Comic-Con is officially gone for the year, but here's some tidbits and highlights I gathered over the days from some of the bigger names who attended this year:
It was possible to see True Blood cast-members outside of that packed panel:
Ryan Kwanten a.k.a Jason Stackhouse on HBO’s True Blood was on hand for other panels including that for his film Knights of Badassdom. During an often-hilarious press conference, Kwanten found time to discuss his TV day job a bit as a possible werepanther:
“I think Jason is having a relatively rough time dealing with the fact that he doesn’t have any superhero powers at all. I think it’s almost comical the fact that he doesn’t because I think of anyone on the show, he wants it more than anyone and the fact that he can’t is kind of funny.”
The new Conan the Barbarian is really excited about being Conan the Barbarian:
Jason Momoa stars in the upcoming Conan the Barbarian (out Aug. 19) and talked about what influenced his take on the iconic character:
“My first experience with Conan was looking at those Frank Frazetta paintings,” said Memoa, who added that he did not watch the ‘80s films starring a former California governor. “I don’t need to see a movie to understand what that guy is made of, it just gets seared in your memory. When I read the comic books and Robert E. Howard, those are the images in my head. I went and studied big cats, just the way that he moves and…the way he prowls and stalks his victims. And I studied a lot of samurai films. I just wanted to put that Asian influence into this Barbarian thing."
Speaking of which, Conan’s Stephen Lang (Avatar) has the whole villain thing down pat:
“I think a good villain has that quality of seduction. Look, you know it’s bad for you but you want some more anyway. I think an excellent villain needs to be used in a very sufficient manner. You can overuse a villain as well, but usually you always want more.”
So what’s a bigger challenge, facing the warriors of Conan or the Na’vi of Avatar?
“Listen, if I could face Conan with the same weapons I had in ‘Avatar,’ it’d be easy.”
Fright Night writer and former Buffy the Vampire Slayer scribe Marti Noxon does love her blood-suckers:
“When asked earlier, ‘Who’s your favorite vampire,’ I’d have to say my favorite before (Fright Night’s) Jerry was (Buffy’s) Spike when he was bad, before he got all soft and mushy over Buffy. I still liked him, but I was always trying to get those guys on that show to bite something.”
During a press conference, Noxon talked about what drew her to Fright Night (opening Aug. 19) after years of turning down other vampire-related projects.
“What attracted me to this in particular is that the characters in the story were so real and I could really identify with Charlie’s (Antone Yelchin) journey in the same way that Buffy was really grounded in character," she said. "We never wrote an episode (of Buffy) where we didn’t spend a lot of time relating our experiences and then portraying them in this supernatural world. And with Antone’s character, I felt like there’s a real story to be told about all these kids now being steeped in pop culture and they’re so into their imaginations, then they get to a certain age and it’s not cool anymore.”
Oh yeah, and Colin Ferrell is really, really good-looking in person:
The Fright Night star is also the jovial jokester. When asked if being a father changed the roles he now picks, he replied, "Yeah, I like only playing savage killers now."
On the difference between the original Jerry from 1985's Fright Night and his version:
"They both need blood to survive. The old Jerry was incredibly debonair and had a certain dignity to him, and my guy is kind of none of those things. My guy is sort of a social parasite. My guy would be nothing without the fear he instills in people."
Check out my 2011 Con coverage here:
Is it only day one? (Slideshow)
Director Robert Rodriguez talks new projects.
Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton discuss "Warrior"
Interview with the cast and crew of ‘The Walking Dead’ (Pt. 1)
