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f there is one thing that is guaranteed to bring rain to a British summer's
day, then it's the mention of either the infamous tennis tournament
at Wimbledon, the equally as legendary musical festival held
at the mudslide known as Glastonbury or the annual Angel
convention run by Starfury and held at London's Heathrow. Glorious
sunshine had cast its dazzling rays across England's green and pleasant
land until all of the events detailed above happened to fall
on the same weekend (25th-27th June) leading the
heavens to open and the rain to fall. Nothing could dampen the spirits
of either guest or attendee though as Quor'toth opened its portal,
not to reveal the entry into a tormented hell dimension, but to allow
the Angel faithful to come together and party as only they know
how and party they did!
During the customary
opening ceremony on Friday evening, the equally as customary but far
more alluring Clare Kramer acted as MC to introduce the specially
assembled star crew. Finding the right mix of guests has got to be the
key to the success of any fan event as attendees like to meet new faces
as well as welcome back those guests who are so familiar that they feel
like friends. There were a small number of new faces being presented
to the fans for the first time including evil Senator Brucker
played by actress Stacey Travis who made a very special plea
to the crowd, “Thanks for having me," she stated, “but
I'm a con virgin so please be gentle with me." Stacey's partner
in The Circle of the Blackthorn, Cyvus Vail also known as the
lovable Dennis Christopher had similar thoughts on his mind,
““I'm a con virgin too," he told everyone, “but
really happy to be here". The third and final convention newcomer
came in the in the towering but impressive frame of Season 4 bad guy
The Beast. In reality Vladimir Kulich the actor who portrayed
the destructive nemesis is a gentle giant, “it'll be a pleasure
to meet you all and thank you for having me," he told everyone
when brought on to the stage for the first time.
WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING INTO IS THE QUOR'TOTH
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Dayne Johnson and
Andy Hallett |
As well as the first time recruits there were a couple of 2nd
time 'glutton for punishment' guests. Sarah Thompson and the
gracious Jenny Mollen both made their debut UK convention appearances
during the 2004 Hyperion event. At that time Jenny had been so
nervous that she could not stay on the stage during the opening ceremony
but she had no such trouble this time. “I'm so delighted to be
back," she enthused, “and I've brought my mom with me this
time so I'm trying to get everyone in one the action." Sarah could
do nothing but agree. The main hall had been set up a little differently
for this event with more tables set up in the hall rather than the smaller
number usually arranged around the dance floor. This change in arrangement
did not go unnoticed by one of the most popular Starfury guests. Head
make up artist, Dayne Johnson is as witty and entertaining as
he is talented in his trade and it now seems unthinkable that an event
should run without him taking part. “I'm thrilled to be back,"
he announced as he took to the stage, “and I notice there are
tables now rather than Sean make everyone sit on the floor. It's about
time!" Of course where Dayne goes, the old green drag queen sidekick
usually follows. The 2004 events had been a tough time for Andy Hallett
as illness had forced him to cancel some appearances, his head finally
convincing him that his health needed to take precedence over his heart's
ceaseless necessity to please his fans. As he stepped out to a very
warm reception at the opening ceremony, Andy confirmed that business
was thankfully back to usual. Looking a little bedraggled as he tried
to quiet down the appreciative crew, Andy confessed that he had missed
3 flights to get to the UK. “Amy Acker and I only arrived
three hours ago," he laughed, "and compared to her, look at
me I look like an old dish rag." Sure enough when the beautiful
Amy appeared moments later, you would never have guessed that she had
just stepped off a nine-hour flight. “I always hate following
Andy," she admitted though as she greeted the Quor'toth faithful,
“as he always has so much to say!" Ain't that the truth!
THE DARKEST OF THE DARK WORLDS
The first of the weekend's autograph sessions actually happened straight
after the opening ceremony with Amy, Vladimir, Dayne and Andy commanding
the first slot. Amy chatted happily about how well she was adapting
to motherhood although she understandably missed her little boy who
was still back in the States with his daddy. Vladimir was interested
to find out just how many people were taking part in the fancy dress
the following day and Andy and Dayne are a lethal combination when sat
next to one another as they laugh and jest with each other and generally
hold the queue up with their banter. In this particular session, Dayne
found great amusement in Andy's response to some items that he had been
asked to sign. A number of Dayne's own continuity photographs had been
auctioned off at the recent CoA Wrap Party in New Jersey including a
rather graphic picture of J August Richards with his heart cut
out. When this item was put in front of Dayne he immediately smiled
and showed the picture to Andy who subsequently let out a rather loud
and vulgar expletive obviously grossed out by the image. His reaction
certainly caused heads to turn and Dayne signed the item with a laugh
and a written comment simply stating, “This is sick!"
The second group for autographs took place over the Saturday and Sunday
and included Sarah, Stacey, Jenny and Dennis. Sarah was as sweet as
ever as she portrayed an elegant confidence while Stacey expressed an
interest in the infamous Starfury parties and looked forward to indulging
in one. Jenny brightened up the room as she did the whole weekend with
her friendly, amenable and effervescent manner and Dennis gave thought
to each autograph he signed which was nice for the fan. He took the
time to look into the face and connect with everybody in line (as he
mentioned in his guest talk earlier in the day), which was good for
the fan but not too good for the length of the queue.
OPEN THE PORTAL
Neil Davidson and
Clare Kramer
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The photo sessions more
often than not present a story to tell whether it be an amusing situation
or a unique opportunity. Dennis Christopher set the tone by wearing his
Cyvus Vail t-shirt proudly and you couldn't help but make David &
Goliath type comparisons when standing next to Vladimir as he is a
mountain of a man standing at a colossal 6ft 5 inches. Andy again brought
the laughter in to the room as he playfully complained that the fans were
getting a little too familiar with him especially in relation to where
they were placing their hands when posing for photographs. After several
fumbles of his delectable rear, he jokingly declared, “Bloody hell!
By the end of the session I'm going to probably end up having sex with
one of these ladies." There was definitely a queue for that! Now
if Dayne Johnson is on a Starfury guest list then there is always a chance
that something a little bit special could happen. At End of Days
he made up Andy Hallett as Lorne for a breathtaking and record
breaking photo session and at The White Room, he adorned Christian
Kane's toned torso with the mystical symbols of Lindsey McDonald's
tattoos. For this event, Dayne brought to life the enigmatic Illyria
transforming the beautiful Amy Acker into the stunning goddess. This was
a strangely silent photo session as it was uncanny how quickly Amy turned
from her sweet self to the demon warrior.
One second Amy was smiling and
greeting the attendees with her usual warm and friendly manner and then
suddenly with an abrupt jerk of her head her whole mannerism changed and
the irrepressible Illyria was among us. It was impressive to watch but
also quite eerie. Most people didn't know whether to smile or strike a
face of fear when posing with her. It was so inspiring that even Clare
Kramer and Sarah Thompson got in on the act and had a picture taken with
Amy and even they were left speechless. It was truly a testimony as to
how well Amy played the role of Illyria and a privilege to be a part of.
In complete contrast, there was another very special photo session. Starfury
regular attendees will know the hardworking Jenny and Ian and the
beautiful third member of the family, their cocker spaniel Josie.
Josie can often be seen sat with Jenny by the photo sales desk waiting
for people to play with her and make a fuss over her. Due to a new policy,
it seemed that Quor'toth would be Josie's last convention as the
hotel had decided that dogs were no longer allowed to stay. Josie therefore
had her moment in the limelight as a special photo session was commissioned.
For the reasonable fee of £5 and with all proceeds going to the Royal
Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, fans could have their
photos taken with the cute canine. A nice sum of money was raised for
a very worthy cause and an emotional send off given to one of the convention
scene's sweetest members.
GUEST TALKS - THE MAN BEHIND THE BEAST
Guest talks are always one of the highlights of a weekend as it is through
these one hour long Q&A sessions that you can find out more about
the people behind the characters seen on screen. The trouble is you never
really saw the real Vladimir Kulich when he appeared on Angel as
his face was hidden behind a thick layer of molten rock. His impressive
costume and his role as the Season 4 bad guy The Beast brought forward
a lot of curious questions that Vladimir was only too pleased to answer
especially with regards to the whole process of getting the costume on
and how it felt to wear. “To put it all on took over four and a
half hours, “ he explained, “and I figured to take it off
it'd be about 20 minutes. So the first time after working for 18 hours,
I'm sitting in the chair I thought I'd be out of there in twenty but it
took an hour and a half to take it off otherwise your skin comes off with
if they pull it too fast so that I had to put some chemical on your skin
and the latex and peel it off. The first day [of wearing the costume]
was terrible because there wasn't a single deformation hole in the suit.
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"Bloody hell!
By the end of the session I'm going to probably end up having sex with
one of these ladies." ~ Dennis Christopher sets the tone
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"It was like a wet suit, but a complete wet suit, and you were just sweating
so for the first day or so it was horrible but after a few months you
get used to it." The most impressive visual of The Beast was the
sheer size of this incredible nemesis and the costume itself looked really
big, but was it heavy to carry or move around in? “No the suit wasn't
heavy," Vlad confirms, “the face with the horns was 40lbs and
the boots were about 40bs so the weight was at my feet and at my head
so if you see the way I'm walking, it's always a little off balance right."
Well with this in mind, some actors have stated that once they put the
prosthetics on then that helps get them into character but with 40lbs
at your feet and 40lbs at your head, wasn't this a bit of a distraction?
“No it was the other way because you had all this weight and all
this cumbersome stuff and because you had contact lenses in, you stayed
inside your own walls so I did everything from inside my own wall so I
was feeling very comfortable. I wasn't feeling open. If I was there naked
it would have been a whole different thing but I had all this distraction
to hide behind so I just went with it."
Does it feel strange to play a character that is completely covered up
so no one knows what you look like in real life? “No, it's great,"
Vlad laughs, “as an actor you have to have a certain amount of confidence
to do things because you know you can do them but when you are hiding
behind something you feel free, you feel like it doesn't matter, you can
try anything and if you screw it up they won't know it's you inside. In
fact when they put the contacts in that was all I needed. I didn't even
need the make up, just the contacts because it was like wearing glasses
and I was separated from the world." The Beast definitely had a history
as he had crossed paths with the legendary Angelus in years gone by. When
Vlad was offered the role, was he given any indication on the background
of the character? "No there were absolutely no instructions and there
were no directions. I think they just looked at the drawing of The Beast
before they hired the actor and they were just in love with the visual
of The Beast and they didn't really care what the actor did as long as
he looked like that and of course he looked like that because he had to
wear that, so there was never any direction. What I chose to do because
I had platform shoes that were ten inches so I was already seven feet
tall plus fake shoulders and that so looking really large - I chose to
try not to be big." By the time Vladimir made his guest appearances,
Angel as a show had been up and running for a successful four years.
Is it difficult to integrate yourself into such an established cast? “Almost
everything I have ever done in this business, I was the outsider just
because of the way I look and the roles I get," Vlad says honestly,
“I'm never one of the group so I'm so used to that. I'm very comfortable
just being on the outside and because I'm comfortable I end up being on
the inside. Like David [Boreanaz] likes to save dogs, he goes to
pounds and saves dogs and I've saved three dogs so you know we became
friends through our dogs. On my website there's a picture of David and
I and I'm you know wearing my costume and I have my pit-bull with me called
Stanky." Vlad smiles when he recalls another moment involving his
dog. “There's quite a story about him. I told my wife you know bring
him to the set one day and see if he can find me because when you're in
that suit you know our boy couldn't find me so let's see if Stanky can
find me and I was in a corner way over there and the dog came in and just
went [makes a motion of the dog going straight to the corner] and it was
most bizarre because no humans knew I was inside the suit but my dog knew
right away and he can't even smell me through that suit so it was more
telepathic you know."
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