Supernatural Orlando Con 2022!

The Creation Supernatural convention tour returned to Orlando for the first time in a long time last month, in a new hotel with a very lovely pool and lots of palm trees. I got there just in time to catch some of David Haydn-Jones and Adam Fergus, David looking very Florida indeed. Without any context when I arrived, Adam was saying to David, “you like to go deep!” and David was agreeing. They like to joke that their panels are mostly innuendo, but I for one enjoy that thoroughly.

Someone asked who their characters were closest to on the show, and Adam said that there was a special bond between Mick and Sam – but that Mick also wanted Dean’s approval.

David said that Dean and Ketch grew close – after all, “I’ve tended Dean’s wounds…”

Kim and Briana were up next. Kim said she’d started watching Supernatural again and was up to season 4.

Kim: I forgot how much I loved the Ghostfacers!

What was the first time they met Jared and Jensen like?

Kim: The first time I saw them, they were riding mini bikes around the set playing catch with each other.

She thought oh god, they’re not going to be helpful at all when she had to do a big emotional scene after Jody lost her family, but the boys surprised her.

Kim: But when my scene started, they were both like, “what do you need?”

Briana: Jared and Jensen are amazing hosts. They’re so aware that they’re only as good as the people they work with.

Briana: I was introduced to Jensen and I just kept on walking because I saw his face and said, uh oh, that’s pretty…

Understandable.

Kim: For some reason, Jensen makes my upper lip sweat and all I hear when he’s around is mmmmmmm.

Also understandable.

Briana: Phil Sgriccia told Jensen that I was a professional comedian, so he took it as a challenge to try to make me break in the donut scene.

He failed.

Kim said that her character Jody had a special bond with Sam, because he saved her from having to shoot what had been her son.

Kim: That was the foundation of her trust in those boys. She would have died for Sam.

They both talked about how knowing the Supernatural fandom taught them that being on the ‘celebrity side of the fence, they still saw fans as loving – and that, for Kim, let her feel okay about loving Neil Gaiman as a fan herself.

The caption: weapon of choice or sex toy?

I’ve been watching too much of the boys, so my instant reaction was: both??

Friday night I had dinner in the outdoor courtyard under the palm trees and then joined a bunch of other fans in the ballroom to watch the Supernatural pilot. It was so much fun to watch it all together, everyone clapping at all the iconic moments. Damn, I love this Show.

Karaoke was next, and my only tweet from there was a coment that there’s something very fitting about the entire ballroom singing “What’s Goin’ On?” at the top of our lungs considering what’s going on in the world right now. It was somehow therapeutic.

In the words of our venerable emcee Richard Speight, Jr.: This is a con day dedicated to the power of women!

Saturday kicked off with a ladies panel with Samantha Smith, Ruth Connell, Kim Rhodes and Briana Buckmaster.

They all talked about how Supernatural is our safe space (for fans) but that wasn’t all.

Ruth: Jared and Jensen and Misha made it a safe space on set too.

No, I will never get over hearing how special that set was. Not ever.

We heard several real life ghost stories, all of which were actually pretty convincing! Where’s Chad Lindberg when you need him?

In the afternoon we got an actual R2M panel, which used to be a con fixture but is often missing one or two of its members since they’re all busy working and in demand.

Rich: Pretty sure Matt Cohen is the living embodiment of “for the ladies…and the fellas.”

Rob: And me!

Everyone: And us!

Matt said that he’d seen the pilot of the new Supernatural prequel, The Winchesters, and it’s amazing.

Matt: It feels just like you want it to.

That was actually really good to hear – fingers crossed!

The panel, as always, was full of laughter.

Rob: I was at a Comic Con and someone came up to me and said oh, I loved you in ‘Driven’ [that Richard starred in]

Rich: I’ve signed many a Louden Swain CD…

Fans teased Rob about playing the bad guy on some of our favorite shows.

Rob: I’m a nice guy! But, I did take down Supernatural and Lucifer…

Rob also told a hilarious story about Chad Lindberg leaving his EMF meter thing with Rob in the green room once and it started going off and Rob was terrified. I don’t blame him!

Someone asked about who had the best ass for some reason, and a fan said it’s between Matt and Rob.

Richard: Then it’s me, because I’m between Matt and Rob!

It’s always great to see these three guys’ friendships, just like it is Adam and David, and Kim and Briana. A fan thanked Richard for being there for Rob when he had a serious stroke at a convention. Rob writes the story of what happened that day and how important his Supernatural costars and fans were to him in his recovery in his chapter in ‘Family Don’t End With Blood’.

Of the guests who appeared at this convention, Matt, Ruth, Misha, Jensen, Jared, Kim and Briana also told their personal stories in that book, and Richard, David and Adam told theirs in ‘There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done’.

We got so lucky with the cast of this show, seriously.

Also, don’t miss Rich and Rob’s podcast, Supernatural Then And Now – they’re watching Supernatural from the beginning and it is awesome to ‘ride along’ with them as they discover just how great the show really is.

We also got another David and Adam panel, with more David in shorts – this time with bandaged knees.

Adam: David spent a lot of time on his knees last night.

(At karaoke!)

Adam: Oops, missed a belt loop…

They’re big fans of Eric Kripke’s new show, The Boys, as am I – joined for this season by Jensen Ackles and Jim Beaver to make it even more Supernatural.

What other Supernatural characters would they have liked to play?

David: I’d love to play Crowley, he’s such a fascinating character. Actually I just wanna make out with Jim Beaver…

Which characters would they bring back?

David: Mick Davies.

Adam: Sweet!

And of course Saturday is Misha Collins day!

Misha had a tough time with Covid, he said, losing his taste for a while and also having bad anxiety as a result of it.

A fan asked him to tell a dad joke and Misha said, well, it’s a little dirty.

Fan: That’s okay, nurses love dirty jokes.

Misha: I think I’ve seen some of your movies…

Lol

A fan asked him what was his process playing Lucifer, since she thought he did it so well and it was so eerily channeling Mark Pellegrino.

Misha: (deadpan)  I … copied Mark Pellegrino.

He told an amusing story about working on the film Girl Interrupted when he was very new to the industry. He tried to put on a vest he was supposed to wear and ended up with it all tangled, so asked someone in the makeup trailer to help get him untangled. She did. It was Angelina Jolie.

Oh, Misha.

Misha talked a little about his new show Gotham Knights, which he said will film in Atlanta starting in September and will probably air in January.

Which monster in Supernatural could he overtake?

Misha: I think the (kid) antichrist. I think I could take him…if he isn’t making me into an action figure…

He said that at first when he tried hard not to laugh in scenes with Jared and Jensen, he’d end up biting his cheek to not laugh, so Castiel ended up looking like this:

Once he had a line that was something like “watch your eyes” and Jared and Jensen kept saying it in Scooby Do voice until eventually the director kicked them off their own set!

A fan asked about his acting process and Misha quipped back:

Misha: Well, I like to do method acting, so to prepare for playing Hippie Cas I had a lot of seven on one orgies…

Oh, Misha.

He also reminisced about some photo shoots they all did over the years, where sometimes there would be a bit of drinking involved and they’d do weird things and then later they’d be like, what are we doing? (Probably some of our favorite photo shoots, let’s be honest)

At one point, Misha insisted he doesn’t write fanfic and also that he had no idea his lips were often chapped in early seasons of Supernatural. Also? Arm appreciation.

We were treated to a DJ Qualls panel too – he is also a great storyteller, like many of the Supernatural actors.

DJ: Once Jared and Jensen were handing me a coroner’s report, but when I looked at it, it was stick figures doing things that were like not even in the Kama Sutra… But I didn’t break!

He had nothing but good things to say about the Supernatural set, cast and crew though.

DJ: Most actors are nut bags, but these actors are mostly not nut bags!

DJ is down for them bringing Supernatural back at any time – it can always be like Golden Girls Supernatural!

A fan asked what was something DJ wishes Garth had done with Sam and Dean?

DJ: You mean, like in fanfic?

I love DJ, he thinks like a fan.

I also caught a little of Mark Pellegrino’s panel.

Mark to Rob and Rich: Family reunion!

He said he recently took one of those tests of what Supernatural character you are. You might expect that he got Lucifer, but nope.

Mark: I was Dean!

He said he enjoyed playing the role of Lucifer.

Mark: It was fun playing him, he’s like a five year old in a candy store with no parents around.

I have no idea how this came up, but he also said that he was almost a Chippendales dancer when he was in his 20s.

I kinda love his Supernatural cap.

Saturday night was, as always, the Saturday Night Special – it was a Louden Swain tour de force, with a mix of old classic songs and brand new songs, all of which were amazing (including ‘Amazing’…)

We had a guest appearance by Kim Rhodes and a beautiful rendition of Hallelujah with Jason Manns (they always have the audience sing the chorus and it is absolutely hauntingly beautiful and never fails to move Jason and Rob).

And some encore cheerleading from Mark Pellegrino (and Frankie).

And then it was Sunday – J2 day.

Jensen came out with a fan-made cup making fun of Soldier Boy’s temper tantrum about not having iced coffee.

Jensen: My cup says ice cold.

Jared: I want butt cheeks on it tho!

Jared and Jensen were happy to have escaped to Orlando, saying their kids were all jealous that they were there (in the land of Disney).

They were a little bit gleeful about that, ngl.

They haven’t gotten any better at deciding which Harry Potter house they should be in, but Jared always give it a good try.

Jensen, not so much.

Jensen talked a bit about The Boys, saying he was about to head off to Brazil to do the press tour and red carpets – which he certainly did. I can’t remember ever seeing so much press coverage for a streaming show!

They also talked about Jared’s show, Walker, which Jensen directed on.

Jensen: Jared and I have been lucky working with such great cast and crew. On Waliker, it was a really great set too – and we have been on toxic sets.

Jared reiterated that one of the things he loves about Walker is that it is really a show about family, and Cordell just happens to be a Ranger, and that he really enjoys playing Cordell.

Jensen doesn’t talk about Rust often after the tragic shooting accident that happened on that set, but he did say that he really enjoyed playing Wood on that film, who was more of a detective type. I’m sorry we’ll never get to see all the work they all put into that film most likely.

There were, as always, lots of laughs and lots of shenanigans. At one point someone said something about them taking direction and they immediately shared a laugh about the two of them taking direction…or not…

Their families are still as close as ever, Jensen saying that his twins are about to go to kindergarten with Odette, who he knows very well – so there are sure to be some multigenerational shenanigans too.

There was a question about the Supernatural finale, which Jensen said was challenging for obvious reasons.

Jensen: But what I didn’t expect and what I don’t think he expected either was the challenge of not getting too emotional.

Jared: Yeah.

Jensen: Because we were saying goodbye to these characters as actors, and the crew, and it wasn’t the challenge of getting the emotion right, it was the challenge of not letting the emotion of what’s happening influence the performance. And that, I found that very challenging. Like trying to separate Jensen’s emotions from what was happening.

Jared: Again, it was real. We were saying goodbye.

Jensen: Oh yeah, it was really difficult.

That was a nice emotional question near the end of the panel, the duo talking to each other as much as to us as they remembered that day and that goodbye. They left the stage with pats on the back for each other and I will never not be inspired by their friendship after all this time.

We got an Alex Calvert panel in the afternoon. Alex came onstage and Rob went in for a hug while Alex did a jump and Rob ended up smacking his ass instead. As you do.

Someone asked what the funniest prank was on the Supernatural set, and Alex laughed.

Alex: I was in a bed and I was supposed to be dying, and Jared just started riffing, something about farts after forty and just… (laughing)

At one point Alex wrote some pretty interesting fanfic onstage, pitching a Winchesters in Berlin at a late night dance club…Cas loses his shirt and just wears the trenchcoat. Sam and Dean wear bellbottoms and plaid and dance the night away.

I’d read it.

Alex said that he likes that Jack was optimistic and always sees the best in people, and that he considered Sam and Dean family. Awww.

Fan: Who was your favorite character to work with other than Jack?

Alex: I love that you assume my favorite is myself… Garth, because DJ Qualls is great. Lucifer was also a great villain for the boys.

He also told a funny story about having the idea of wouldn’t it be funny if when he was a baby FBI agent if he held his badge upside down, and Misha was like, ‘well…’

Louden Swain had an epic vendor jam since there happened to be a stage in one corner of the giant vendor room, so that was fun. I’m glad they’ve continued that tradition (and that Liz makes it work no matter where it happens!)

I had a photo op with Jared, Jensen and Misha during which I had no idea what I wanted to do and ended up trying to hide behind a copy of There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done.

And then it was the J2 main panel!  Jared was as excited about Jensen’s “new hair” was we all are. Actually I wish he’d kept it Soldier Boy length forever, but oh well.

Of course we now have seen it (if you’re watching The Boys) but Jensen teased that Phil Sgriccia had directed him in another music video type thing that was very Robert Mitchum. It sure was!

They talked a lot about Supernatural, which always makes me happy. I always love hearing bout how much they cared (and care) about the show and the characters.

Jared: Jensen and I didn’t want the show to be about religion, so we wondered about angels.

Jensen: Or even the risk of expanding the universe like that.

One of the funny moments was when a fan related the story of finding out she was pregnant while watching Supernatural. Jensen did a hilarious imitation of the woman running to take a pregnancy test during a commercial while watching the show.

Jared also said something funny enough to get a rim shot from Stephen Norton at one point, which delighted both Jared and Jensen!

There were of course shenanigans – I don’t know what Jensen was trying to do or who he was trying to get to here, but Jared mock held him back. They slip into acting things out seamlessly still – I think they miss playing off each other on set, but they still get to on stage.

They also told the story of when beloved director Kim Manners pranked them in one of the first seasons, pouring a bucket of cold water on them when they were both trapped down a manhole to nowhere. They chased him down afterwards, they said, and were both so warm in the telling that it made me all warm too.

There were a few questions about the new prequel, The Winchesters, including how it will work since in canon John didn’t know about Mary being a hunter.

Jensen: I’m well aware that John didn’t know about hunting. We’re not throwing away fifteen years of canon.

On a more serious note, Jared talked about how his dogs are trained therapy dogs, and they help him when he’s biting his nails, which are quite bitten down he said.

Jared: Jensen will do that for me too.

Most of us have seen the zoom video where Jensen very subtly does just that. Both have said that they look out for each other, and it’s really nice to see in a world that often seems to be every person for themselves.

Jensen at one point had some very admiring words for Jared, who patted him on the knee after in acknowledgement.

Jensen: We were co-captains for 15 years, and then Jared went on to captain (his new show Walker), and I don’t know anyone who’s done it with more grace and skill.

Awwww.

There were also a few questions about The Boys. Jensen said that costar Antony Starr (Homelander) had been prepared not to like him. After filming the season, Jensen asked him: How’d we do?

Antony: I really fucking like you, man.

Awwww.

He also said that he and Jared had remained good friends with Eric Kripke over the years, which is why he was talking to him and the conversation turned to the role of Soldier Boy – luckily for all of us!

The last question was about voice acting, which Jared said he really enjoyed doing for Scoobynatural, and Jensen said he loved voicing Batman.

Jensen: When someone asks you to voice Batman… (ie, rhetorical question do you want to?)

And then it was a fist bump and a thank you to the fans!

I caught a little of Mark Pellegrino’s panel to close out the day. He said that at the Nashville convention last year there was a tornado, so all the Supernatural actors hung out in the hotel basement. Except Jason Manns, who slept right through it!

Having been at that convention and witnessed the sirens going off for hours, I have no clue how that was possible. Wow, Jason.

I spent Sunday evening out by the pool celebrating birthdays with some other fans with cupcakes and drinks and lots of laughs. Monday was spent at the pool with friends and then I had to say goodbye to Orlando and fly out.

Or at least attempt to. My flight got to within five minutes of leaving and then…. nope. One hour delay. Two hour delay.

We finally boarded and advanced about 50 yards down the tarmac when we another giant jet appeared in our way – and then both planes just sat there for about another hour, supposedly trying to decide who would get out of the way first? ARGH

I was happy to see the gorgeous sunset as we flew into Philly finally – but it was a great con!

Til next time…

– Lynn

You can read all the Supernatural actors’ thoughts

on why the show and the fandom are so special in

Family Don’t End With Blood and There’ll Be Peace

When You Are Done – links in banner or at: