except then he noticed Joey's post-it, which said "Hélène" (her real name), and they both cracked up, and he had to share with Christina and Jewel around him.
- Jewel told Fred that Nathan had this girlfriend once ("once?") that didn't get Firefly. "Those two? Didn't last."
- Jewel is actually in Paris right now with her agent, planning on spending incredible amounts of money on the Champs-Elysées. "!!!!!!!!"
- Sean wishes he could be going to Paris with Jewel. "But I can't... I kinda have to go back."
- Jewel had nobody to sign for for a while, and so she drew stuff on other people's pictures. She gave Simon a Beatle haircut, added two horrible front teeth, big eyebrows and chest hair to Saffron, and dragged Badger up having him say "I love drunken witches." Joey asked her if she was bored, to be doing all this, and she answered "I'm faster than everybody!" (Signing-wise.)
The Closing Ceremony,
or Go On, Make Me Well Up You Bastards
- Right before the closing ceremony was the fanvid contest, and the winner was one that Mark, Jewel and Christina... maybe Michael too, can't remember, saw, a Mal/Simon fanvid to the "I wanna take you to a gay bar" song. Hilarious! You should've seen Jewel's reaction to a bit that sort of looks like Mal is actually shagging Simon - hand to her mouth, wide eyes, step back so her back is to the wall. Incredulous hilarity.
- Sean's fashion statement of the weekend, besides getting changed as often as possible, was to wear long-sleeved t-shirts under jackets, with the shirt's sleeves longer than those of the jacket.
- When Sean Harry introduced one of the actors to say his goodbyes to us as "the scariest villain on Firefly," Mark and Michael and Christina sort of looked at each other with confused, 'which one of us is he talking about?' looks.
- Michael made an amazing speech about how much he had enjoyed himself and he was glad to have come and did I mention I adored this man? God. He also went, with the Niska accent, something along the lines of, "your kindness almost makes Niska want to stop torturing people." And there was a huge amount of clapping there because everybody. loved him. He was brilliant. It meant so much to see that he'd enjoyed himself this much. And when it died down he added, "...but not quite." And the cheering flared up again.
- Mark very seriously said that there was nothing in the world he would rather be doing than this. Which made me want to cling to him and never let go. Or something.
- Jewel said she'd see us in Glasgow! Even though Sean Harry hasn't announced her for S4 yet.
- When Sean Harry finally gets around to introducing Sean, the last one to say his goodbyes, he goes on about the sort of skill it takes for an actor to pull off sci-fi, and how this one is brilliant at it, and Sean (Maher) who had the mike looks over at Mark, who nods, and Sean goes and hands him the mike, and Mark gets up as if to make a (second) goodbye speech.
- Sean was extremely nervous about concluding the weekend, and actually being the last one to say goodbye (that's usually Nathan's spot, you know), and it was unbelievably cute. He took the mike and walked towards us all, and went, "omigod, I'm so nervous. Wanna hear my heart?" and he put the mike to his heart, and when we laughed or awwed he brought a finger to his lips and went 'sshh.' And then after a few seconds of silence went, "...it's not working."
- He also said, about this weekend, and this here now, "this is fucking beautiful." You could see how much he meant it. Which was the best thing because you're not always sure, with Sean, how much he does enjoy those things, except right there and then we were sure. We were so fucking certain, we could see it shining in his eyes.
- And he went "I joke around a lot, but..." And his voice broke. "Shit. But I really do love Jewel." That got an aawww from the whole room, and he thought we weren't taking him seriously. "No, I'm trying to be serious." In the meantime, Jewel had got up and walked up behind him, and leaned forward and closed her eyes and pursed her lips waiting for a kiss. When he saw that - it took him a few seconds - he gave her a long, heartfelt smooch. To throw his own words back at him, it was fucking beautiful. Then they both decided to make light out of it - Jewel first - by pretending to need water to make up for the hotness. But it was like... it was like a little piece of the show brought back to us, that kiss. It was the incarnation of how much it lived on in those people's hearts as much as in ours, and yes, it made my eyes sting, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
I love these people so much. I love this show, this 'verse, everything they put in it and everything we all took, keep taking from it. I love the Browncoats, I love our parties, I love convention songs and all of us having the best of times together. I love the guests' banter and their obvious love for each other and I love when they get as emotional about our love as we do about theirs. I love the whole fucking experience, and I love Firefly, and Serenity, and I thank each and everyone of them and of us that has helped bring this along.
Thank you.
or Clare Kramer, Watch And Learn How To Be A Good MC And Captivate An Audience
- In the Peacekeeper Wars, she had a falcon on her wrist and a bow on her back and ferrets in a bag on her side. And then she had to take off the falcon's hood so it'd fly away, but when she did, the falcon just turned and looked at her going "...what?" and then he actually went for the ferrets. Yep, big mess.
- Producers at first couldn't decide whether they wanted Chiana to be Australian or American, so she did all her lines with the Australian accent with no clue, and when it was over they came to her and asked her to dub herself with an American accent, but only the lines with the heavier Australian accent, because they didn't have time to do more. So Chiana has a half American half Australian accent, completely inconsistent and weird. Gigi asked them if they could attach a note to the end of the episodes going "Gigi was unaware people were gonna be screwing with her accent." They surprisingly didn't go for it.
- She said that she'd worked with all the best Australian directors and actors on Farscape and the Secret Life of Us.
- She would like to explore directing at some point.
- She storyboarded a story happening in Luna Park, all about circus performers.
- Chiana's brother Neri was initially supposed to be her sister, but Gigi only managed to collect when thinking of her own little brother (18 years old, but he's sort of like her mentor), and she asked if it'd be okay to change that character's gender.
- She likes filming in Australia better, because she's got her family there, and there's fresh air (by opposition to LA). Also, Australia will always be home.
- The most challenging she had to do for Farscape was when she had to play D'Argo and Pilot.
- She said that meeting Pilot for the first time was magical.
- How does she feel about being the only one shown having sex in the credits? "Pretty priviledged."
- The day the news came that they were cancelled, she was in full body make-up and she had to do a scene with she empathised so much with a rat that she cried for him. She was in her trailer trying to get into the right mindset when her make-up artist told her. Jim Henson came and hugged her and she couldn't hug back because of the make-up, and she had to bend over to cry so it wouldn't ruin her facial make-up. Eventually she went to have lunch with the guys, even though she didn't usually do that because of her make-up in the Australian heat.
- The last scene she shot was a great one, since it was Chiana putting make-up on and reflecting on those weird humans, and it was about not understanding this world and how things worked, which was thematically a great reflection of how she felt about the cancellation.
- She gets recognised in Australia but not in LA.
- She's still in touch with David Frankllin (Brakka) since he also lives in LA. Virginia Hey and she keep planning on meeting up but it never happens. Also Wayne Pilgram from time to time, since he's going back and forth between Australia and LA.
- She picked up all of her circus skills at the circus, surprisingly enough. Her father used to bring out shows. She's looking for a trapeze school in LA now. It's her favourite, even though she still does it with a wire. She loves the rush. When she had wire stunts in Farscape, she'd mess the first take on purpose just to do it again.
- She would have loved to play the Fairy Queen, or the White Witch from Narnia.
- Chiana was originally supposed to be fairy-like. ...not so much.
- She's all about juice, her characters have to have juice, that's what she's looking for. That choice of word? I think it sums her up perfectly.
The Sunday Talk with Mark and Nectar
or I'm Now Wondering If Badger Would Buy A Lovebot
- Mark explained that there were two types of acting: those that do stuff on their own and those that are collaborative. Mark is all about practicing and working together on things. The good directors encourage and push actors in that direction, and the best directors know what they want and know when they get it - but they let you find it. It's not about creating magic, but creating a place where magic can happen.
- Nectar explained that when she played a Siamese twin, they were connected for fourteen hours at a time. Which was really awkward in the bathroom. Nectar: "I'd bring a stool and -" Mark: "You might wanna change that word."
- Mark is supposed to direct a big bank robbery movie in England, but they wanted to see what he could do, so he wrote and shot a short called Room 101, directing his own father, also an actor.
- Nectar: "You know, I actually met your father." Mark: "Really? ...Mummy?"
- Nectar explained her trick to get herself to cry for scenes, to which Mark went, "so you just stare at one place until it becomes painful? ...so stabbing myself with a fork...?"
- The casting director was praised and said to have "picked some amazing people for Joss to play with."
- Mark was a drummer and "played with every band in Europe that almost made it in the eighties."
- When asked how he went from music to acting, he answered, "it's a blur." And, actually, it's all about storytelling. He also said that acting was scarier and weirder than writing, directing or playing music.
- They were asked if there were any jobs they regretted taking, and Mark went, "four years in the porn industry. But I was only a fluffer so it doesn't count." Nectar said she was always happy to get a job. One, though, on a soap, "taught her how to be a bad actor."
- Mark went on to talk about how a character in a soap could have changed by the end of the sentence, and how delivering such a line as "I truly love you" could be problematic because the actor always had to make sure he didn't suddenly want to kill his wife or something. It was hilarious to see him act that out.
- He then acted out what the very meaningful staring before each commercial break was like: "Did I leave the gas on? ...no. Did I? ...no I didn't."
- Nectar was in a Café Latte commercial with Jodie Foster.
- Mark's only experience with commercials traumatised him: his agent sent him to an audition for a Coca Cola commercial. He gets there, and all the guys are like big tal tanned hunks of men. The casting director comes in and goes, 'alright, everybody shirtless.' And so they're all super fit and tanned, and Mark is white and tattooed. The casting director looks up and frowns at red-faced Mark, "You sure you're in the right place?" He went purple. He called his agent and it turned out that he was supposed to go to a Diet Coke commercial.
- Mark is, however, the voice of Kumho Tyres! "When you're in your car... in the street... Kumho!"
- Nectar would love to play a rock'n'roll star (that's what she originally wanted to be, except she says she sucks at it). She'd love to do Nancy Wilson from Heart.
- There was some question I really should have written down where Mark went, in earnest, "It's a very good question. I'm just not gonna answer it." ...I think because he couldn't choose between different things or something?
- He explained how there was very little trial and error in American theatre, that shows stay on a week or are huge productions.
- When some place where somebody she knew had told everybody else she'd been in Serenity, great upcoming sci-fi flick, Nectar pissed off Nicolette Sheridan because they were sitting next to each other and everybody came to ask Nectar for autographs.
- If she had to pick who to be a Siamese twin with for a day, Nancy first said Joss, to which Mark went, "For a whole day?", then Nathan, before they figured the height difference would really be a problem, and then Alan, which she was very happy with. Mark went, "you'll get used to the singing."
- When an attendee didn't know she was at the party, she went, "I was there last night. Didn't you see me start the mosh pit?" and then added that it was a happy mosh pit, which made Mark crack up and say, "that's like military intelligence."
- Mark's father was brought up by Jesuits in Ireland. Ouch.
- Nectar, about being a robot: "I was ecstatic! And trying not to show it."
- In Boa, Mark had to shoot with a green screen. He was supposed to picture a big boa on the ground, and the wind machine sounded like a plane taking off. So he vaguely heard the director yell "Action!" and couldn't for the life of him get into the scene and went, "Ooooh, a snake!" very Alan-Partridge-like. He vaguely heard "Cut!" and they cut the wind machine and the director came to him and went, "That was a little gay."
- For some reason, Mark did the sign of the cross at some point, then winced and hissed and shook his hand as if that had just burnt it.
- When asked what his most embarrassing professional moment was, Mark just pointed down to the floor as if to say "right here right now."
- Nectar's most embarrassing was having to do this love scene with a guy whose tongue was possessed by Brad Dourif (don't ask me). It was reverse acting, since it was quite a physical moment when she got strangled (it took us all, including Mark, a while to figure out why reverse acting was even necessary, and it's because some really physical violent stuff is much easier done backwards and then put the right way around and sped up). Anyway. It was supposed to be a closed set, but everybody and their nephew were there. Mark: "Did you have all your bits out?" Nectar: "Yes. I was having an orgasm." Mark: ...what movie's this?"
- Mark was in a mall's food court with his kids, and a woman sat down at the next table, and stared at him, and then went, "You're an actor." He said yes, and she went, "You creepy creepy man."
- Nectar was waitressing between acting jobs, and she had to wait on a pap that had just taken her picture on the red carpet. She was like, "yeah, I'm doing research for this movie..."
- They were asked if people ever mistook them for anybody else. Nectar said she thought Mark had something of Robbie Williams. He said people mistook him for Marty Feldman or Robert Downey Jr.
- About getting recognised by celebrities: Mark went all fanboy inside and only just managed a thank you when Lawrence Fishburne (Gina's husband, for those that don't know) told him he was good. Also when Peter O'Toole complimented him, all he could think was "Fuck me, that's Lawrence of Arabia!"
The Sunday Talk with Christina and Michael
or Niska And Saffron, A Match Made In Hell
- This time Michael didn't say he became an actor for the girls, but that he was an actor because it's human to want to create. An actor looks at the world and sees different people doing different things, and they want to do things that they wouldn't do, or not that way. It's about getting into other people's skins. It's about diversity, creation and communication.
- To which Christina added, "I just like playing dress-up."
- The seriousness meant that they had to get "unserious" again. Yes, he got up and went crazy with the dancing all over again. I heart this man. And then he said, with the creepy Niska accent, "Anyone who wants serious will have to deal with Niska."
- He then talked a lot about the way acting evolved. This man should teach. In the 1800s, the lead would stand centre stage, with the supporting cast around him, like a true star system. When movies appeared, they overacted to make up for the muteness. Sound made it more natural and subtle, which is a process that has been ongoing since. James Dean brought something brand new to it, followed by Marlon Brando and Montgomery Cliff. Watching James Dean was like watching him in his bathroom (Christina giggled, at which Michael laughed, "Not litterally."). Then minimalism appeared, which works only to a point. Anthony Hopkins is brilliant at combining natural and theatrical, best of both worlds.
- Michael finds that American actors work from the inside out (psychological make-up of a character, tapping inside their psyche) whereas British actors work more from the outside in (they look at the way their characters walk, talk, act, etc).
- Christina, about Niska and Saffron: "Do you think your character would have seen through my wiles? My wiley wiles?" Michael: "I woulda liked to have the opportunity!"
- Christina loves period pieces.
- Christina thinks that the worst directors are the ones that give contradicting directions, they just want to make her pull her hair out.
- Michael had this experience once, when he was a romantic lead on stage, and the Indian director went, "Michael! There's something missing! You'll need more hero hair!" And Michael had no clue what he meant, and the director couldn't explain. It was hilariously told.
- It's also horrible when directors want you to do a scene "30% faster!"
- Michael crosses out all stage directions from scripts. (He mentioned that Christopher Walken did the same with punctuation.)
- Christina is into Jimmy Steward and Cate Blanchett. Michael is into Antony Hopkins, Marlon Brando, Meryl Streep, Kim Stanley.
- The script from Thirteen Days was adapted from "the Kennedy Tapes," which are recordings of those very meeting.
- When asked what period they would like to do a period piece from, Christina said she wanted to wear a corset. Michael went for the 1700s and Roman times.
- Christina: "I would love to work with Richard Burton." Michael: "Richard Burton?" Christina: "Did I say that? Tim Burton." Michael would love to work with Scorsese and Ron Howard.
- Christina was a little, momentary Bond girl since she did a commercial with Pierce Brosnan. She'd like to be a Bond girl over a Bond villain. Michael would love to be a Bond villain.
- Christina has no clue how directors do it. She could direct actors, that's all. Michael felt the same.
- Christina mentioned that Yo-Saf-Bridge would have to study Niska to find his weakness, to exploit them. Michael: "You just look at me and I'm weak."
- Costumes are integral to getting a part right, especially in period pieces.
- Christina was just on a show with Taye Diggs, who was wonderful to work with.
- Michael loved working with Ryan Kwanten in Dead Silence.
- If there was a biographical movie made about Michael, he'd love for himself to be played by Gene Hackman.
- Christina's pet peeve is people standing too close to the conveyor belts at the airport, to pick up luggage. She got into a fight with somebody about that, once. Michael's is traffic in LA, people cutting you off, or driving too close to you ("if you happen to stop you're wearing their car"), people going when the light is red, and how rude people get. So rude that it contaminates him and he's Niska behind a wheel.
The Sunday Talk with Sean and Jewel
or How Much Do They Love Each Other
- The version of Simon that we see in the movie is actually the one that Simon's evolution in the series was supposed to lead to. And Sean actually asked Joss to get his hands dirty this time.
- Sean, about River and why he loved her despite the freaky shooting-at-people-with-her-eyes-closed thing: "And she protected the person that I love the most." *meaningful glance at Jewel* Jewel: *meaningful glance right back* Audience: "Awwww." Jewel: "Moving on!"
- Sean, when asked which character they think could be changed into the opposite sex without compromising their integrity: "Adam Baldwin likes to dress up as a woman."
- Jewel: "A child would be the best next member of the crew. And it would soften you up." Sean: *nods* *turns to the audience* "We're pregnant!" They then argued about boy or girl.
- Jewel said that shooting Dead Like Me was very embarrassing, she had to shoot the sex in the closet scene on her first day and she didn't know these people and she was in full goth make-up and and and.
- A kid came to the mike and apologised to Sean in advance, that he was asking this question because he'd promised his little sister who couldn't afford to come to the con, and that it was on behalf on all of Sean's fangirls. "Boxers, briefs, or thongs?" Sean cracked up incredulously, and answered, "I don't wear underwear!" and then actually truthfully, although hesitantly, "It depends... but - boxers."
- He spoke to Picollo's widow to play him in Brian's Song, which was brilliant, to actually have such a source of information. She actually cowrote the script. So it was all accessible research, as was football training and looking into the sixties.
- The Miranda scenes were shot in a high school in California.
- There was one of the corpses of the Pax people on the floor, and Sean-as-Simon ran to it and started giving it mouth to mouth.
- Jewel's reaction to finding out how Kaylee got aboard Serenity was to laugh. Sean, with his big dorky smile, "I thought it was hysterical."
- Her reaction when she found out that they finally kissed in the movie was, "I hoped he'd brush his teeth!" Sean: "Which she did not."
- Jewel said her biggest disappointment when the show got cancelled was that Simon and Kaylee never got to kiss. At which point Sean went all mock-bashful and said, "I love you, Jewel." To which she similarly answered, "I love you, Sean."
- Jewel wants to work with Spielberg, except she didn't like War of the Worlds, so Tim Burton really. Sean would like to work with Jim Sheridan, Alexander Payne or Darren Aronofski. He said he should write that list down and "keep it in his hope chest," since they always get asked that and he never knows what to say.
- Jewel warned us that she was going to take her sweater off, and not to say a thing about it. And when she did Sean went "yeaaaah!" And then agreed that it was hot up here but wouldn't take his shirt off. Tsk.
- Sean, about holding the mike with sweaty palms: "It smells like metal." Jewel: *sniffs hers* "It smells like more than that." Sean: "I wonder what Christina did up here!"
- Sean was asked about playing gay, and he said that he approached it like any other role. There was no difference, really, it's always people.
- Alan and Nathan still make fun of Jewel for Space Cases, from when we all watched it at the first Serenity con.
- Jewel, about her favourite Serenity scenes: "I love watching the one where you get shot. ...not for that reason!" She said it always made her cry. Sean, same question, answered that her "Wash! Where's Wash?" line always ripped his heart out. And that he also loved her "Hell with this, I'm gonna live!" He also loves watching that scene where everybody thinks Simon is going to die, just to reminisce about that day of shooting.
- After the movie, Sean thinks that Simon has changed so much that he doesn't need his parents' approval anymore. But he might send his mother a card on Mother's Day. No! On Christmas, on Christmas.
- The medical stuff was very difficult to pull off, but they had a nurse on set to help him. The stitches were the hardest.
- Sean, about the future bandage thing: "That's fucking shaving cream! That's so lame."
- Jewel loves peanut butter. Especially the one with the peanuts on top (Squirrel). Sean is more into almond butter.
- He went to an ice cream place in Santa Monica with his niece and nephew, and he was asked for like, five dollars and then some, and he was like, "that's not possible," and then he was told, "I gave you a special Firefly discount."
- They both like Jaffa cakes. Sean likes English cakes and cookies. Jewel likes cheese sandwiches with chutney.
- The worst practical joke she had done to her was Nathan putting hand lotion and shaving cream under the door handle of her dressing room, so that she slipped and fell down the stairs.
- They weren't sure who had done it, but somebody had put a potato in the exhaust pipe of Nathan's new car. I think that they said it was Adam at the Flanvention, but then Jewel went, it was probably Adam. He's always sitting all quiet in a corner, looking all devious. Sean: "Especially when he's dressed as a woman."
- Jewel would like to reshoot the scene where she says goodbye to Simon before the Maidenhead scene.
- They did the making out scene 20,000 times. Joss kept wanting to redo it. That's when Sean admitted to having forfeited his paycheck for that.
- Sean always wants more time, or realises stuff he should've done later, especially when drifting in bed. But if he could redo two things, it would be cutting his hair and "getting rid of those fucking pants." They were apparently much too tight for his comfort.
- They deem the movie very political, and Sean wouldn't put it past the current American government to want to pull off Pax-like stuff. He loves the flawedness of the characters, and everything about imperfect world and the reality, realism of it, based on a future what-if.
- Sean got confused when a question was asked about fanfiction, and then went, "ah, I thought you were saying people wrote stories about us, as actors." (People also do that, Sean dearie.) They're both too scared to read fanfiction. Jewel is traumatised by the idea of Kaylee/Jayne.
- Jewel, about Jayne/Simon: "See, that I'd agree."
- Jewel, about Simon/River: "'Cause I always thought you were pretty flirtatious with each other."
- After the premiere in Edinburgh they went straight to Dublin, where they thought it'd be a good idea to just not go to sleep. They visited nine different pubs, and ended up drinking vodka in Chris Buchanan's hotel room until 9am. ...it was a bad idea.
- Joss has talked to Jewel about the very beginning of the possible sequel: apparently the first five minutes are very dark and scary, and the rest of the movie is a flashback of what led up to this.
- Sean really likes an idea that Joss had toyed with, that Simon was in fact the big man-weapon, and that River was just a decoy, a way to get the attention off of him.
- Jewel, about Simon and Kaylee's future: "You wouldn't be perfect. You'd screw it up." Sean: "Really?" Jewel: "No, I was kidding Sean." Sean: *sobs dramatically*
- When asked if they would be in the sequel if they got killed on page one, Sean immediately answered yes. Jewel thought about it for a while, went, "Page one... with that flashback thing... yeah!"
- Sean thinks it's an honour to be killed by Joss. He said it was "intense" to watch Wash and Book go.
- Question: "Jewel, boxers or briefs?" Jewel: "Thongs!"
- Sean's favourite colour is blue, if he has to choose, to which Jewel asked "What kind of blue?" and proceeded to list all kinds of blue. He ended up going for dark blue, ocean blue. Jewel's changes with each season, and each time she buys a new pair of shoes she needs an outfit to go with them. But right now she's into red a lot. To which Sean mimicked, with all the maturity of a ten year old, "What kind of red?"
- Jewel thinks that Kaylee and Inara should have an affair. Then she saw we were taking that quite seriously and added, "That was a joke."
- They think crying on set is more exhausting than laughing, which they never had trouble doing on Firefly.
- They both cracked up so much - mostly Sean - it was quite a sight - trying to tell us an anecdote from shooting. It was Simon's birthday, and then all Sean could get out was "And then Ron..." and he'd crack up too bad and Jewel would follow suit. Eventually they explained that there was a joke, and Nathan had told everybody but Ron not to laugh ("you know how Ron laughs," one of them went, and oh, yes, we do). So Ron laughed alone, then looked at them all, and just kept laughing like mad.
Signings and Photo Shoots,
or A Quick Look From Up Close
- I completely blanked on Morena and had no clue what to tell her. Ack ack ack! She had to go quickly anyway, since she had to get everybody in in one day the others would do in two days.
- Fred had the misfortune to have a wedding on Saturday he couldn't kiss, so he flew back to France and was supposed to get back on Sunday morning. He missed his flight and couldn't get back in time for his photo shoots, so rather than let them go to waste Delphine and I used his tickets (at his request, thank you). So I got a picture with Sean and Jewel. I went up to him and asked "Bonjour! Ca va?" And he went, "Ca va bien, merci, et toi?" which was the cutest fucking thing EVAH. Just sayin'. Hmm, anyway. Quick picture time, nothing like with Alan bless you Cap'n.
- On her picture with just him, Joey and Sean look distressingly like siblings. I swear.
- While we were queuing for signatures, Sean picked up a baby that was in the line and walked over to Jewel's table, "It's ours! Somebody just gave me this baby!"
- A random stewart walked by Sean's signing table as he wasn't doing anything and he went all offended, "What! You don't want my signature?"
- I asked Michael if he had ever thought of teaching, because I do think he'd make an amazing teacher, he's got the exact right energy and thirst to share, and he said something along the lines of how his wife kept nudging him about that, but he didn't think he'd do well with a class, just with one-on-one.
- Joey told Sean in French "tu étais très drôle avec Jewel" (you were very funny with Jewel) which he understood, but we had to teach him "hilarant" (hilarious). Joey wanted him to sign something in French and he went "comment on dit... avec amour?" (how do you say... with love?) which was, again, die hard cute.
- Then Joey asked if she could say goodbye to him the French way (air kisses on each cheek) and he asked if it was two or four, and we explained that it depended on the different regions of France and then he gave her four, and then signed my stuff and gave me four, and then signed Delphine's and gave her four too... and then I don't think Elisa asked for them. Tsk. And the very nice bit: oh dear god his skin is so soft! That guy must take excellent care of his skin.
- Joey asked Christina if she spoke any French: "Un petit peu." Cute!
- Mark was about to sign a girl's book, and he asked his PA to give him the post-it with her name on it, to know how to spell it. The PA went, "she's called Helen! How hard can it be?" Except then he noticed Joey's post-it, which said "Hélène" (her real name), and they both cracked up, and he had to share with Christina and Jewel around him.
- Jewel told Fred that Nathan had this girlfriend once ("once?") that didn't get Firefly. "Those two? Didn't last."
- Jewel is actually in Paris right now with her agent, planning on spending incredible amounts of money on the Champs-Elysées. "!!!!!!!!"
- Sean wishes he could be going to Paris with Jewel. "But I can't... I kinda have to go back."
- Jewel had nobody to sign for for a while, and so she drew stuff on other people's pictures. She gave Simon a Beatle haircut, added two horrible front teeth, big eyebrows and chest hair to Saffron, and dragged Badger up having him say "I love drunken witches." Joey asked her if she was bored, to be doing all this, and she answered "I'm faster than everybody!" (Signing-wise.)
The Closing Ceremony,
or Go On, Make Me Well Up You Bastards
- Right before the closing ceremony was the fanvid contest, and the winner was one that Mark, Jewel and Christina... maybe Michael too, can't remember, saw, a Mal/Simon fanvid to the "I wanna take you to a gay bar" song. Hilarious! You should've seen Jewel's reaction to a bit that sort of looks like Mal is actually shagging Simon - hand to her mouth, wide eyes, step back so her back is to the wall. Incredulous hilarity.
- Sean's fashion statement of the weekend, besides getting changed as often as possible, was to wear long-sleeved t-shirts under jackets, with the shirt's sleeves longer than those of the jacket.
- When Sean Harry introduced one of the actors to say his goodbyes to us as "the scariest villain on Firefly," Mark and Michael and Christina sort of looked at each other with confused, 'which one of us is he talking about?' looks.
- Michael made an amazing speech about how much he had enjoyed himself and he was glad to have come and did I mention I adored this man? God. He also went, with the Niska accent, something along the lines of, "your kindness almost makes Niska want to stop torturing people." And there was a huge amount of clapping there because everybody. loved him. He was brilliant. It meant so much to see that he'd enjoyed himself this much. And when it died down he added, "...but not quite." And the cheering flared up again.
- Mark very seriously said that there was nothing in the world he would rather be doing than this. Which made me want to cling to him and never let go. Or something.
- Jewel said she'd see us in Glasgow! Even though Sean Harry hasn't announced her for S4 yet.
- When Sean Harry finally gets around to introducing Sean, the last one to say his goodbyes, he goes on about the sort of skill it takes for an actor to pull off sci-fi, and how this one is brilliant at it, and Sean (Maher) who had the mike looks over at Mark, who nods, and Sean goes and hands him the mike, and Mark gets up as if to make a (second) goodbye speech.
- Sean was extremely nervous about concluding the weekend, and actually being the last one to say goodbye (that's usually Nathan's spot, you know), and it was unbelievably cute. He took the mike and walked towards us all, and went, "omigod, I'm so nervous. Wanna hear my heart?" and he put the mike to his heart, and when we laughed or awwed he brought a finger to his lips and went 'sshh.' And then after a few seconds of silence went, "...it's not working."
- He also said, about this weekend, and this here now, "this is fucking beautiful." You could see how much he meant it. Which was the best thing because you're not always sure, with Sean, how much he does enjoy those things, except right there and then we were sure. We were so fucking certain, we could see it shining in his eyes.
- And he went "I joke around a lot, but..." And his voice broke. "Shit. But I really do love Jewel." That got an aawww from the whole room, and he thought we weren't taking him seriously. "No, I'm trying to be serious." In the meantime, Jewel had got up and walked up behind him, and leaned forward and closed her eyes and pursed her lips waiting for a kiss. When he saw that - it took him a few seconds - he gave her a long, heartfelt smooch. To throw his own words back at him, it was fucking beautiful. Then they both decided to make light out of it - Jewel first - by pretending to need water to make up for the hotness. But it was like... it was like a little piece of the show brought back to us, that kiss. It was the incarnation of how much it lived on in those people's hearts as much as in ours, and yes, it made my eyes sting, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
I love these people so much. I love this show, this 'verse, everything they put in it and everything we all took, keep taking from it. I love the Browncoats, I love our parties, I love convention songs and all of us having the best of times together. I love the guests' banter and their obvious love for each other and I love when they get as emotional about our love as we do about theirs. I love the whole fucking experience, and I love Firefly, and Serenity, and I thank each and everyone of them and of us that has helped bring this along.
Thank you.