Are You Ready for the Kings of Con? A Chat With Rich and Rob!

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I’m so excited for the new web series ‘Kings of Con’, which premieres on Comic Con HQ on November 15. Not only are its two stars, Richard Speight Jr. and Rob Benedict, talented actors and musicians, they have been making Supernatural fans laugh until it’s painful at conventions for the past eight years. I have a feeling Kings of Con is going to be equally hysterical.

I’ve known Rob and Rich since their very first Supernatural conventions back in 2008, so I was thrilled to sit down to chat with them a few weeks ago about Kings of Con. They had just done a ‘Kings of Con’ panel at the convention, in fact. Rob was still working out some arrangements for the band, so Richard and I started chatting.

Richard: So, the panel was good?

Lynn: OMG so good – you guys are always funny, but my stomach was literally hurting from laughing so much.

Richard: Awesome. I liked being on earlier in the day, we had more energy.

(That’s really saying something – nobody has ever accused Richard of not being energetic!)

Richard and Rob onstage at a convention
Richard and Rob onstage at a convention

Lynn: Fans have been very excited about Kings of Con, but that interview that you did on the morning show today (in Toronto) has made everyone even more excited. Because you really get fandom.

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From Bugs to Dying in Castiel’s Arms: Tyler Johnston Talks Supernatural

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I had the pleasure of meeting Tyler Johnston (most well known by the SPN Family as the adorable but tortured angel Samandriel, but he was also the kid in Season 1’s classic episode, Bugs, eleven years ago!) at a few recent cons. His panels are always a lot of fun, so I was excited to have the chance to chat with him about his experience on Supernatural – and of course, since this is me, about all sorts of other things too.

Somehow the entire first part of our conversation was about cats and dogs. But hey, pets are important! And anyway, there’s nothing more endearing than hearing someone talk about a beloved pet.

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Supernatural’s Kim Rhodes and Briana Buckmaster Get Real – and WaywardAF!

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Life has been crazy, both for me and for Kim Rhodes and Briana Buckmaster – let’s just say they’ve been #WaywardAF and the fandom has embraced them every step of the way. I hope you got your tee shirt and sent your support, because if there was ever a slogan that fit our fandom, this one is it. The campaign was a tremendous success, both doing good in the world with Random Acts and inspiring all of us with the reminder that being #WaywardAF (and being REAL) is a very good thing.

I had the pleasure of chatting with Kim and Briana at Houscon this spring to talk about their Season 11 episodes (Plush and Don’t You Forget About Me) – I’d call it an interview, except it was at least as much off topic and off the record as it was interview – but here are the printable parts of what we had so much fun talking about. Or in other words, Kim and Briana and Lynn all get #WaywardAF. And are pretty damn happy about it.

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Behind The Scenes with Curtis Armstrong – An Inside View of Metatron and Supernatural

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Previously, in Part One of my thoroughly enjoyable chat with Curtis Armstrong, whose portrayal of Metatron was so inspiring and powerful in the last few episodes leading up the Season finale, we talked about the evolution of his character. One of the things I love most about the cast of Supernatural is how much they care about their characters. I’ve heard it countless times, from the stars of the Show and from guest cast who have done a handful of episodes. Everyone truly, genuinely cares. And that makes all the difference to the quality of the show!

When we left off in Part 1, we had been talking about the evolution of Metatron, and the changes that became obvious in ‘Don’t Call Me Shurley.’ The next episode, ‘All In The Family’, was being developed at virtually the same time, which meant that keeping the character consistent from one episode to another was a bit of a challenge.

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So Who Is Billie the Reaper?? A Chat with Supernatural’s Lisa Berry

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One of the highlights of the Supernatural season finale was the reappearance of mysterious reaper Billie, who arrived just in time to help save the day by rounding up souls from the veil to make the Winchesters an Amara-destroying bomb. I tweeted right afterwards a congrats to actress Lisa Berry, because somehow Billie always manages to have the very BEST entrances.

I had the pleasure of chatting with Lisa about her work on Supernatural and acting with the SPN gang.

Lynn: You’ve said that you were a fan of Supernatural before you were cast (which makes your casting some kind of dream come true!) When did you discover the Show and what do you think drew you to it?

Lisa: Well, I started watching it when it first aired. I mean, it was a show starring two guys I already loved watching, now they were teaming up to do one about Supernatural stuff! I was so in.

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Curtis Armstrong on Saying An Emotional Goodbye to Metatron

Tweet, @curtisisbooger
Tweet, @curtisisbooger

I’m very emotional about Supernatural right now. The news that Robbie Thompson was leaving hit me very hard – I love the way he writes Sam and Dean and I love Robbie as a person. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every long conversation we’ve had about the show, whether it was deep thoughts at the DePaul Conference or debates about fanfiction over drinks. I will miss him, and his episodes. Add to that the fact that another of my favorite people – for deep thoughts and discussion over drinks – also seems to have finally met his Supernatural end. I think my text to Curtis Armstrong at the end of the last episode just said “NOOOOOOOOO!”

The amazing thing is that a lot of the fandom were also sad to see him go – which is really saying something considering Metatron’s villainous history on Supernatural. It’s a testament to both Robbie’s writing and Curtis’ acting that we saw a believable evolution in a character like Metatron in the last two episodes. I chatted yesterday with Curtis about filming Don’t Call Me Shurley and All In The Family – it was a long and intense conversation, so this is Part One. Stay tuned for Part Two, with more fascinating behind the scenes insights about filming, the show and the how and why of Metatron’s changes. I seriously could talk with Curtis all day.

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Dee Wallace on What’s So Special about Working on Supernatural

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If you’ve read my review of ‘Into The Mystic’, you know how much I loved the episode. I also fell in love with the characters played by guest stars Shoshannah Stern and Dee Wallace, Eileen and Mildred. I enjoyed my chat with Shoshannah last month tremendously (check out that interview on Fangasm too) – so naturally I was very much looking forward to chatting with Dee Wallace. After so many television and film roles, I was curious about her experience on Supernatural and how it stacked up to so many other roles.

She made some time to talk on a Sunday morning, even though she had an audition coming up.

Dee: I’m so sorry, you know, they even book things on Sunday now!

Lynn: But they’re important, I understand that. My son did some acting for a while and I’m afraid I was a terrible ‘stage mom’ – I was in grad school so I wasn’t very good at dropping everything for an audition. They didn’t really appreciate that…

Dee: Well, we certainly didn’t have any of those problems on Supernatural!

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Supernatural’s Shoshannah Stern On Playing A Badass — And Fun with Jared and Jensen!

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As soon as “Into The Mystic” finished airing, I immediately tweeted my congratulations to amazing guest stars Dee Wallace and Shoshannah Stern, who – along with Jared, Jensen, Misha and writer Robbie Thompson – made this episode both emotional and hysterical. And also important. This season is giving us some nuanced, deftly drawn female characters, including Mildred and Eileen. So I was thrilled to have the chance to ask Shoshannah Stern about her experience on the Supernatural set and playing Eileen.

Lynn: How were you cast on the show?

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Carrie Genzel on the Perils and Rewards of Guest Starring on Supernatural!

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It’s no secret that I loved the recent Supernatural episode, ‘Just My Imagination.’ I loved Jenny Klein’s script, I loved Richard Speight’s directing, I loved the cinematography, I loved the acting. So I was thrilled to have a chance to talk to Carrie Genzel, the actress who played the cluelessly glitter-and-blood-smeared mom so brilliantly. Little did I know that our conversation would end up being so much fun – and so hysterical!

Lynn: Thanks for chatting with me, I was really looking forward to talking to you.

Carrie: Oh me too, I loved your article, the one I commented on about the episode. I was like, wow, Lynn’s really thorough!

Lynn: [laughing] That’s one way of putting it. Kathy would say I just can’t shut up! Grad school makes you very detail oriented…and then you can’t unlearn it!

Carrie: Yeah but that’s a good thing. Everybody thinks they can write and gets on social media, but it’s usually not that in depth, and when you read something that obviously was researched — you went to different sources and took the time to research everything, so I was like wow, this article stands out.

Lynn: Thank you, that’s so nice of you to say. Sometimes I have to shake my head at myself. This isn’t my actual job, but when it comes to Supernatural, I kinda get carried away easily.

[I know, I know. Understatement.]

Carrie: I’m sure people really enjoy them as well because they’re really getting some great little nuggets of information and great little stories or something that isn’t just out there in the public eye or that they can just read anywhere. You’re getting the special little things in your interviews and articles and they just soak everything up. It’s been pretty incredible, the reaction to the episode.

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Matt Cohen On His Return to Supernatural, Bringing Up Baby, and HTGAWM!

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Like the entire fandom, we were beyond thrilled to see Matt Cohen back on Supernatural this season – and in the incredible episode, ‘Baby’ no less! We’ve known Matt since his first convention appearance over six years ago. The very first convention he did, Matt made sure to hug every single fan who asked him a question. Kathy and I turned to each other and said oh, we have to talk to this guy – he gets it. We need to include him in ‘Fangasm Supernatural Fangirls’.

We did, and we did. In fact, Matt is even quoted in our academic book about fandom and Supernatural, ‘Fandom At The Crossroads’. From our very first interview with him, we loved what he had to say. And now, as 2015 comes to an end, it’s as true as ever. We sat down with Matt at the last con of the year, Pascon, to find out about his return to Supernatural and his other exciting role on the hit series How To Get Away With Murder.

Pascon was a true SPN Family affair for both fandom and cast, and so the green room where we joined Matt was less a quiet space for an interview and more a family room. When this cast gets together at a con, it’s like a family reunion – joyful, unpredictable, and noisy. And really kinda heartwarming. Alaina Huffman had come by to spend some time with the other actors, since this con was in most of the actors’ backyards. Matt was having some lunch when I joined them. And sharing his with Alaina, as family does.

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