DragonCon Smallville Cast Recap

Day 1 / Friday, September 2

I met Laura Vandervoort my first day at the Con. She was exceptionally beautiful in person. Very sweet and personable. I told her (of course) that I’d loved her work on “Smallville”, but also mentioned that I was sad to see “V” go before its time. She said “oh, me, too…it was just starting to get good and fun to play as an actress”. But a very nice meeting overall. She was nice enough to sign my Season 7 blu-ray insert and record a bumper for DSS. Very cool lady.

Meeting Michael Rosenbaum was, for me, the highlight of DragonCon 2011, and not just because the man played Lex Luthor. Michael was disarming immediately. Much the same as my experience in meeting John Schneider in March for MegaCon in Orlando, Michael was an instantly relatable person, and just a fantastic guy in real life. I mentioned meeting Schneider and we talked about what a great guy he was – how very much like Jonathan Kent he came across in person. And all the while, all I kept thinking was just how little Michael came off as Lex Luthor. Instead, he was just a down-to-Earth, imminently charming guy who put me right at ease and out of starstruck mode. He signed my Season 7 blu-ray as well. I ended Day 1 by shaking his hand and thanking him from all the fans for coming back for the Finale. He was very modest and shook his head saying, “thanks for watching, it was nothing”. Later that day, I would get a great picture with Michael. Totally awesome!

Day 2 / Saturday, September 3

Day 2’s highlight was undoubtedly the Smallville panel with all the alumni in attendance – Michael Rosenbaum, Laura Vandervoort, James Marsters, and Sam Witwer. These four had a fantastic time talking about their history together and on the show. Much of the answers to questions centered around their working with Tom and on his stature. Marsters joked that they had to create runways of apple boxes for him to stand on during scenes where he had to move around with Tom because Tom was so insanely tall. Witwer remembered thinking “I’m over 6 feet tall, I don’t want an apple box”, but then reconsidered when he actually stood toe to toe with Welling. The group joked a lot about Welling’s tendency to wear nothing but boxers and berkinstocks for scenes in which he’d only be filmed from the waist up just to screw with his castmates. Laura said that she’d often have to force herself to keep her eyes up during takes. Rosenbaum stole the show, though, joking with Marsters that they should start a new series called “Spex: The Sad Years”, with their comparing their wardrobe and makeup woes over the years of working in the sci-fi genre. At one point, a man asked Laura to hug his baby (which was named Lex), and she did. Michael was nervous about the baby’s safety at one point, being handed up onto the stage, but all went well. But when Laura tried to pass the baby to Michael, it started screaming. Michael shouted “change that baby’s name, Lex Luthor doesn’t cry!” Then, after a beat, “but you can sure as hell name him Clark”. Awesome. James Marsters had to leave to do some photographs, and a man asked the remaining attendees, “Michael, Laura, can I have your name plates”? Sam Witwer: “Gee, thanks, buddy”. Haha. All in all, it was a fantastic panel and definitely the most fun I had in a chair during the entire weekend. Such a terrific time.

I was finally able to meet Sam Witwer after the panel. He was a very nice guy as well, and signed my Season 8 insert. Silver Sharpie, right over the back picture of him having fallen in the Fortress. Awesome, awesome.

At the end of Day 2, I had a favor to ask of Michael. But at this point, I’d seen him three times already. I jokingly said to him, walking up, “I promise I’m not a stalker”, to which he replied “it’s okay”…but without so much as a smile. I was nervous that I’d made him uneasy for a moment. I asked if he’d do a bumper for DSS, but he said he really just doesn’t like doing those types of things, so I understood that. But my best friend…someone who means more to me than anyone…she couldn’t be there with me. So I asked if he’d be willing to record something brief for her. And he did. And it was such a nice, considerate gesture. I was so impressed by this. He didn’t have to do that for me (or her), and I knew then how great of a guy Michael really was. That evening, I made a decision…

Day 3 / Sunday, September 4

I went to see James Marsters today (whom I had met previously at MegaCon). Just went up to say hello this time and shake his hand. He was also amazing enough to record a bumper for the site, which was starting to send me into full-on geek spiral at this point. I didn’t have enough money left over to have him sign Season 7, too (bummer), but it was okay. I was just thrilled to get the bumper. Marsters is one of the coolest cats on the Con scene. I highly recommend meeting him if any of you ever have the opportunity. Don’t pass him up, he’s very funny and really takes his time giving each fan his time and attention.

Today was the single best moment of the convention…and possibly of my young life as a geek. My decision the previous evening upon leaving Rosenbaum was to give him something that VERY few people in the world have: a full copy of The Definitive Smallville Soundtrack. I went up to him today and told him who I was and what I did. I told him how this project had taken eight years to complete, but that I was handing him a disc with every song that had ever been on the show since Day 1. I expected a thank you…a nod…a handshake. Instead? Michael’s entire face lit up with astonishment. He looked at me…at the DVD…at me…and he said “every song, are you serious? Are they in order?!” I laughed and said yes, and explained how every song came embedded with artwork explaining the scene, a screenshot, airdate, etc. I also told him how only a few people in the world had this collection. He just sat there with his mouth hanging open for a second. I told him it was my thank you for so many wonderful memories over the years on Smallville. That I knew that at times as an actor, you might want to relive the memories, but not necessarily rewatch the show all over again. This was a way to relive the show through the music. And then I thanked him again for saying hello to my friend. I told him that that meant just as much to me as anything else…knowing he was decent enough to make her day when he really didn’t have to. Michael looked genuinely moved. I can read people, and his reaction was a sincere one. He shook his head and said “man…I don’t know what to say to this…you’re such a nice guy, honestly…I need to give you a picture”. I told him he really didn’t have to do that (as I’d already received an autograph on my blu-ray)…and he said “yeah, I do”. Michael then pulled out a publicity still (the one of him holding the orb at the end of Artic) and signed it personally to me, thanking me for the disc on the autograph. Then he asked for DSS’s web site address and thanked me again. I told him to have a great rest of his Con and that he’d just made my weekend complete.

I know much has been said about Michael Rosenbaum on forums and in the Smallville fan community in general of late, following the whole will he or won’t he debacle leading up to the Series Finale. Some have questioned Michael’s motives I delaying his decision to return for so long. But I’m here to tell you guys that Mr. Rosenbaum is a true class act - a genuinely nice and caring guy who went out of his way to make my time at DragonCon something truly special that I will take with me as one of the nicest things to ever come from my time as a fan of this show. I’m sorry for the informality of this blog, but I wanted to get a lot of this down before it faded in the slightest. The Smallville fan community is something that I don’t think I fully appreciated until today. I saw the difference between those people who were at the Con from Smallville and from other shows, and I can tell you that nothing comes close to the sense of family that we all have. Some other shows even had their actors roped off in a separate room, herding people in and out like cattle, giving priority to those who spent money over those of us who just wanted to shake their hands and tell them we appreciated their work. In the three days I attended DragonCon, no one from SV ever had more than a few people ahead of me in line, and no one was ever pushed aside for just wanting to say thank you for giving us ten years of memories. That’s why I love Smallville.

Thank you so much Laura, James, Sam, and especially Michael for going above and beyond to make these last few days ones that I’ll never forget.

-Dan / Definitive Smallville Soundtrack