If you’ve read my convention write ups before you would know how much detail I like to include in them. This is mostly due to the fact that I like to read back and it brings back vivid memories for me and I genuinely find panels so interesting because I love finding out. The only draw back is usually it takes me at least eight hours to write this up with lots of revisions when I remember more details. So I hope you enjoy this =D

Includes: Michael Shanks, Cliff Simon, Billy Boyd, Kevin Sorbo, Michael Hurst, Daniel Portman, Finn Jones and J. August Richards

Please note: I am just going off my memory so some details may be slightly incorrect. Also, some things may be from Day 2 but I try my best to remember the days clearly.

Adelaide officially marks the first time I’ve ever traveled interstate for a convention. I actually never thought I’d be the kind of person to do so but when Michael Hurst was announced in 2014 I was so tempted to go. Sadly he cancelled his 2014 so I had a long time to consider if I wanted to spend the money involved with three nights of Adelaide accommodation plus travel, food etc. I’m so glad I went and I have no regrets whatsoever.

I arrived at 9am with my first panel being at 10am in, of course, the furthest room from where I started off which, I’m said to say, made me miss most of my first panel – which meant that I couldn’t get any photos for starters and I missed a lot of questions. Still, no complaint as I only was late due to the fact that I was interviewing Michael Hurst and Daniel Portman. Videos coming soon.

Anywho, panels …

Michael Shanks & Cliff Simon

• Cliff said that he tried to make all of the Ba’al clones in SG1 have slight differences in their personalities.
• Michael and Cliff touched on the homoerotic undertones of SG1. I can’t remember all the details but I think someone asked about kissing on the show, and Michael making a sarcastic joke about kissing Richard Dean Anderson. It was like ‘didn’t I?’ with a smirk kind of thing.
• Cliff said one of his favourite episodes was called Insiders.
• Someone thanked Cliff and Simon for taking the time out of their busy schedules to come to Australia. Cliff joked about his lack of busy schedule and said how he’s always down at the beach.
• The only thing I clearly remember is the joke about a lot of “Ba’al”s and all the innuendo you can think of that went along with it. There was a lot! I remember “two ba’al’s and a staff weapon”
• Michael also spoke about some chalice or cone or something (I’ve been doing my research and I just can’t find the thing he was talking about – if someone remembers, please let me know. My SG1 knowledge isn’t the best) and how sexual the whole thing was. In my head it was called the chalice of thrust, but I can’t remember.
• Michael spoke about the SG1 staff weapon and how if you fire it once you get stunned, if twice you die, and if three times you disappear. Michael said it was because in one episode the writers/producers or whoever asked “wouldn’t they find all the dead bodies” so someone came up with scape goat that if you fired three times the bodies would disappear. But he said they got more creative with the staff weapons as the show went on like with Jack shooting a door handle for instance.

Billy Boyd

I feel like a Billy panel is part panel/part stand up routine because he is so unbelievably funny! If you ever get a chance to go see him, do, even if you don’t know much about what he’s been in. My mouth was so sore from laughing. He was definitely my favourite!

• Billy started by saying how he didn’t know what anything on the stage did, but he really wished he had a skateboard so he could skate down the side ramp – and then he’d run straight into the wall. (this was more adorable and funny then it reads) Billy also remarked how he liked the chairs and how they’d be good in an office.
• Billy’s thing to go to on this day was how weird it was that we’re on a giant rock spinning around a giant ball of fire. He also asked where babies come from and then remarked ‘well I know where they come from’ but like how they come to be. (I’m so not explaining this right – but it was funny) as he was speaking to a baby in the crowd when he did it.
• Ben Browder’s panel was in the other room and at times we could hear them through the wall, so Billy said in three seconds let’s all scream really loud. So he did the countdown and we screamed. Ben came into the room and they had a chat about what questions they were currently answering. Ben made some joke about having hairy feet – ala like the Hobbits do.
• Billy was asked why he got into acting and he said he didn’t really know. He did the musical Oliver! playing the Artful Dodger when he was a kid and enjoyed it. He said he started as a book binder but always liked acting – I think he may have said he studied it, but don’t quote me on that.
• He said there were so many times that his hobbit feet were applied. He said that Sean Astin kept a tally. But he defended director Peter Jackson saying that they never knew how the shots were filmed and Peter needed them on to try different things.
• He said that his feet took hours to put on and he had to stand upright on a small table for them to be applied. He went to stand on the chair on stage but it shook badly, so he tried the table but didn’t trust it either. He said on the Hobbit it took Martin Freeman – who plays Bilbo – to put on his feet because they were designed like a gumboot so he could just slip it on and go to set.
• He also said that Sean Astin got hurt a bit of set – not badly – but he mentioned it.
• Billy spoke about Space Milkshake. He said that he would love to make another one and how much he had fun making the movie. He said its a movie for geeks and only costs $8 to buy online.
• He spoke about performing at The Globe theatre in London and how there is no roof. He was doing a scene where he had to talk about a bird and he looked up at the birds. He also spoke about that if it rained the show had to still go on.
• He also mentioned how he had been naked on stage more than once. He said its weird to be naked on stage, and how he always had the urge to dance. He said he always had to stop himself from dancing. He also mentioned how life is too short and how we should all just be naked and wear bowler hats (that was in relation to a previous ramble about why do we need clothes … it sounds weird, I know. Buy the OZCC DVD if you want the context as I simply cannot remember – sorry!)
• He spoke a little about his band Beecake and how they are working on a new album.
• He mentioned Dominic Monaghan and how he clicked with him straight away. He said Ian McKellan was intimidating, except when he was in full costume. Actually a person dressed as Gandalf entered the room and Billy remarked how he was late and then mimicked Gandalf saying ‘a wizard is never late’ – it was funny!
• He said if there were an infinite number of realities he’d be Orlando Bloom. ‘what cheekbones!’
• Billy turned around and could see himself in the big screen that had been behind him. He said how he needed to get his pants taken in and the cameraman zoomed into his butt. It was pretty funny!

Kevin Sorbo & Michael Hurst

The introduction video started to welcome the guys on stage but Kevin and Michael sat in the second row and watched the video. I was in the second row so I could see them clearly watching. The whole room – well, those we could see them – started laughing even before the panel began.

• Someone asked them what’s the weirdest question they’ve ever been asking and they said that someone asked them a very weird long (and I mean LONG!) question when they were in Perth. I can’t remember because it was an insane question, but Kevin said his go to answer was ‘blue’ as a joke.
• Michael said he had an interest in Greek mythology before the show began. His favourite story is of Theseus as it tries in a lot of other stories – such as Helen of Troy. He recited the story and it was so impressive. He also said how Hercules was the ideal part for him based on this interest. I don’t think Kevin read up on any myths, from memory I think that was said.
• Kevin spoke a little about how Andromeda ended and how the company filed for bankrupcy and there was an 11 year court case. He spoke how they wanted to turn his character into somewhat of a god but he advised the writers not to go down that road. (I can’t remember the whole story exactly as I’ve never watched the show – but hopefully that makes some sense to those fans reading)
• Kevin also said how there was one scene where he had to use a Hercules-esque sword which was an in joke. He said in one scene he had to reach into a trunk and there was a Hercules wig and costume. He said “don’t ask” in the scene, I believe. One take though, the prop guys put in a black dildo instead of a sword.
• Michael spoke of the Widow Twanky and how the breasts were made from sand. He said how the character was based on his mother. The producers asked if he could do the character with an American accent but Michael said ‘it’s the whole character or nothing’ so he got to keep the accent. (This story, I believe, is also on the Hercules DVD somewhere as I’d heard it before – so if you’re interested, research =D)
• Kevin also mentioned the French episode they did and how Michael kept moving his eyepatch from left to right. He said it was just fun to work on the show. They ad libbed a lot. Michael said he liked to remove the number of earrings he had to confuse fans. He also spoke of how he did an episode with tassels on his nipples.
• Kevin also spoke about a guy who worked on the show whose nickname was Rat. The prop guys would hide a fake rat on set.
• Kevin was asked about the line DISAPPOINTED. Kevin said it wasn’t a screen direction it was written like that. He said he is a big fan of Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda and he got it from that – he also said how Gary Oldman says it in The Fifth Element. He said he is a big fan of Kevin and Gary and it was a nod to them. He mentioned how cool it is how many YouTube hits its received but says it was scripted.

Daniel Portman & Finn Jones

• Someone asked Finn if he been perceived differently from people because he is playing a gay character. He said no. But he said how he doesn’t see himself as playing a gay character but as a character who is in love – be that with a man or woman. He said it has nothing to do with his sexual orientation at all. He asked why it was so wrong to see two men on screen kissing on screen when people don’t have the same reaction to a male and female kissing or two females kissing. He too said that he used to have the same reaction to two men kissing on screen, but he thinks the whole thing is ridiculous. (This went on for quite some time so please forgive parts I miss) He spoke of having gay friends who aren’t like what a stereotypical gay men is perceived to, I guess, meant to be seen as. If that makes sense. He said he wanted Loras to be a strong character who could stand his ground in battle.
• Finn also spoke of how even though it isn’t shown on screen, had to try and convey the grief he had when Renly died. Because even though it may show on screen how he moved on so quickly, Finn wanted to show that in his portrayal.
• Someone asked Daniel if we the audience are ever going to find out what makes Podrick so good in bed. Daniel said “Are you ever going to find out? No” and then “Do you want to find out? I imagine, yes”. He joked about forming a line outside so we can all find out.
  
• Finn said that it was great to work with Robert Englund and great to catch up with him – as he was in Adelaide OZCC aswell.
• When asked who they thought should sit on the Iron Throne, Finn said not Daenerys. He predicts that Bran is off growing up, but it is mentioned that he will never walk again but he will fly and in a vision he sees himself flying as a dragon. So Finn thinks that Bran will team up with Podrick, Brianne, Tyrion, Jon Snow and co etc and bring harmony back to the land – whereas each has their representatives.
• On which other character would they like to play, Finn said he really likes Alfie Allan’s Theon Grayjoy and says that that is an interesting character to play. Daniel said he’d like to play Orenna Tyrell because she’s so bad ass.
• Finn says he really likes the Sansa and Arya storylines from Season 5.
• Daniel said he read the books in between filming seasons but then stopped.
• They both said no one gets any warning that their character is being killed off until they read it the episode script.
• Sorry ladies, Daniel said he has a girlfriend.
• And this is on differences between the book and the show …

J. August Richards

The Girls of Buffy panel had run over time so his panel was rather dead until a big group of latecomers joined once it ended. So he was so incredibly lovely to listen to.

• J said he went to a winery and also the zoo where he got to feed a giraffe from out of his mouth. There’s a video of it on his Instagram. He said that the giraffe is his spirit animal.
• J said that he went to a network party. He said to Joss Whedon how much he felt like dancing, as did Joss. So they started dancing – when no one else was – and the whole room just started dancing. He said that was his favourite Joss moment.
• He said he’d never watched Angel before getting the part and he thinks that’s a good thing because anything he had been a fan of beforehand, it would make him more nervous and less likely to get.
• He said that on Agents of SHIELD how his character got killed and a runner winked and told him not to worry because he will come back in the next episode. J couldn’t figure out how that would be because his character had been killed.But he was called in for wardrobe where they put on all these different layers and made all these different casts and things. And then he found out that they were turning him into Deadpool or Deathlok? (I don’t watch the show so sorry if this details are not correct) He said his costume has so many layers and one time he had to do a stunt – and by the end of filming his body was just white because his costume is so hot. So it was really bad and now a stunt double jumps in whenever he can to give J a break between filming.
• He said originally that it used to take ages to put on all the makeup but now it takes a lot less time.
• He said his favourite thing about his character is his love for his family and loyalty. He also says how he believes that a role chooses an actor, not the other way around.
• He spoke of his love for Robert Downey Jr and Michael Jackson. I actually think he may have said that he wanted to work with Robert but he didn’t care what the project would be.

I remember more from Day 2 – obviously – so prepare for a lot more when I write up Day 2. I will edit as more things come to me though – as usually it does over time =D

Thanks for reading!