MegaCon was this past weekend, and what a weekend it was. Sexy Geek and I attended on Saturday and I am so glad we got there early because the lines were outrageous. We were able to breeze through the ticket lines, but that was our only reprieve for the day. With thousands of con-goer’s there to see not only the great finds in the dealer’s room, but also the variety of comic and media guests, the Orange County Convention Center was packed and the lines were incredibly long all day.
There were a huge variety of media guests attending, including comic legend Stan Lee, actors Nicholas Brendon and Charisma Carpenter from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joseph Morgan of The Vampire Diaries, and Brent Spiner of Star Trek: Next Generation to name a few. For me though, it was all about Tom Felton.
Be still, my little fan-girl heart. If you’ve followed this blog for any time at all, you know of my love for Tom Felton who is most famous for portraying Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter franchise. While I’ve been a fan for years, I’ve never had the opportunity to meet him…until this past Saturday. On the outside, I was calm and collected, if a little preoccupied with my hair, but on the inside my fan-girl heart was racing and my nerves were threatening to take over. Yes, I know, I’ve met many celebrities over the years and have interviewed a large number as well, but this is my fan-girl crush we’re talking about here so logic had no place in my thoughts. Sexy Geek of course did nothing to help as he kept teasing me not to drool or say something silly like “You’re pretty” when I got the chance to speak to him. Isn’t he wonderful?
When we saw there was already a line forming for Tom’s Q&A panel that didn’t start for another 2 hours, Sexy Geek did do something wonderful for me. While I stood in line for the panel, he stood in not one, but two lines in order to purchase a photo op ticket for me just in case they sold out before I could get out of the panel. He teases me, but not all husbands would indulge celebrity crushes the way he does mine, and that wasn’t the only sweet thing he did for me that day.
I attended the panel alone which was a foreign experience for me since I’m usually with either Sexy Geek or Fan-Boy at cons, but Sexy Geek was being wonderful and standing in another line for me and Fan-Boy was off in his own lines for Stan Lee. I had a great time though and I was lucky to be sitting my some sweet ladies who it was fun to talk all things Tom and fandom with. When Tom finally came out it was utter pandemonium as the audience cheered his arrival. He answered questions from the audience for about 45 minutes and although he was asked many questions he has answered before it was an amazing experience for me to actually be listening to him in person. I had a great view in the 4th row and he was very kind and funny in his responses to the fans.
Probably my favorite part of the Q&A was when someone asked Tom how he felt about fanfiction. Although he did say some of it was slightly alarming, he did say he had read some and it was a great way to continue the story for fans of the series and he praised the fans creativity.
After the panel I immediately went to get in yet another long line, but this time for my photo with Tom. Sexy Geek stood in line with me for most of the time and yet again teased me when my nerves threatened again. It was nice to meet the ladies behind Feltbeats, a Tom Felton fansite, in line who reassured me that Tom would quickly put me at ease. I’ve done plenty of photo ops with celebrities over the years so I’m familiar with how quick the process is and how little time you actually have with said celebrity, but it’s still a few moments with someone who you admire and if you’re lucky and have a good photographer it’s a memorable experience. Once I actually stepped into the curtained area for the photo shoot, time seemed to fly. Tom was very friendly and immediately put me at ease with a warm, “Hello, lovely.” We exchanged “pleased-to-meet-you’s” and before I knew it the picture was over and I was out of the room.
Now, I’ve seen Froggy’s (the photographer) work for years, and had photo ops with him before so I know he does great work, but in my fan-girl daze I couldn’t even remember if I had looked at the camera or even smiled! All I can honestly remember is having my arm around Tom’s waist and thinking his shirt was itchy. Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised when I finally got my picture. In all the years I’ve been reporting I’ve never posted a picture of myself or even been on camera during video interviews for privacy reasons, but I’m breaking my usual rule and sharing the photo with all of you because honestly? I just love the picture.
My last line of the day was probably the longest, but definitely worth it. I stood in line for Tom’s autograph for over an hour and although there were hundreds of people in line, the reason for the long wait was due to Tom taking the time to not just sign whatever you wanted autographed, but also speaking to each fan. When it was finally my turn he was very sweet and laughed when he saw I had requested he sign my photo with a “filthy mudblood”, one of his character Draco’s infamous lines and something Tom’s been known to sign with before. He said it had become a kind of staple for him and he repeated “Filthy Mudblood” in his famous Draco drawl. He went on to say, “You know, usually I sign ‘Lots of Love’ after the filthy mudblood part, but since you requested it I’m going to further the insult with only ‘Love’.” and he laughed. We went on to talk about his upcoming mini-series Labyrinth and he said he expects it to be on television by Christmas. We also discussed how much we loved the book by Kate Mosse the mini-series is based on. He was very friendly and charming and even shook my hand as we said good-bye and I thanked him for his time.
Even sweeter, when I turned to walk away with Sexy Geek I found him standing about 20 feet away. He said he wanted me to “have my moment” and not distract my time with Tom at all. Have I mentioned how much I love Sexy Geek?
We did go on to walk around the rest of the convention and that night we hit the Arkham Nights after party with Fan-Boy and some friends, but for me the highlight of the entire day was Tom Felton. I’ve been a fan for many years of both his acting and his music, but now I can honestly say that he seems to be a lovely person as well. I’ve been disapointed by meeting some of my favorite celebrities in the past, but I’m thrilled to say that I was very impressed with how Tom handles his fans.
I’m also thrilled I didn’t drool in his presence.
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Images courtesy of www.fanpop.com .
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