Spooky meets Apollo

[agt_spooky]

So while my buddy charityflint and I were standing at Dirk Benedict's table at Cyphan 2, Richard Hatch arrived and began setting up for the day. He looked over at the two of us and smiled and greeted us like we were old friends. "Hi! How're you doing? Nice to see you!"

And truly, that's what it was like all day long, with ALL of the actors. Oh, and as an aside, none of the BSG guys had "handlers". They were just there, by themselves. None of this Creation con crap where you're practically strip-searched before being allowed to approach the actors.

So we finished up with Dirk and went over to Richard's table, where two other people were standing. You know how you can just get a feeling about people? It was quite obvious that this man and woman were just going to stand there and camp out all day at Richard's table. As an actor, I'd find that highly annoying.

While we were waiting our turn we got to listen to a conversation that Richard and Dirk were having about "working" cruises they'd been on and how badly some of them had gone. Turns out that Dirk has had several stalkers (causing him to have to move from his home at one point) and some of these wackos were on these cruises. It got so bad one time that this one woman was thrown off the boat at one of the ports they docked at! Richard had similar stories, too. See, that's why being trapped on a boat with fans is NOT a good idea.

The people in front of us finally stepped to the side (but didn't leave Richard's table) and it was finally our turn and I nearly lost the ability to speak once again now that I was face to face with Captain Apollo. :-)

He was just as amazing as Dirk had been. So open and friendly and really appreciative of his fans. Just a down to earth guy who loves to chat with folks. I gave him my BSG Storybook and he also remarked on the good condition of it and then started flipping through the book. He stopped at a group photo and pointed to Laurette Spang (who played Casseopia) and remarked what a wonderful gal she was. Then he pointed at Jane Seymour and said, "Her - not so much." That prompted Dirk to come over and wow, the two of them did not like Jane! Said she was very difficult to work with (why am I not surprised?). I bet they were all glad when her character got killed off! LOL! They also mentioned Maren Jensen (who played Athena) and had nothing but wonderful things to say about her.

Richard signed autographs for the both of us, then I asked if we could get our picture with him. He jumped up with a smile and motioned for Charity to come back behind his table so that they could stand in front of his sign on the wall. He, just like Jason Carter, proceeded to act like a total goofball, putting his hand up in front of Charity's face every time I tried to take a photo until they were both laughing. :-)

Then it was my turn and OMG, I WAS MANHANDLED BY RICHARD HATCH! Seriously! He grabbed me up in the biggest hug and was like, shaking us back and forth, both of us laughing. Trust me when I say I had NO problem having my face pressed into Apollo's neck/shoulder, with my arms wrapped around him! LOL! I'm so glad that Charity managed to snap a photo while all this was going on. :-) As if that wasn't awesome enough, after I'd gotten a great photo with him HE RUFFLED MY HAIR! TWICE! At that moment I'd never felt more like that 8 year-old kid. It was just so sweet of him and I nearly melted, being treated in such a fun-loving way from this big-name actor.



   

He thanked us again before we left his table and after three amazing encounters right in a row I was walking on Cloud 9. :-)

Charity and I talked afterwards about how fortunate we were to have been treated so well by Jason, Dirk and Richard and we decided that it must be because we come off as so…non-threatening. Dirk in particular has had his fair share of crazies and he even told me that he was once accused of harassment because he gave a fan a hug. Yet he had no problem pulling me right to him for our photo. I think that says a lot.

Later in the day we attended the Battlestar Galactica Q&A panel and even though I didn't get to ask a question (and thought they talked waaaay too much about the new BSG) I really enjoyed it. All of the guys were really funny and it was just a delight to see them all interacting with one another. I was able to record the entire panel, too. (another thing Cyphan has going over Creation - take as many photos and video as you want!)

I also got to meet Herb Jefferson, Jr. who played Boomer, and I'll have that report and photos tomorrow!

Comments

[agt-spooky.livejournal.com]

I truly hope that in 10 years I can have this kind of experience with Jensen and Jared. I’d love to just talk to them instead of only having three seconds to smile and get an autograph.