Yesterday, I went to the "Once Upon A Time" Convention in Whippany, NJ and it was awesome. Lee Arenberg aka Grumpy, was the MC introducing the cast and playing along with the he and every once in a while (he plays a mean harmonica).
First, we had Eion Bailey (August Boothe), Sinqua Walls (Lancelot), and Robbie Kay (Peter Pan). Most questions were for Robbie, but there was a lot of fun onstage. Ex: when Eion was talking about shipping, the audience started flipping out and Robbie was like "see what you did? It's all keywords. Watch. 'Shipping' *screams* 'Lana' *screams* 'SwanQueen' *screams* Look at what you've done!" It was hilarious. Also, someone asked Eion who would be August's love interest and he said Granny đ! He even thought of the ship name "Old Leather!"
Lee Arenberg joined Michael Coleman (Happy) for a Q&A. Coleman is also an atheistic director at an acting school in Canada which is pretty damn cool! Coleman was also asked about a love interest and he also expressed interest in Granny lol. When he heard about "OldLeather" he said "perhaps a rivalry shall be born".
Then low and behold, Beverly Elliot (Granny) herself came out and gave one of the best panels ever. A fan told her about "OldLeather" where she responded with "I'M old?" "At least I'm getting hot stuff." Then a fan told her about Happy and she was cool with that too. Then another fan came and asked who would she go for. Her answer? "You know what? I hear Geppetto's single." Best answer ever! Elliot was also asked to sing a few bars of a Disney song of her choosing (furthering the push for a musical episode) which she did. She sang flawlessly btw!
Sean Maguire (Robin Hood) and Rebecca Mader (Zelena) came out separately but they were both still so much fun. Sean Maguire was hilarious! My most memorable moment of him was when he was talking about his archery "skills" he was so excited about getting the role of Robin Hood that the one thing he forgot was actual archery. So his first day on set, he met a photographer who saw him failing to pretend to shoot and arrow and told that she was an archer as well as a photographer and offered to teach him a few tricks.
Then Rebecca Mader took the stage and answered some questions. Turns out she's a fan of FRIENDS (who isn't?), Greys Anatomy, and Game of Thrones (as if I couldn't love her enough lol). One of my favorite questions asked of her was what other role did she have that she liked better that OUAT? Her response was that as much as she like her other roles, OUAT is her favorite and loves her role as Zelena as its very challenging and slowing changing.
Emilie de Ravin (Belle) came on and boy did she impress. She got a lot of questions about her in the box and about her baby (in the show and in real life). Unfortunately, I couldn't get my camera out in time for it, a little man had asked if he could come up and do a short dance with her and she allowed it. What a good sport! Fortunately, I did get pictures of 2 girls who asked to come on stage to teach how to do "whip, nae nae" dance Lmaoo. It was so funny and she was so cool.
For this, we found the door where the celebs were coming and going for photo ops and panels so we could catch them leaving or coming in. They were all very nice and courteous. These pictures are actually snapshots of videos which were easier for me to take. The picture of Beverly Elliot (Granny) pointing was her recognizing my little cousin (the back of her head seen in the picture) when 7-year-old cousin said "you have a very nice voice." (She sang) Elliot responded with a kind smile pointing at her "you asked me a question." Before walking away, probably for a photo op. It was really cool of her to say that to my little cousin and I'm sure that's something she'll always cherish.
And this is me in my cosplay as Zelena, the Wicked Witch of the West! It took me FOREVER to put this thing together! I hotglued each individual bead myself which was just mentally exhausting. I do wish the green skin was better though. It kept peeling off. When t came time for the photo op, I quickly went into the bathroom to reapply so I would look freshly green for the picture. Never trust the store brands, people, or the pictures. Speaking of Photo Ops, I did meet Rebecca Mader and she was awesome! What I didn't mention before during her Q&A was when a fan asked what her favorite outfit was in the show and she was describing the one I was wearing, so my cousins made me stand up and pointed me out so everyone else could point me out to her and she saw me and she was like "yeah! That one! Thank you for dressing up!" Then when it was my turn for the photo op with her she looked so excited (she recognized me from before). After the picture, I was really quickly able to tell her within 10 seconds how I relate to her character (that my sister was spoiled and got everything while I worked hard to egg what I wanted) while the lady is trying to rush me off, Rebecca stops me and genuinely says "thank you for sharing that and thank you for dressing up." It was such a rush and it meant a lot to me that she responded to me in that way. Thank you, Rebecca Mader, for just being awesome lol.
So yeah, this convention was awesome! Would definitely go again next year! I only got to go on Sunday but hopefully, I'll make time to go both days. I still had so much fun!
Let's play the tagging game! Anyone a OUAT fan?
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