Amy Acker

Q&A's are especially entertaining when you get the right combination of actors on stage. There was standing room only in the main hall when Amy, Andy and Dayne stepped up for their guest talk on Saturday afternoon. Dayne and Andy are notorious for picking on one another as they are such good friends and Amy has been known to join in too and let everyone in on Andy's lovable flaws. After commenting on the chairs being used on stage and before any chance of a question being asked, the wonderful camaraderie kicks in with Andy sharing with everyone a comment his friend had just said to him, “Amy just said why is your tongue blue?" Now considering that Amy has come on stage, all clean and fresh from her special photo session earlier that day, it was kind of a weird question to ask although Amy did come up with her own possible explanation, "I said maybe you messed with the photo shoot for Illyria," “In fact maybe he helped clean you," Dayne suggested to a clearly outraged response from Mr. Hallett. These playful digs at Andy continue as soon as the first question is asked. One of the attendees wanted to know why Andy hadn't brought out an album considering other genre actors had done so with varying degrees of success. Andy stutters for an answer and so Amy sees her chance to intervene. “I can probably answer that," she smirks, “Andy has been working on a video for me since 2003 and he claims about once a month when I get a call that he is going to bring it over to my house, but I've never seen it so I'm sure in about 2020 we'll get his debut album." "I think Andy's also working on trying to get over to Amy's house," Dayne chips in, “doesn't he call you every two weeks to say he will be over at 5pm to see the baby, but he hasn't shown up yet. He doesn't know if it's a boy, girl or any of that." Amy seeing another chance to tease Andy continues, “Just so you know, we live pretty much walking distance away from each other." Poor Andy can't do anything but try and defend himself, “I try so hard," he insists, “my intentions are there to go over like you have no idea how many times I have been dressed, no undressed and ready to go with keys in hand and something happens to throw me off like...," Andy starts stuttering again.

Taking obvious humor in Andy's plea, Amy continues, "and apparently there's been a robbery where the baby gift that he said he has, has been stolen." Andy can't help but interject with his innocence, “I swear to God it has been stolen, I think a valet has stolen it, either a valet or I have a shady neighbor. The last time I was supposed to go to Amy's, Sean Harry was in town and we were actually going to meet at Amy's house and things didn't go according to schedule as I recall. I was out the door and the last I knew the gift was in my truck and when I went up there it was not there but in the meantime in the past two months two different people had used my truck to move, my friend Omar who is about reliable as a cheap fortune cookie and my Doctor who is reliable. Anyway this is the story..." before he continues Andy turns to Amy, "wait can I tell them what I got you for your wedding? I did get you a gift for that right?" Amy smiles as she continues the story, "I think you made the two year zone," she teases, "Well Andy has been working on this line of clothing that's called Con Robes by Lorne and he got some terry cloth robes engraved that say Con Robes by Lorne with a martini glass and made matching robes for my husband and I." “"Because those guys were always teasing me saying that I was gonna be running my own conventions in every state there was," Andy explains, “and that I was going to come up with this whole line of convention everything, convention clothes, convention tables, chairs, glasses, shirts, hats whatever and that I was going to saturate the entire world with Lorne-wear and so that's where the robe thing came from. After I gave them the robes I thought it would be a good idea to get Jack a robe that matches mom and dads. So I had to find a place that would make a custom robe you know this big [gestures the size of a tiny baby] and still say Con Robes by Lorne which is not the easiest thing in the world to do because a lot of those companies only let you put your initials never mind a martini glass and a cigar. So I had to go right into the heart of Beverley Hills and I got robbed on the price, so there were two robberies, and I paid through the nose for this thing that's why I'm so upset about the robe. His robe cost more than both of yours and they wrapped it up nice and it was in the back of my truck for a while and all I can think is s one of those people that borrowed the truck took it and has it or the valet theory is still there. So I still owe a gift and the DVD." Touched by his big story and his big gesture, Amy soothes Andy by simply stating, “No, just come over once in a while."


HOW DOES AN INSTRUMENT OF EVIL UNWIND?

Sarah Thompson

Although Dennis had commented on the quality of questions being asked, there was the rather intriguing enquiry made as to what question they would ask each other. This provoked deep thought before Stacey turned to Dennis to broach her subject, “I sometimes think of actors when you do have down periods, or you just lose a job that you were desperate to get, or you really loved the character and you didn't get it or you just came off a job and you're really sad it's over ø you have to find something that like feeds you or brings you a lot of joy or kind of gets your equilibrium back with all the stuff doesn't matter and actually this is what I like to do in life ø what is it that thing for you Dennis that is like OK I'm just going to go off and do this and all that other will go away and I'll forget about it?" Dennis waits a short while before speaking, “The quick fix?" Stacey nods, “Sex!" The crowd laughs it's approval before Stacey adds, “Did you notice he said quick?" Eager to change the subject, Dennis turns the question on Stacey who is stumped as she had been searching for inspiration and tips from Dennis's answer. Eventually she come ups with something, “I would say sometimes I'd go to the movies if I've had a bad day. I'll go in the middle of the day by myself and get transported for a couple of hours," “But what if the movie sucks?" Dennis enquires, “I still get transported even if it sucks. There's usually somebody in it I'll go 'oh they were good' or 'I like that' or there is always some scene that's worth it.

Didn't Stanley Kubrick have this quote 'there's never a bad movie, you'll always learn something from every film.' I also like to sail and I don't get to do it as much as I want but in LA there's a marina you can go out in the summer and if I can go get on a boat even if I just go out for one hour I come back and it's OK, it doesn't matter, I'm OK, I feel kind of cleansed." With the opportunity to think more about his answer, Dennis comes up with another option for his release, “The other thing I like to do and this sounds so in the other direction but I really like to ø garden. I get my hands in the dirt and I like groping and I like to see it change every day, I like to nurture stuff. I'm a big animal person too so I like the immediate thing - not the immediate thing with plants where you get to see the evolution you know what I mean, you get to see time, you get to see life, you get to see death, you get to see the whole cycle but with the animal thing it's the unconditional love that I like that comes right back at you immediately. “In film we have to wait such a long time to get any kind of fame from our work and usually by the time the movie or the TV show is on, it's not really our work any more, it's the director's work. You know the only time you get an immediate sensation is when you do theatre so that would be my professional answer. Whenever I start getting lost in LA, I head back to New York and try to get in theatre or try to do some theatre in Los Angeles because that makes me grounded and that brings me down and that's the reason why I started this in the first place because I didn't start this to become a famous person, I started this to become a better person."

During their hour on stage, both actors had expressed to a degree the reason why acting had appealed to them in the first place. When trying to get in other people's skin, as Dennis had described it, what is the best way of getting inspiration as to how to portray someone? Is it by sitting in restaurants and people watching or by watching films and getting ideas from how other actors do it? “No because then you're imitating actors imitating people," Stacey explained, “But people watching, yeah I'll do that. I'll go to restaurants by myself all the time because I love the eavesdropping and you learn a lot. I've played a couple of trophy wives so I go to Neimans in Beverly Hills and I sit and eat lunch and I listen. I did that for like a week in New York once. I went to Berghof-Goodman and just roamed around the jewelry counters for a few hours and I would see women come in and they would pick out what piece of jewelry they wanted, work it out with the saleswoman that the next day or that week, they're going to bring the guy back and they want her to show a really expensive piece at first, freak him out and then later show the piece that they wanted to buy and I was like Oh my God ø that is so genius!" “There is something that I later realized out about myself when I was older but was able to use this skill," Dennis says in response to the question raised, “and it's like some kids are great at sports or great at whatever, I always had an ability to notice everything and to kind of see everything. Another thing that gets me grounded is like really looking in people's faces and just taking a second because there are so many people that just flash by your face and your eyes everyday and with y'all I just try to take a second and connect to the eyes of the person because you can get something from there, to know where you are or where that person might be or what you can give or what you can take sometimes. I've always been able to notice things and I realized that I've always noticed a lot of things about people. I might not always remember their names but I can tell you what was in their face or what they had on or something like that and that served me later and was one of the things that made me realize 'yeah I am an actor!'"


ONCE A BAD GUY, ALWAYS A BAD GUY!

As mentioned previously, Dennis and Stacey have racked up between them an impressive filmography of work. Is there any genre of film or television work that still eludes them or they would like to do more of? “You know I started out in this and I don't know where I went wrong but I want to do more comedy," admits Dennis, “I did an off Broadway show a few years ago and it was like post modern Neil Simon and it was a great character and just from the writing alone I started with audience in the palm of my hand because I was making them laugh. Then I started to be able to make them life in between the lines with just like what I was doing physically. When you get them so there then you can make them cry at the drama ahead because they trust you because you've given them the gift of laughter, you've released them so that then you can really work on their emotions and really get them with you emotionally. It's because I've played these killers, I don't understand now why it's so impossible for me to crack comedy, you know I'm like knocking on the door and they won't let me in. All the early stuff that I did were musical comedies on stage, and Breaking Away was a comedy, California Dreaming was a comedy ø I mean there were all these things but I guess I killed too many people." “No I think they don't have a lot of imagination," suggests Stacey, “I think just whatever they've seen you done last is what you do best or that's what you do. To answer that question I did a lot of drama when I was starting out and then I did a lot of comedies and I think now yes I would like to be on a TV show where I can break down doors and arrest bad guys or something but they just see you as 'oh you were funny in that movie' or 'you've done comedic things' and that's what you do so it's kind of hard to break out of whatever you last done to get the opposite job which is more fun for the actors to do."

"I'll go in the middle of the day by myself and get transported for a couple of hours." ~ Stacey Travis finds an escape

Seeing the logic in that explanation Dennis adds, “ It's ironic just like I said for an industry that is be based on imagination there is so little of it because such big figures are fought price wise that people are scared to death they're going make a mistake so they go with the safe bet time and time again." With people like Dennis Christopher and Stacey Travis around, perhaps the powers that be in Hollywood should take a gamble more often. As always Saturday night is one of the most important nights for attendees. For those wanting to pay homage to their favorite characters and exhibit their skills of costume making this is the night! However before the evening's festivities kicked off, Sean made the announcement of two future Starfury events. The first event announced was the first ever convention to be run in support of The L Word to be held in London from 25^th-27th November 2005. Guests announced for this event include Rachel Shelley, Lauren Lee Smith and Angel's own Laurel Holloman. The second was the last ever Starfury Angel event called Not Fade Away to be held in May 2006. Confirmed guests for this convention are J August Richards, Christian Kane, Amy Acker with two additional guests Adrienne Wilkinson and Sophia Miles (Underworld) and tickets for both events are currently on sale. While he had the attention of the crowd, Sean also announced that another special guest had been mingling amongst the fans. KANE manager Eric Griffin had made an appearance at the event and he had brought with him exclusive copies of the acoustic set that Christian Kane and Steve Carlson had played at The White Room. Only 1000 copies of this limited edition CD had been made and they were very much in demand.


DUELING SWORD FIGHTS, ILLYRIA'S DOMINEERING PRESENCE AND HEY BAD NINA!!!!!

There has always been a high standard at Starfury conventions with regards to the imagination and ingenuity of the costumes paraded at the fancy dress and for this review we thought it would be interesting to view the competition from the eyes of one of it's entrants, Andy Thorogood ~ "This would had have been my third time entering in to a fancy dress competition. Like my last entry for the Serenity convention, I wanted to do something different to the usual lot of stuff. I know there were going to be Illyria's and other major characters being entered in to the fancy dress competition but what could I do was the important question. It wasn't until I was watching the last episode of Angel S5 on DVD that it dawned on me. Wolfram and Hart were being destroyed; major characters were dying or going their own ways and where did it all start from; It was at the start of S5 when they took it over and decided to sack the evil employees of the firm. That is where the idea of mine comes from; I should become a revengeful ex employee of Wolfram and Hart, whose only desire in the world is to kill Angel and the gang. It wasn't until I went down to my local fancy dress shop I managed to find all the stuff I needed for my idea, lab coat, wig and green mask. I had to go to a few other places to get the final bits of my costume, and then I had the task of putting it all together. Once I had finished doing it, it was the Thursday before Quor'toth and I felt there was something missing from it.

(l-r) Illyria, Angel Puppet and Darla stakes Angel

The costume looked good, but how would people know that I was a revengeful ex employee. I needed to have a hit list on display, I decided the best place to have it was on my back. It was Saturday evening, and I headed over to the staging area to register and then I waited, and started to get nervous. I was getting more nervous as people in front of me was going around, and then it was my turn. 'Andy Thorogood as W&H ex employee.' Once I exited the doors in to the main hall I felt ok. The atmosphere in the hall was electric it felt brilliant. I was walking around, photos being taken and then I got around to the guests table. Andy hadn't seen that I had Lorne's head in my hands, but the other guests did and told him to look around and he was shocked at what happened to Lorne, I carried on going and then exited the hall. God that was over, but I know we had to do one more lap of the hall before the judges. I felt nervous again, but this time we all were out there at the same time and then we want back and waited for the judges decision. During the party in the evening attendees were asking to take pictures of me, which I liked and I talked to some of the guests afterwards, and again on Sunday and they all congratulated me on my costume."

Of course in order to be a competition there has to be more than one entrant and the line up was as impressive as ever. An army of Ilyria's started to dominate the parade and Amy beamed with delight as each one came out. Angel and Darla broke out into an impressive sword fight that took fans and guests by surprise but added to the wonderful magic that is Fancy Dress. Pylean Fred carefully maneuvered the Angel Beast away from the guests without injury and a flourishing group of Furies came to 'Mmmm' us all. A rather injured and battered Angel puppet was also suddenly brought in attached to the vicious claws of the werewolf Nina! As the werewolf slashed and hacked at the puppet the crowd applauded at the costume and Jenny Mollen was so enthralled she just had to grab a photo opportunity. Harry Potter made an adorable appearance ahead of the new book's release along with other entrants such as Wolverine or The Blues Brothers. Picking a winner must be a nightmare but the honors went to Harry Potter in the Best Child Category, The Furies in the Group category and in reverse order Pylean Fred and the Angel Beast in third, werewolf Nina complete with obliterated Angel puppet in second with Clair North being declared the winner with her 'too real for our liking' version of Illyria. Of course the fancy dress competition just kick starts the party. Jenny Mollen was an absolute diva on the dance floor as she encouraged those normally too shy to dance a step to groove with her and her mom. The memories some of those people must have taken home with them. For those die-hards who just can't go to bed before any party is over were rewarded with the confirmation Andy Hallett back on form as he entertained the 4.30am stragglers with his trademark rendition of Lady Marmalade as well as Lionel Richie's All Night Long. He didn't care if he forgot the words and happily confessed that is why he sings karaoke so much as he didn't have to remember them as Patti LaBelle can attest to.


THE FISSURE HAS BEEN CLOSED

We report this in every review, but it is a drag when events finish just as they are kicking into overdrive. Quor'toth was no different and no sooner had the guests said hello but they were saying their farewells. Although each guest gave a heartfelt goodbye, we are going to leave it to the words of Jenny Mollen and Dennis Christopher to close this feature. First Jenny, “It's so overwhelming and it means so much to me. This is the only place in the world where I get this kind of feedback so I am absolutely flattered. Angel meant so much to all of us and I think I said last year it's not just the people who worked on it, it's the gaffers, the make-up artists, it's all of us and that's why it's so strong and that's why every time I hear that theme music it makes me choke up because it's something greater than that, it's so powerful and I thank you all for joining us and paying homage to that. Thank you." And finally Dennis, “It's really funny for someone like me not being able to speak but I had no idea when I got that funny little job what would happen. Anyway I've never experienced anything like this and I've experienced a lot of stuff but you guys just like I don't know it's like finding a tribe I kind of belong with. I sort of stumbled into this and I've never been so fully embraced by so many people it's just been unbelievable. I thank you from the bottom of my heart and I will never forget anybody I met or saw or just looked into the eyes of because you've all been incredibly special. I hope I see you all in a room very similar to this and I hope you all have a really wonderful life."