Supanova Sydney Report Day 2. aka The Day My Brain Remained A Piece of Mush.
Day 2 of the convention was just as full on as Saturday. The Bradley lines were still full all day and taking hours to get through for general ticket holders. When I left the con an hour before closing time, he still had hundreds of people to get through.
My first order of business today was a photo and as I walked in I noticed he’d taken the jacket off so I asked if he was cold, as it was freezing in Sydney at the time, but apparently he was quite hot. Somehow I think our interpretation of him being hot were two totally different things….
I had a few Bradley autographs (some for friends) and photos to get today, which afforded me some more ‘blink and you’ll miss it encounters’ with him. I was more on the ball today and managed to grab a quick video of him arriving back for the afternoon session.
I managed to squeeze a Rupert photo in as well. My god, is that man tall! I only just came up under his shoulder, but he is lovely to snuggle into. That was a very brief encounter, basically in and out.
Sunday was the day of the general audience Q&A session and people started lining up about 1 ½- 2 hours beforehand (again, thank god for my Excalibur pass as it meant I was guaranteed a seat in the first few rows). This was in a different room to the Saturday panel, and accommodates hundreds and hundreds of people, and I think it was pretty much packed out.
The couch on the stage was really only designed for 3 people (a 2 seater and a single). Eoin and Tom took the first 2 spots, leaving the single for Rupert. These were the spots they’d sat in on Friday night for their Arthurless Q&A. Eventually Eoin and Tom scooted over so that Bradley could sit down, so they were all snuggled up on the couch together, although I think Bradley did spend most of the session trying not to fall off the edge of the chair.
Some of the questions though…. good grief. About the only thing that wasn’t asked was ‘shipping’ stuff, so I suppose that was one good thing, as I really don’t think the cast (any of them, not just the ones at Supanova) are interested in talking about that subject anymore. There were the obligatory ones that have been asked a million times before, plus ‘what is their favourite food’, and ‘what Harry Potter house would they be in’. Bradley really responded well to the more thought out and sensible questions.
One of the highlights was Bradley singing ‘Eoin Macken had a farm E-O-E-O-I-N’. (I’m still uploading those videos).
After leaving the expo, I went back to my hotel room and turned on the TV, and lo and behold the first show I come across was a rerun of Merlin S4x10 (where Elyan is possessed by a spirit).. Bradley has said a few times this is his favourite episode.
It was so weird knowing that the people on my screen were only a few hundred yards away in the convention building. A very fitting end to my Supanova experience I thought. Somehow, though, it was a bit hard to reconcile the characters on my screen with the real live people I’d just spent 2 days gawking at. Bradley in particular was so different, and a lot of it had to do with his hair. I’m sure that sounds ridiculous, but the full down fringe really made a difference when compared to the swept to one side look he sported all weekend. He also looks much younger in the flesh, and even better looking than he does on screen and in photos, if that’s even possible.
Eoin had his hair tied back under a cap today so he, too, looked very different to his character. Rupert seems to be the one with the most similar physical resemblance to his on screen character. Unlike his pretty silent on-screen persona, Tom is actually quite chatty in person and would often keep the ball rolling in the panels with a witty comment.
And the best bit? I get to do it all over again this coming weekend! Due to a convoluted series of events, I’m off to Perth for the Supanova there. I spoke to a few people in Sydney who are also going to the Perth show, so hopefully I’ll see a few familiar faces there.