Supernatural Charlotte Con 2024!

 

Charlotte is one of my favorite Supernatural conventions, mostly because some of my best friends are there – and that’s one of the best part of cons. It’s a short flight, and the weather was gorgeous that  weekend, and that made it even better. Jared Padalecki unfortunately had to cancel, which we were all sad about, but I know how reluctant he is to have to do that so I’m sure it was an important conflict. We missed you though, Jared!

I flew down on Thursday just to hang out, and on Friday caught a little bit of the panels with some of my favorite people on the cast side of the SPN Family in between being at the book table in the vendor room. That includes, of course, Ruth Connell, who has embraced some of her inner Rowena.

Ruth: I found out that my grandmother, who was the most practical woman ever, also read tea leaves.

Also Ruth: I’ll try anything once. Except a Ouija board, that terrifies me!

I’m with her – still remember some of my childhood exploits with friends at sleepovers, all of us convinced “It moved!!”

Ruth is always inspiring, just like the chapter she wrote in Family Don’t End With Blood.

Ruth: Everyone has something creative inside them.

She feels her time on Supernatural was sort of meant to be. Her first episode was called Soul Survivor, which was a perfect reflection of her life at that time too.

She was supposed to be in the series finale too originally.

Ruth: I was supposed to be in Hell, finding out the news about Dean in the finale.

Like pretty much every single one of the cast, Ruth also had some encouraging words on a Season 16.

Ruth: I’m ready to wager that Supernatural will be back!

Me: (crosses all fingers and toes)

I also love that she was wearing a comfy plaid Supernatural shirt with SW-DW embroidered on it. In fact, I loved her entire outfit (as I often do – she has a wonderful sense of style).

I was also happy to catch some of Matt Cohen and Rob Benedict onstage (and stay tuned for an exclusive interview with Matt and what he’s been up to coming soon!)  Truly two of my favorite people (and two of my favorite chapters written for Family Don’t End With Blood).

Matt is now doing early morning health and wellness and fitness chats at the conventions, which will kick start your own wellness goals. Check it out at the next con!

Someone asked Rob if acting or music was primary for him.

Rob: Having Louden Swain songs on Supernatural, both music and acting come from the same creative place I realized.

Matt: All art is joy.

So true.

Matt got to tell the hilarious (but painful) story of how he injured his finger when Adam Rose caught it in a door, including demonstrating how he had to sleep with his hand tied to the headboard of a bed, which he also posted a picture of on social media.

Rob: I saw that post and thought oh, we don’t usually get so kinky like that…

Lol

The two good friends then went down the rabbit hole together, recalling all the hilarious adventures they’ve gotten up to. Several of which involve the word ‘blowjob’…

This is Matt reenacting Rob going all out for the dessert after maybe ingesting something that makes you both uninhibited AND ravenous…

Friday night was the Saturday Night Special, which sounds confusing and actually was a little, but made sense so we could still have Rob and Swain luckily.

Kim Rhodes joined the fun as she usually does, which is always a treat.

So did our favorite photographer Chris Schmelke on bass!

Briana Buckmaster is a favorite guest too – with an incredible voice.

Jason Manns joined Rob for beautiful harmonies on Hallelujah, with the audience singing the chorus back to them. I love all the traditions the fandom has at the SNS, and how they welcome new people in so they can enjoy them too.

We also got bass player Richard Speight, Jr. and then some Dick Jr. & The Volunteers music, yay!

Swain played one of my all time favorites, Medicated, with some audience kazoo participation.

As always, a great concert!

Saturday was Misha Collins, a panel I never miss. Misha said he’d borrowed Rob’s shorts to go running. Which of course gave him an opportunity for some teasing.

Misha: They were very tight in the crotch…

Misha is very involved in the election, and also in helping people recovering after the recent hurricanes, so he had been in North Carolina doing that for a few days already.

Misha: I was blown away by how everyone is taking care of each other here. We’re trying to find people and support them.

He thanked everyone who has donated so far, which is many Supernatural fans. There was also a donation table in the vendor room that was overflowing with needed items.

There are always some unusual questions. Like: Who would you sleep with to then turn into them and get their powers?

Misha: I’d say I wanna turn into God, but I don’t really wanna sleep with my friend Rob…

Weirdest rumor about him?

Misha: The Westboro Baptist Church posted that I was the Antichrist. I thought I’d kept that more under wraps…

I loved what he had to say about his character, Castiel.

Misha: Castiel didn’t understand humans, but the more he got to know Sam and Dean, the more they felt like his family and inspired him.

He always has some hilarious personal stories too. Like the time he tweeted to an airline the complaint, why do I have to watch Fox News in your lounge? Thirty seconds later, someone ran in and changed the channel!

What show does he rewatch (the way we do Supernatural)?

Misha: Arrested Development, because I can watch it with my son. I also go back and watch ‘The Matrix’.

Misha on Supernatural: Can I tell you a secret? I have not watched all of Supernatural… I hear it’s good though!

(It is, Misha!)

On his drive to help others:

Misha: I feel better when I know I’m doing what I can to help. It’s a way to connect and if we don’t do that, we’re not as happy as we could be.

He’s right.

Fan comes up to the mic and says “I dreamt I was here.”

Misha: Are you sure you really are??

He’s kinda thrilled that Billie Eilish named her cat after him – but his kids refused to believe it!

Misha recently talked to director Phil Sgriccia about the difference between Supernatural and The Boys (Phil has directed both). Phil: Working on a streamer instead of on the CW is so much fun because we can do whatever we want. On Supernatural, we talked about porn, but on The Boys, we actually shoot porn!

(Little video here:)

https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1845155178107809844

Misha talked about his own personal growth and evolution.

Misha: When I was a kid, I didn’t fit in, but not caring about that has been one of the most empowering things.

(There are a few good things about growing older, he’s right!)

Misha also talked about how rewarding it’s been to hear how important Supernatural has been to fans.

Misha: Coming to these events, we were filming a TV show so we were performing just for the camera, and the camera crew and the sound crew, and they’re sick of us. So we don’t really get to see how what we create affects people and how the stories resonate with people. And we on Supernatural happen to be lucky that there’s this really coalesced fandom that wants to get together and meet with each other and listen to us ramble, and being at these events, we get to have the experience of hearing people say  Castiel really meant a lot to me, I saw a lot of myself. I can’t tell you  how many people I’ve met who say I have autism and it seemed like it was a representation of me on the screen and it’s really been helpful to see that character.

https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1845157199414251960

He also gave us his head canon of how Cas and Jack fixed up Heaven.

Misha: They had the opportunity to revamp Heaven and those corridors. They actually put in some windows and some skylights. That natural lighting really helps with Seasonal Affective Disorder, the angels were getting really depressed. So yeah it’s been mostly interior decoration.

https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1845157396072501643

What surprises people about him?

Misha: People meet me and say oh, you’re not short!

Lol

He said he’s energized by new beginnings.

Misha: I love new beginnings. I loved ending Supernatural and finding out what comes next.

Another odd question: What card would you be?

Misha: I’d be the Joker, because you can use it for anything and it’s completely worthless in most games.

When he was auditioning for Supernatural, he said that “all I knew about Supernatural were these two underwear models I’d seen on TV”.

What version of Castiel was the most fun?

Misha: Casifer was a super fun character for me to play, and a lot more physical with the other characters than Castiel was.

It’s really sweet that Misha seems so happy with his girlfriend, Emily.

Misha: My girlfriend said the other day, if your fans knew you were really like this, you wouldn’t have fans!

Emily sounds pretty cool.

I caught a little Richard Speight Jr and Rob Benedict.

Rich: We’re the hotdogs of this con, because we’re filler. And because Rob shows his wiener on The Boys!

Rob will seriously never ever live that scene down!

And some Adam Fergus and Gil McKinney too.

Adam: Supernatural is such a life changing show because of these conventions.

Would their characters have gotten along?

Gil: I think so, they’re both Men of Letters.

Adam: You were the OG man of letters!

At one point, Adam and Gil started talking about Rob Benedict on The Boys. Tons of people started walking out (for photo ops lol)

Adam and Gil: Wait, was it something we said? We won’t talk about Rob anymore!

Gil: I saw Rob’s episode of The Boys and called my wife to come see it because WTF??

(Everyone’s reaction to that scene…lol)

Btw, I love that Gil is a Chappell Roan fan – and his daughter too!

Adam and Gil even gave us a little preview of Saturday night karaoke that was coming up – and didn’t disappoint later at karaoke!

Speaking of karaoke, it was a Halloween celebration, with spiders and cobwebs and pumpkins and skeletons and all sorts of fun and scary décor.

DJ Qualls hosted, looking devilish, and was joined by Adam Rose, Gil McKinney, Adam Fergus, Samantha Smith and Alaina Huffman.

And then it was Sunday. Usually that means J2 Sunday, but instead we had Richard Speight, Jr. joining Jensen for the morning gold panel. But Jared was there in spirit – Jensen made sure of that!

Jensen (gesturing to Richard): They just don’t trust me up here alone, they’re like, he’s gonna need a chaperone.

Richard: I have a little buzzer that gives him a shock if he starts to say…

Jensen (jumping): Somewhere Jared just flinched too!

(I do not doubt this for a second…)

Jensen and Richard shared a laugh about Jim Beaver being called Bob Singer on all Eric Kripke’s shows – and how grumpy the real Bob Singer would be about it.

(Jim Beaver also laughs about this in his chapter in Supes Ain’t Always Heroes, the new book all about The Boys)

Someone asked their pet peeves regarding directing or acting.

Richard: Actors not knowing their lines.

Jensen shared the four things that have helped him as an actor. He recently shared these with his new colleagues on Countdown – and I have absolutely no doubt this attitude from Jensen and Jared is what made the Supernatural set such a great place to work.

Jensen: 1) show up on time, 2) know your stuff, 3) what’s the third one….take off your clothes…no sorry, that’s The Boys… 3) respect everyone from top to bottom, that goes so far in just the overall tone of the work environment is when you respect everyone and hold everybody with regard that they are all part of this process and you can’t do it without any one of them. And the fourth one is, have fun because we don’t have to do this, we get to do this. I think people who don’t do those things, it becomes annoying and even toxic. Plus, hang up your wardrobe!

https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1845482414455284030

They talked about specific things that some actors do before takes.

Jensen: Tahmoh Penikett goes huh huh huh. I was like, are we in a drum circle now?

Actors who can’t find their marks are also a problem. Jensen demonstrated…

A fan asked how each of them tends to show love.

Richard: I’m an act of service guy, to show love.

Jensen agreed.

Since both of them are directors too, they spent some time geeking out about the technical aspects of filming that they’re both passionate about. Jensen described the technical way that My Bloody Valentine 3D was shot.

Jensen: And we started Supernatural filming on 35 mm!

We got a few great stories too, including Jensen reenacting working with Dean the focus puller on Supernatural.

Jensen: His name was Dean Weber, which was great on set because someone would say ‘Dean’ and both of us would be like, yeah? But my favorite… I walked up to a mark and I hit my mark, I hit my mark. But if Dean’s right here and the camera’s right next to him and I’m looking this way, and I can just see out of my peripheral that Dean does this (looks to his right, makes a face, repeats). And I’m like, am I not on my mark? What? And he’s like no, you’re fine. I’m like, then what are all the theatrics for? Lol

https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1845486510331609151

Richard chimed in. I love when they get so into reenacting things that happened on set, it’s such a treat.

Roles they’d still like to do?

Jensen said he’d still like to do a Western, after what happened with Rust.

Jensen: And maybe Batman…

Fan: What’s Scooby Do really like?

Jensen: You know we don’t actually work with a cartoon dog, right? No, he’s a real bitch (laughing). Doesn’t hang his wardrobe up! Thrown in the corner of his trailer… Any time you’re doing that animation stuff in real life it is a little tricky because obviously you’re playing to something that’s not there but will be there later.

Rich: But that’s the same thing with Jared…

Jensen: Yes, preferably I’d rather work with him not there…

Audience: Awwww

Jensen: (laughing) I kid, I kid! Yeah it’s 11:30, we can make jokes now.

https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1845488190502633602

They also joked about how hard it is to film with things that aren’t really there. And that ill fated wire fight Dean and Lucifer had, which Rich was happy to make fun of lol

Jensen: Oh, my fight in the church where I just hung like a doll. The worst experience on Supernatural ever.

Rich: (does an even more brutal reenactment)

Jensen: (sings) If I could turn back time…

https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1845489456112955494

Double bowlegs!

After the gold panel there were meet and greets and photo ops and Jason Manns being the emcee of the Supernatural trivia contest.

In his awesome shirt.

There was also the Louden Swain vendor jam somewhere in here.

I love that they still do this at cons so that everyone can appreciate their music – so fun!

Lucky for me, this time it was literally right in front of my vendor table.

We also got some more Mark Sheppard, always a good thing.

He talked about that time Dr. Who flipped their whole filming schedule to allow him to film that while also filming Supernatural. (That’s how good he is!)

Mark’s chapter in Family Don’t End With Blood is about the fandom and mental health – he’s an inspiring advocate.

Mark: I deal with mental health issues people have and the only advice I have is to see a professional for help. You are not alone.

So true.

Mark: If you’re feeling bad – talk, you bastards! When you share it’s like, oh me too!

He also had some amusing stories.

Mark: A fan came up to me and said oh I love you so much – then asked me, what’s it like working with Jared and Jensen?  Then she asked Jared and Jensen what it’s like working with me.  They looked at each other and then said “short.”

Lol

Mark loves to tell the story of Jensen messing up that ‘girl in a Zorro mask’ line repeatedly.

Mark: Jensen never messes up, but he messed up on that line and Jared pounced on it, and then it just kept happening and happening! We had a secret gag reel of all Jensen’s messed up takes on that line, because he just never messes up!

I can just imagine the hilarity on set that day.

He also had some heartfelt things to say about the SPN Family.

Mark: Supernatural is a family. Jensen’s daughter is born on my birthday, my daughter is born on his birthday, and Jared has a son named Shep!

He also told the moving story of filming the end of Season 8, for those intense scenes in the church with Jared.

Mark: The crew was utterly silent. And Jensen stayed on set for six hours when he wasn’t even in the scene.

That kind of cooperative effort is one of the things that made the show so damn special.

Alex Calvert was a surprise addition to the con, and it was so nice to see him again! I always enjoy his panels and his sense of humor.

A fan asked what he’d be if he were a supe?

Alex: Well, I am a supe – on Gen V! But my power was mostly just being an asshole.

Fan: Um, I meant if you were a ‘soup’…

I laughed out loud because I too assumed she was talking about him being a supe on The Boys!

What color would his wings be?

Alex: Maybe like my shirt?

Those would be some dramatic wings – I’m down with it for S16.

Hypothetically, who would go crazy first if they were locked in a room?

Alex: Dean would get mad, Sammy would try to calm him down. Not sure what Cas would do, but Jack would just be like oh, this is nice…

Valid.

Alex talked a little bit about the trip he took to the Amazon recently for Random Acts to meet with Indigenous leaders – who, it turns out, were very excited to meet him because they all watch Supernatural. (Unsurprisingly!)

Alex can tell a great story. He said that one time a director told him to just “sit in the car”, so Alex had Jack sitting in the back seat and just be like…

Like Mark, Alex has been impressed with how important Supernatural is to many people.

Alex: The way Supernatural was able to touch so many people is overwhelming.

He loves Jack, but he had some hopes for other things.

Alex: I was always hoping they’d give me a cool prop or a gun for Jack, but nope.

After doing some photo ops with his costars and watching people’s reactions…

Alex: How many people’s sexual awakenings were on this show?

Everyone: Well….

Also like everyone else, Al Cal is down for more Supernatural.

Alex: So, when we come back…

The fans played a part in his character remaining for as long as he did.

Alex: They were waiting for the fan reaction to see if I’d be back the next season after the end of 13, so thank you!

He had a pitch for Season 15 that wasn’t acted on.

Alex: Jack and Lucifer being an evil team up. Like Jack goes evil the way Dean always predicted he would, so he could say “Jack’s not family” and then he and Lucifer could mess around and be really evil. Then they’d have to save Jack from Lucifer to like save his soul or something. I thought it would be a good idea. The writers thought otherwise. Humbling if you will.

Not a bad idea though!

The last panel of the con was Jensen and Misha – they did the traditional leap onstage.

https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1845561129864732712

Jensen wore his “The Boys” cap, which just seeing it makes me have even more anticipation of Season 5 and Vought Rising.

As soon as the panel started, Jensen’s phone rang. It was his kids calling, which gave us this ridiculously adorable little moment:

Jensen: Hello?

Misha: He’s careful not to put it on speaker phone because usually when his kids call, they start yelling at him…

Jensen: You can facetime me. Well, this is happening… how do I do this, Misha help me, oh never mind, I got it.

He held up the phone so the kids could see the audience all waving.

Jensen: Daddy’s working right now. What’s up, Zeppy? Hey buddy look at all these people! I love you, Daddy’s gotta go to work, I’ll call you back okay? Oh she said hello people of planet Earth.

How cute is that??

https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1845562049213939815

Misha again said how impressed he’s been with the residents in North Carolina all taking care of each other.

A fan asked what an inspiring quote was for them.

Misha: Pain is mandatory, suffering is optional.

Jensen: Jared says that, that can’t be yours!

Lol

In response to a question about things they had to fight, Misha pondered whether he might be able to fight Cupid.

Jensen: No one wants to fight the naked guy.

Favorite songs?

Misha: I really liked Carry On Wayward Son, but now I’ve heard it so many times!

(That has not stopped me from continuing to love it, just saying)

Would Sam and Dean be able to beat horror movie villain Jason?

Jensen: We took down Heaven and Hell, so yeah!

I loved the smirk on his face when he said that. Channeling his inner Dean Winchester for sure.

They had an amusing photo op story too.

Misha: Jensen walked into photo ops, looked at me and Mark Sheppard, and said ‘we are so old’!

Jensen (protesting): I said ‘we’!

Misha: You said ‘we’ just to slip that in…

They talked about Supernatural being so popular with the military and why that might be.

Misha: You’ve seen a lot of shit and these guys are the only ones who have it even harder!

Valid.

Misha on the evolution of Castiel:  They saw what I did with that material and with my performance. And they modified it a little bit…

Jensen: Much like Larry King going I think we got the wrong guy…

Misha: And so ultimately the character was this sorta dorky socially awkward individual who had a hard time fitting in. I feel like I brought that to the table.

https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1845568301818139044

Misha got in some teasing too.

Misha: You and Dean also both love dressing up as cowboys. Brad Creasser and I were like, I don’t think that’s Dean being excited…

Lol

They were asked about concerts and Jensen gave a shout out to Corey Taylor and Slipknot as putting on a fantastic show. (The time that big Supernatural fan Corey joined Jensen to sing a few songs onstage at a Saturday Night Special is still a highlight of this whole adventure for me!)

Jared was missed, but he was also not forgotten. At one point, Jensen was struggling to say how something was not the same.

Jensen: What’s the opposite of similarity…dissimilarity?

Me and several other fans: You can say difference…

Jensen: I don’t wanna say difference! Dissimilarity, take that, Jared!

Lol

Jensen has talked before about how much he wishes he got to play Michael Dean longer, and that he wishes the Soulless Sam arc was shorter since he didn’t enjoy not being able to play opposite Jared as his familiar brother.

Jensen: I was like, why can’t we have Michael Dean longer? The answer was, the audience wants the brothers back together. Oh, where were they for Soulless Sam then??!

He’s so not over it.

Misha would have liked more human Cas. Or more orgy.

Jensen: You should try The Boys, you’d see it all there!

There was a question about how Castiel’s confession sort of reframes things that he did in the past. Did Dean ever look back at some of Castiel’s actions, like breaking Sam’s wall, as the action of someone trying to remove a rival for Dean’s attention?

Jensen thought for a minute, noting that the question could be a mine field, while Misha quipped “I always wanted to see you cancelled…”  Then Jensen said no, he didn’t, because he thinks Cas would understand that Dean without Sam wouldn’t be good for Dean. So Dean didn’t need to reflect on it.

I do love that fandom makes you think!

Jensen after:

They talked about some of the good friends they’ve made thanks to the show and the cons, which warms my heart.

Misha: I met Rob Benedict and immediately knew I’d like to be friends with him. Adam Fergus too.

Jensen: The first time I met Briana, I was like, ohhhhh she wants to play – bring me a donut!

Both Misha and Jensen marveled at how Eric Kripke is so prescient on ‘The Boys’.

Jensen: Season 4, that came out in the summer, he wrote that probably two years ago, and I mean, I guess he knew it was gonna be an election year, but to put that into something so early on – I mean, he didn’t know  who the candidates would be, he didn’t know any of this.  There’s a very suspicious writing talent to that man!

Misha: He also did write the character of God as the writer, which might make you wonder, is Eric Kripke god? Is he making all this happen?

Jensen: It’s why if he calls and asks me to do something, I’m like all right!

https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1845574942383087710

Jensen also showed off how special the conventions are to his Countdown cast colleagues, who are a bit mystified about the whole thing.

Jensen: They were like, what are you doing this weekend? I said, going to Charlotte and they’re like, are you doing another one of those things? First, are you crazy? And second, what are you doing, what is this world? So would you mind, guys, if I take a little video and show them what a crazy world we all have decided to be a part of here.

(filming) Hey guys, it’s your boy!

Crowd: cheers

Jensen: It’s time for the last question, this is what we do… (sings Last Question song to the probably mystified castmates lol)

https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1845577343974453730

The last question fan decided to switch up her last question and asked Jensen to sing a little of “Simple Man”.

To our surprise, he did indulge her with some singing! And then escorted her off the stage like the gentleman he is.

https://x.com/FangasmSPN/status/1845577281206391157

Now that’s one happy fangirl!

Jensen and Misha thanked the fans, and that was a wrap on Charlotte con 2024.

I had another lovely dinner with my friends, all of whom were fairly exhausted but happy, and flew home the next day.

Oh, and we had a visitor to the vendor room who was nice enough to also show off my table with the books written by the Supernatural actors and fans… (Not really, but my table was right next to his Radio Co merch. Thanks, Jensen!)

Looking forward to the next Supernatural con in Chicago at the end of the month, especially because I missed Jared at this one.

And this weekend is the first ‘The Boys’ con, right next door in New Jersey. After that, have a Happy Halloween, everyone!

Lynn

You can read the chapters by the Supernatural

actors (and some fans) on how special the show

and the fandom are the them, in Family Don’t End

With Blood and There’ll Be Peace When You Are

Done – info and links at: