Frederic Lehne Chicago Con, Q&A
Unfortunately for me the online schedule changed and Fred Lehne didn't go on stage until 10:05 instead of 9:25 as originally posted. On the plus side it was later than earlier, but I escaped to comfortamble seating ASAP. One thing I was reminded of by his chat was how, when I was looking for food outlets near the hotel, Google was less than helpful in pointing them out … notably missing the McDonalds right next door. Perhaps if I had pointed this out, Google would have responded with "I thought you were looking for food."
Of course, it was good for Fred Lehne that the Q&A was later because there weren't many people there at first. He was right about a tough time slot.
Paraphrased content with some exact quotes.
Hey superfreakys, welcome to beautiful Rosemont - nice turnout, I get the morning after the karaoke! Always surprising anybody's here. What was I saying? I figured a lot of you probably have friends who are upstairs in the hotel rooms sleeping - the more slutty friends. I want you to text them right now and tell them so. Have you seen the sights of Rosement, across the drainage ditch to the McDonalds? I've found this place called Rams. I don't know if that guy from Man vs Food has gone there yet but they have a 5 lb cheeseburger, it's a meat cake. I was thinking Reuben, then I found they had a sandwich that was a cheeseburger with a Reuben on top! References Groucho Marx joke about a sandwich. They have an all-day sandwich, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, regular and Canadaian bacon, a cheeseburger and steak, with an onion blossom. So I recommend the place. I had the hillbilly burger.
Q: (Before she can begin her question he asks: Where can you set your drinks?)
Q: What's the difference between bacons?
A: Latitude. American bacon is mostly fat and Canadian bacon is that lean stuff, ham, yes (agrees with audience explanations). How many are here for their first con? Ok, so I'll tell you now, I couldn't see anything out of the yellow eyes and it hurts. (See the Q&A from 2007 for the same discussion) Makes joke about Stevie Wonder songs. "I should have come to karaoke last night." What say we dance? (Music blares on for a few moments).
Q: Jessica asks: he spent a lot of time away from the set. How has it changed?
A: No, I walked into the same family fun rec room that I left. They're still playing and having fun. I was only on set for 2 days. It was good to see the boys again and the crew is much the same. I had the contacts in when Jared came up, and when you're on set and blind, you get used to hands being on you all the time, directing you. And then someone put his arm around me and said "Hi, how you doing." Then I realized the arm came from up here. So I realized, "It's Jared!" Then an hour later I had the eyes out and I saw him and said hello and he said "I saw you an hour ago," and then HE put it together and realized, oh no. Look there's Jared -- naked. No one fell for it. Other people's sex lives are not any of my business.
Q: Rode in an elevator with you, didn't realize it and had a small freakout later. You had your guitar and my question is if any fans have freaked out in front of you?
A: Just here at the conventions, a little bit, and sometimes on the street.
Q: Explains her nephew would have been really excited to have suddenly been in an elevator with him.
A: Asks where nephew is and fan responded she was in NY. Nephew? She?
Q: I'm from Taiwan, sorry.
A: Leigh, nice to meet you, I'm going to go and have a fit in my room later.
Q: If you could work a scene with any 2 actors living or dead, who and why?
A: I have a problem with superlatives, best or my favorite, becaue 10 minutes later I come up with 2 others, I would like to do a scene with J2 together. I guess in the graveyard, I threw Jared over there and will talk to Jensen. The 3 of us were together in the scene where I was dead, and I really felt the energy between us. (Audience laughs)
Q: I am hungover and I still showed up to see you!
A: My hero! I bet you can do this for another 36 hrs.
Q: If you had to be eaten alive by a shark, velociraptor or zombie, who would it be?
A: Not the shark, I think velociraptor is really quick. But every now and then there's a really hot zombie. Is there a costume party this weekend? I'll bet there's a hot zombie there.
Q: Then they would be zombie strippers. Velociraptor is the right choice.
A: Ok that's the 2nd weirdest question anyone has ever asked me.
Q Sarah: How did it feel to come back after a few seasons?
A: Very happy --
Q: I'm not done! Don't cut me off. And then be told by the writers you'll only be in one scene and killed by Jared again.
A: They said I'll be back, I'll believe that when I see it. It's nice to be a part of something good and for them to want you back at all. It's been terrific.
Q: Question #2, what is the craziest fan encounter you've had?
A: This is coming close. Step it up a notch and you're right there. Long time ago I was on Dallas as Charlene Tilton's rat fink boyfriend, Eddie, and I was in a parking lot and this lady started hitting me with her purse. I thought it was funny until I realized she was dead serious and wanted to hurt me.
Q: What's on your DVR? What are you watching this season?
A: Baseball playoffs, I don't DVR them. Our DVR only has the kids' stuff on it and we have teenage girls who use it and they watch Bones.
Q: I saw you on Law & Order, how was that?
A: The kid who plays my son is John Gallagher Jr and he is one of the most talented human beings I've ever met. He won the Tony Award for Spring Awakening, he's a singer/songwriters/musican since he was 16 yrs old. Kickass actor, he was in American Idiot So I was lucky to work with him as a youngster.
Q: Is there anything else you have coming up?
A: I was on Rubicon two nights ago, and I have nothing in the can. I moved to NY almost a year ago now and I've been trying different stuff. I've been doing a lot of stage acting for free. I got a 2 day gig, and then nothing (no payment) for 10 weeks, and I had to turn it down.
Q: She took my question. You seem cute and happy!
A: I got a good night's rest, I took aspirin this morning. My mood depends on my back, see me around 4 PM. I'm generally not an asshole, just play one on TV. (Interrupts another questioner for another quick dance)
Q: So we saw you on Criminal Minds, could you talk about that?
A: I'm running around a high school with a shotgun, and it was the right thing to do. But school was really in session where we were shooting although it's a different section of the school. There's all these kids watching, and I hear this voice out of a window "Hey, it's that evil guy from SPN! Hi evil guy!" It takes 8 days to shoot these things and they didn't know if I was going to shoot this kid's head off or not. They decided yes, but then what was I going to say? They came up with the perfect line "When's it going to end?" My back's killing me by the way, I've been wielding a shotgun for 4 hours. "Tomorrow."
Q: I hope that wasn't your only episode on SPN.
A: Write lots of letters and emails.
Q: Let's get the legit question out of the way. Since you play guitar, are there any other instruments you play or what would you like to play?
A: Piano.
Q: Good choice
A: I know nothing about music theory, and I'd need to learn that to play piano. Doesn't know how to read music, which is why he's limited in playing guitar. Duane Allman, they say he didn't read it.
Q: Obviously Ray Charles didn't read it either.
A: That must be hard, reading Braille music.
(Questioner wants hug, he obliges and gets the music turned on again for a quick dance).
Q: Since you played the YED, have you had any demonic dreams, and how is demon blood different from human blood?
A: Well it's awfully complicated but I'll try to explain. I have no more or less twisted demonic dreams than before, never had a dream with the YED. And how is the demon blood? Kind of like potato chips, extra salt that leaves you thirsty and craving more. It's a salt thing. It's the only form we can take, salt is in the vessel's blood.
Q: Were you surprised that Sam and Dean found a way to kill you?
A: With the bullet? Kind of saw that coming for 2 years. He was kind of a stupid demon, I don't know why he didn't take the bullet out of the Colt? The whole foundation just fell out of SPN. Could he not touch it? I like watching that scene with the bullet and X-ray stuff and lightning.
Q: What do you do to get into the YED, and was it hard to do again after so long?
A: Everyone's angry about stuff, especially if you want to be, it's not that hard to do, it's hard not to do, personally. So a demon who has been thrown down to hell is probably angry because that's as far away from God as you can be, right? Angry all the time and he wants to make you as miserable as he is.
Q: Your performance was exquisite as the YED.
A: What?
Q: It was awesome.
A: I thought you said exquisite?
Q: How did it feel playing one of the great villains of this TV show?
A: It was an honor, being on a show that is well written, exciting, that has such a fan base, is special. I had that experience with Lost as well. You realize it's special and I don't take it for granted. I was having a lot of fun, and the people I'm working with are fun and creative. (Turns to new questioner). You look fresh and beautiful, is that the dress you were wearing last night? (No, she'd been home to change).
Q: You were on Firefly.
A: That was fun, I got to own my world and all the women in it. You can make a lot of stuff in your head in that. My outfit was itchy and we were out in the desert. It was a great bunch of guys, sorry I don't have a funny anecdote about it.
Q: Also in elevator with him.
A: I spend a lot of time in elevators!
Q: Wanted to call you YED, but there was this family in there -
A: We could have done a whole scene, you could have slid up the wall. No one's asked me what superpower I want yet - that's it, up the wall!
Q: Have any fans said strange things in relation to the character.
A: I was at this con once and this guy asked me about demon blood, and I thought either he is going with it and having fun or he is truly insane. I don't think that much about it. SPN Freaky freaks think a lot about it and I don't know what you're talking about. My daughter showed me a blog about Lost and on it I had called Evangeline Lilly "kiddo" for no particular reason and there was a 5 page post about it, its meaning, it was very convincing, but it was kept in there for no reason.
Q: Your experiences at SPN fan cons, other than money and maybe food, what are your favorite memories of attending them, what gives you a warm fuzzy?
A: This is going to sound like horseshit but it's true. I like seeing all of you in the lobby, laughing, having a good time. And going out to eat because it's too expensive in the hotel, I can get a 5 lb burger for 17.50! I love seeing how close you all are and how much fun you all have, and how sweet you all are.
Q: (Person waiting line wears a shirt with 333, only half demon, which he comments on.) As the first actor to originate the YED, reading interviews online a lot of actors have mentioned referencing your performance in theirs. Did you know that?
(Audience: JDM was the first speaking part for YED!)
A: That's right, they sent me the DVD of him doing it before I did.
Q: That sort of answers it, did you look at any of the subsequent performances.
A: No. Why would I do that, it would only make me feel bad, and it would be no fun for me to try to duplicate someone else's performance, not right.
Q: Now that you're coming back and there's more known about the YED's motivations, would you change anything?
A: I missed other stuff about my character, does he have any long history I should have known about? What was it, tell me. Was he a real man some time? I thought he was Azazel the goat demon, and he's a minor demon. (He makes horn pose.)
Q: When you wre hired did they tell you the character would be so important to the series and how it was part of the mythology?
A: They told me nothing. Bob Singer called and wanted me to do a job in Vancouver, and I only found out how cool it was later. I would like to think they thought I was so great that they would bring me back. They like to keep their options open about what characters will rise or sink. They probably knew the YED was a recurring character, but whether they would stick with any person they were going to wait and see.
Q: Are you going to do the jerk the next time you dance?
A: I've been doing the jerk for the last 45 minutes.
Q: What superhero would you like to be?
A: Thor, the god of thunder. He was always my favorite.
Q: And can you dance again?
A: Only if you dance with me. (Music comes on and audience waves and some get up)
Q: I sympathize with your back issue.
A: What pain meds are you on?
Q: Just ibuprofen, but try a physical therapist trained in McKensian, and chiropractor certified in Nuka. (He repeats it, trying to memorize it.)
Q: How many cons have you been to and which was your favorite place?
A: This is my 8th and they're all fun, at the end of the month we're going to England. Going abroad is just something special, nothing against Creation.
Fred Lehne waves goodbye, encouraging everyone to see him in photos and autographas to have a conversation.
Comments at Dreamwidth
.
Of course, it was good for Fred Lehne that the Q&A was later because there weren't many people there at first. He was right about a tough time slot.
Paraphrased content with some exact quotes.
Hey superfreakys, welcome to beautiful Rosemont - nice turnout, I get the morning after the karaoke! Always surprising anybody's here. What was I saying? I figured a lot of you probably have friends who are upstairs in the hotel rooms sleeping - the more slutty friends. I want you to text them right now and tell them so. Have you seen the sights of Rosement, across the drainage ditch to the McDonalds? I've found this place called Rams. I don't know if that guy from Man vs Food has gone there yet but they have a 5 lb cheeseburger, it's a meat cake. I was thinking Reuben, then I found they had a sandwich that was a cheeseburger with a Reuben on top! References Groucho Marx joke about a sandwich. They have an all-day sandwich, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, regular and Canadaian bacon, a cheeseburger and steak, with an onion blossom. So I recommend the place. I had the hillbilly burger.
Q: (Before she can begin her question he asks: Where can you set your drinks?)
Q: What's the difference between bacons?
A: Latitude. American bacon is mostly fat and Canadian bacon is that lean stuff, ham, yes (agrees with audience explanations). How many are here for their first con? Ok, so I'll tell you now, I couldn't see anything out of the yellow eyes and it hurts. (See the Q&A from 2007 for the same discussion) Makes joke about Stevie Wonder songs. "I should have come to karaoke last night." What say we dance? (Music blares on for a few moments).
Q: Jessica asks: he spent a lot of time away from the set. How has it changed?
A: No, I walked into the same family fun rec room that I left. They're still playing and having fun. I was only on set for 2 days. It was good to see the boys again and the crew is much the same. I had the contacts in when Jared came up, and when you're on set and blind, you get used to hands being on you all the time, directing you. And then someone put his arm around me and said "Hi, how you doing." Then I realized the arm came from up here. So I realized, "It's Jared!" Then an hour later I had the eyes out and I saw him and said hello and he said "I saw you an hour ago," and then HE put it together and realized, oh no. Look there's Jared -- naked. No one fell for it. Other people's sex lives are not any of my business.
Q: Rode in an elevator with you, didn't realize it and had a small freakout later. You had your guitar and my question is if any fans have freaked out in front of you?
A: Just here at the conventions, a little bit, and sometimes on the street.
Q: Explains her nephew would have been really excited to have suddenly been in an elevator with him.
A: Asks where nephew is and fan responded she was in NY. Nephew? She?
Q: I'm from Taiwan, sorry.
A: Leigh, nice to meet you, I'm going to go and have a fit in my room later.
Q: If you could work a scene with any 2 actors living or dead, who and why?
A: I have a problem with superlatives, best or my favorite, becaue 10 minutes later I come up with 2 others, I would like to do a scene with J2 together. I guess in the graveyard, I threw Jared over there and will talk to Jensen. The 3 of us were together in the scene where I was dead, and I really felt the energy between us. (Audience laughs)
Q: I am hungover and I still showed up to see you!
A: My hero! I bet you can do this for another 36 hrs.
Q: If you had to be eaten alive by a shark, velociraptor or zombie, who would it be?
A: Not the shark, I think velociraptor is really quick. But every now and then there's a really hot zombie. Is there a costume party this weekend? I'll bet there's a hot zombie there.
Q: Then they would be zombie strippers. Velociraptor is the right choice.
A: Ok that's the 2nd weirdest question anyone has ever asked me.
Q Sarah: How did it feel to come back after a few seasons?
A: Very happy --
Q: I'm not done! Don't cut me off. And then be told by the writers you'll only be in one scene and killed by Jared again.
A: They said I'll be back, I'll believe that when I see it. It's nice to be a part of something good and for them to want you back at all. It's been terrific.
Q: Question #2, what is the craziest fan encounter you've had?
A: This is coming close. Step it up a notch and you're right there. Long time ago I was on Dallas as Charlene Tilton's rat fink boyfriend, Eddie, and I was in a parking lot and this lady started hitting me with her purse. I thought it was funny until I realized she was dead serious and wanted to hurt me.
Q: What's on your DVR? What are you watching this season?
A: Baseball playoffs, I don't DVR them. Our DVR only has the kids' stuff on it and we have teenage girls who use it and they watch Bones.
Q: I saw you on Law & Order, how was that?
A: The kid who plays my son is John Gallagher Jr and he is one of the most talented human beings I've ever met. He won the Tony Award for Spring Awakening, he's a singer/songwriters/musican since he was 16 yrs old. Kickass actor, he was in American Idiot So I was lucky to work with him as a youngster.
Q: Is there anything else you have coming up?
A: I was on Rubicon two nights ago, and I have nothing in the can. I moved to NY almost a year ago now and I've been trying different stuff. I've been doing a lot of stage acting for free. I got a 2 day gig, and then nothing (no payment) for 10 weeks, and I had to turn it down.
Q: She took my question. You seem cute and happy!
A: I got a good night's rest, I took aspirin this morning. My mood depends on my back, see me around 4 PM. I'm generally not an asshole, just play one on TV. (Interrupts another questioner for another quick dance)
Q: So we saw you on Criminal Minds, could you talk about that?
A: I'm running around a high school with a shotgun, and it was the right thing to do. But school was really in session where we were shooting although it's a different section of the school. There's all these kids watching, and I hear this voice out of a window "Hey, it's that evil guy from SPN! Hi evil guy!" It takes 8 days to shoot these things and they didn't know if I was going to shoot this kid's head off or not. They decided yes, but then what was I going to say? They came up with the perfect line "When's it going to end?" My back's killing me by the way, I've been wielding a shotgun for 4 hours. "Tomorrow."
Q: I hope that wasn't your only episode on SPN.
A: Write lots of letters and emails.
Q: Let's get the legit question out of the way. Since you play guitar, are there any other instruments you play or what would you like to play?
A: Piano.
Q: Good choice
A: I know nothing about music theory, and I'd need to learn that to play piano. Doesn't know how to read music, which is why he's limited in playing guitar. Duane Allman, they say he didn't read it.
Q: Obviously Ray Charles didn't read it either.
A: That must be hard, reading Braille music.
(Questioner wants hug, he obliges and gets the music turned on again for a quick dance).
Q: Since you played the YED, have you had any demonic dreams, and how is demon blood different from human blood?
A: Well it's awfully complicated but I'll try to explain. I have no more or less twisted demonic dreams than before, never had a dream with the YED. And how is the demon blood? Kind of like potato chips, extra salt that leaves you thirsty and craving more. It's a salt thing. It's the only form we can take, salt is in the vessel's blood.
Q: Were you surprised that Sam and Dean found a way to kill you?
A: With the bullet? Kind of saw that coming for 2 years. He was kind of a stupid demon, I don't know why he didn't take the bullet out of the Colt? The whole foundation just fell out of SPN. Could he not touch it? I like watching that scene with the bullet and X-ray stuff and lightning.
Q: What do you do to get into the YED, and was it hard to do again after so long?
A: Everyone's angry about stuff, especially if you want to be, it's not that hard to do, it's hard not to do, personally. So a demon who has been thrown down to hell is probably angry because that's as far away from God as you can be, right? Angry all the time and he wants to make you as miserable as he is.
Q: Your performance was exquisite as the YED.
A: What?
Q: It was awesome.
A: I thought you said exquisite?
Q: How did it feel playing one of the great villains of this TV show?
A: It was an honor, being on a show that is well written, exciting, that has such a fan base, is special. I had that experience with Lost as well. You realize it's special and I don't take it for granted. I was having a lot of fun, and the people I'm working with are fun and creative. (Turns to new questioner). You look fresh and beautiful, is that the dress you were wearing last night? (No, she'd been home to change).
Q: You were on Firefly.
A: That was fun, I got to own my world and all the women in it. You can make a lot of stuff in your head in that. My outfit was itchy and we were out in the desert. It was a great bunch of guys, sorry I don't have a funny anecdote about it.
Q: Also in elevator with him.
A: I spend a lot of time in elevators!
Q: Wanted to call you YED, but there was this family in there -
A: We could have done a whole scene, you could have slid up the wall. No one's asked me what superpower I want yet - that's it, up the wall!
Q: Have any fans said strange things in relation to the character.
A: I was at this con once and this guy asked me about demon blood, and I thought either he is going with it and having fun or he is truly insane. I don't think that much about it. SPN Freaky freaks think a lot about it and I don't know what you're talking about. My daughter showed me a blog about Lost and on it I had called Evangeline Lilly "kiddo" for no particular reason and there was a 5 page post about it, its meaning, it was very convincing, but it was kept in there for no reason.
Q: Your experiences at SPN fan cons, other than money and maybe food, what are your favorite memories of attending them, what gives you a warm fuzzy?
A: This is going to sound like horseshit but it's true. I like seeing all of you in the lobby, laughing, having a good time. And going out to eat because it's too expensive in the hotel, I can get a 5 lb burger for 17.50! I love seeing how close you all are and how much fun you all have, and how sweet you all are.
Q: (Person waiting line wears a shirt with 333, only half demon, which he comments on.) As the first actor to originate the YED, reading interviews online a lot of actors have mentioned referencing your performance in theirs. Did you know that?
(Audience: JDM was the first speaking part for YED!)
A: That's right, they sent me the DVD of him doing it before I did.
Q: That sort of answers it, did you look at any of the subsequent performances.
A: No. Why would I do that, it would only make me feel bad, and it would be no fun for me to try to duplicate someone else's performance, not right.
Q: Now that you're coming back and there's more known about the YED's motivations, would you change anything?
A: I missed other stuff about my character, does he have any long history I should have known about? What was it, tell me. Was he a real man some time? I thought he was Azazel the goat demon, and he's a minor demon. (He makes horn pose.)
Q: When you wre hired did they tell you the character would be so important to the series and how it was part of the mythology?
A: They told me nothing. Bob Singer called and wanted me to do a job in Vancouver, and I only found out how cool it was later. I would like to think they thought I was so great that they would bring me back. They like to keep their options open about what characters will rise or sink. They probably knew the YED was a recurring character, but whether they would stick with any person they were going to wait and see.
Q: Are you going to do the jerk the next time you dance?
A: I've been doing the jerk for the last 45 minutes.
Q: What superhero would you like to be?
A: Thor, the god of thunder. He was always my favorite.
Q: And can you dance again?
A: Only if you dance with me. (Music comes on and audience waves and some get up)
Q: I sympathize with your back issue.
A: What pain meds are you on?
Q: Just ibuprofen, but try a physical therapist trained in McKensian, and chiropractor certified in Nuka. (He repeats it, trying to memorize it.)
Q: How many cons have you been to and which was your favorite place?
A: This is my 8th and they're all fun, at the end of the month we're going to England. Going abroad is just something special, nothing against Creation.
Fred Lehne waves goodbye, encouraging everyone to see him in photos and autographas to have a conversation.
Comments at Dreamwidth
.