Subj: Vegas Con Report
Date Posted: 11/20/99
By: (-|-)* Judith
Anyway, before Rene came out they showed a new video (new to me, at any rate) to the rock tune "Bend Me, Shake Me (Anyway You Want Me)". Don't know the singers, but the video was very well done and had a lot of nice morphing moments. Then Rene was introduced and came bouncing out on stage.
He looked fabulous! He was wearing a lovely black jacket and slacks with a black, button down collared shirt. He looked good enough to eat. [*eg*]
Anyway, first he mentioned that he was working on a movie starring Mel Gibson called "Patriot". He stated the hotel he was staying in was like being incarcerated and it felt good to get out.
He said it felt like a bit of a time warp for him to come to a convention again, now that DS9 is over; he's been doing so many other things since last Spring. But he was glad to see all the enthusiastic fans and asked if people had been over to see the Trek exhibit at the Hilton [applause]. He asked if they still had one of his masks for sale there [cries of "Yes!" and more applause] and then muttered speculatively, "Mm...and what are they asking for it...?" [laughter and applause, and one fan hollered out the amount ($2,500?)] Rene then grinned and said out of the corner of his mouth, "Hm...I wonder when I'll see any of that..."
He specifically asked for questions, stating that if he just spoke free association it could be dangerous and he usually gave long answers anyway that the fans loved, but the con handlers hated. A microphone in the center aisle had been set up and people with questions lined up.
He was first lavishly praised for his role on "Chicago Hope" [much audience applause] and was asked about how he prepped for the role.
He indicated that he was given the script ("What A Piece of Work Is Man") four days before filming and after he read it, he asked them for reference material, video preferably, of any kind that he could study. They sent him a documentary film called "Twitch and Shout" by Laurel Chiten (sp?). He said it was fascinating and discussed Tourette's syndrome a bit, saying how there were various levels of symptoms from very mild to extremely exaggerated. He said he decided to go with the more visible symptoms, but a little less than the most extreme for dramatic purposes.
He said that his reaction to the episode might have been hampered by his initial viewing, that being while it was raining and he was stuck in his hotel room feeling down about things. On top of that, he had asked his friends to watch it before it aired, and after he saw it, he was sorry he had because he was not very happy with the performance. [Some audience tut-tutting] Since hearing from other people about it, he's felt much better. The lady who asked the question stated that if she didn't know about him as an actor, she would have thought the show's producers had hired a person with actual Tourette's Syndrome. [audience agreement and more applause] and Rene thanked her again.
Someone asked him about the most physically demanding role he's had, referring to the Chicago Hope episode.
Rene mentioned needing to see his chiropractor after the episode, only half-jokingly. Interestingly, he also noted how difficult it was doing the screaming, in particular the screaming match with Mandy Patinkin. It was very harsh on his vocal cords and he said the scene with the baby in the critical care unit where he's talking to her was filmed after the shouting scene with Mandy in his office and he noticed after watching the episode how it had affected his voice.
Rene also noted that Tessa (his daughter) had told him after hearing his Odo voice that he was going to damage his voice by talking that way all the time, but he felt he could safely get away with it on TV due to the breaks between shots and not having to project it as he would have to in theatre.
He segued from that to his most demanding theatre production, a show called "Metamorphosis", where he had to do a great deal of shouting and very physically demanding scenes. It was so hard that he actually lost his voice during the run and his backup had to go on for him. The back up, a Mr. T.C. Cobb (?) happened to be in the audience and Rene had him stand up and receive a round of recognition. Then he joked about how his backup had failed miserably, of course.
He was then asked about whether he had encouraged his kids to go into acting.
Rene shook his head, but with a bit of chagrin, noting that he had expected it, particularly in regards to his son. He said he just knew his son was going to be an actor as soon as he started walking and talking. He related this in a very funny way; pretending to be looking into a crib and then shaking his head fondly, but sadly and resignedly. His daughter, however, fooled him, because she was devoted to her ballet dancing and he thought he would have a dancer on stage in the family, but she abruptly began to take acting in college. He mentioned that Tessa was now looking for work, while Remy would be graduating soon and then he'll be looking for work.
Someone then asked him about his role in "My Best Friend Is A Vampire".
He thanked the fan for their kind comments and said it was fun, and that his character was very flamboyant and dashing and he enjoyed shooting it. He particularly praised Robert Sean Leonard and David Warner for their work in the film. He also noted it was nice that his character, a vampire, actually turns out to be a good guy.
Someone else asked about his credits and background, etc.
Rene kind of joked saying "You want me to talk about me? Well, okay..." and then mentioned that if they wanted a more complete listing than he could give by memory to check out his webpage. He indicated that he and his wife were both amazed looking at his webpage list of his roles. He didn't give the URL, but he did mention the list (RAFL) and how there were fans of his keeping tabs of his events and suggested people do a (web) search and that there were a lot of very interesting sites about him on the web.
Someone else, trying to ask if Rene might do another sitcom, instead accidentally asked him about Odo doing a sitcom.
There was a great deal of laughter and applause as Rene did a takeoff of Lucy/Desy with Odo/Kira. "Kira? Kira, I'm HOME!" and also in Odo's growly tones used the Honeymooners line of "To the moon, Kira... to the moon!"
The next question was from a lady about his involvement with Amnesty International, the person basically praising him for his involvement and wanting to know how the AI work was going.
Rene very carefully said he was mainly involved now with Doctors Without Borders, stating how he felt very strongly in the work they were doing in Kosovo, etc. He then mentioned there were pictures he'd brought for people that he would sign if they purchased them, intending to give the proceeds to Doctors Without Borders, but since she had brought up AI, he'd donate half to AI and half to DWB for this con. The lady presented him with a bottle of Nevada wine in thanks.
Someone asked if he was Xyber9.
Rene laughed and said yes. There was some polite applause and the questioner stated he hoped it would continue, that it was a neat show. Rene shrugged and said they had 22 episodes so far and that he had just filmed 4 new ones, but that they were up against Pokemon. [Audience groaning.] He segued from this after the audience calmed down into a short explanation of how he collected pictures of himself from all the roles he did. He explained that on shows, the makeup department always took pictures of you in the character makeup for continuity purposes and he always requested a copy for himself so he'd have a picture of the role he'd played. Since he'd been playing Odo for so long he didn't have any new pictures in his album, but now that he's been off since just April, he has eight new pictures already, including the Xyber 9 committment.
Someone in the audience quipped "So Odo's forgotten." Rene quickly disagreed, saying "No, of course not." [Lots of indignant audience response.] He added that Odo would always be remembered due to syndication, etc. There was applause in re: this and his comment that there would be no Odo or Trek without the audience.
A nervous fellow stepped up and asked Rene was he in "Little Mermaid".
Rene very cautiously said, "Yes?" There was some tittering and the fellow persisted, asking, "So which part did you play?" Rene asked, "You mean you really didn't know?" The guy seemed genuinely baffled, both by the question and the audience response [knowing laughter].
Rene shook his head and then tore right into a very animated version of "Les Poissons". Afterward he wiped a bit of sweat from his brow, laughed and said he really had enjoyed doing that role, but now he felt like Judy Garland having to sing "Over the Rainbow" everywhere she went.
A fan in full Klingon attire asked him about his Klingon role in "Apocalypse Rising" and which makeup was easier, the Klingon or Odo?
Rene talked about Colm's response to the makeup and how Armin and himself got very annoyed at how much Colm whined and moaned whenever he had to wear any kind of makeup, whether he was a Klingon or had to look older or whatever. This in light of the fact that Colm typically wore almost no makeup at all in his normal guise, and therefore didn't have to always wake up at 3:30 in the morning to get into makeup when he was on, the way Armin and he did. Rene stated the Klingon makeup was much easier than his own normal makeup. The fan followed up by telling him that in his opinion, he had made an awesome looking Klingon. Rene thanked him.
Someone else asked about the possibility of a DS9 movie.
Rene said he didn't think there would be a DS9 movie, but thought there was a possibility some of the DS9 characters might appear in a ST movie, although he doubted Odo would be one of them. [some audience "ah's" of disappointment]
Another fan stepped up and said he had seen him on the television show M*A*S*H and asked - was he or was he not Father Mulcahey?
Rene said he was in the original movie, playing a character called Dago Red that was turned into Father Mulcahey for the television series, but that he was never in the series. He then talked about not taking the TV role, and never regretting it as he was just getting started as an actor, and that he felt he would have been typecast and would never have gotten the role of Odo if he had. He also added rather sagely that as wonderful an actor as William Christopher (Father Mulcahey) was, he had no idea what he was up to now, and was glad to avoid that fate.
The next question was about DS9's last year and how Rene felt about it.
Rene was pretty honest, stating that in his opinion, the writers had started to run out of steam, and that DS9 probably should have ended sixth season. However, with Terry Farrell's defection and the addition of Nicole DeBoer as Ezri Dax, the tired writers gratefully latched onto the Ezri character as a god-send, because they had someone new to write for and were able to churn out newer storylines. He felt, however, that the writers waited too long before realizing that it was the FINAL season and that they had to really start wrapping things up and therefore it all might have been handled better.
He added that he didn't blame them, because it's very hard to write for a show for that length of time. He said that people have asked him about if he's sad that his show was cancelled and he said that in his opinion, when a show runs seven years, it really isn't what he would call "cancelled", but rather that it had a successful run.
A fan asked him how he felt about the general lack of respect towards DS9.
Rene stated he didn't think there should be more than one Trek show on at a time, that DS9 came on during a time of more competition in the SciFi TV field than TNG, and that he felt it was very unfair to compare TNG ratings to DS9's for that reason. He indicated that (in his opinion) if TNG had aired in the same environment as DS9, competing with Buffy, X-Files, Xena, Hercules, Voyager, etc. that it would have received the same kind of ratings they had, ratings that he felt were quite respectable even despite the competition.
He also stated that he felt DS9 would get more respect as time goes on, and that he thought that Star Trek was what paved the way for the other SF shows.
He was asked about doing a love scene with a co-worker who was married to another co-worker.
Rene laughed and said he'd been asked the question before, though not so directly before. He mentioned due to all the crew being there, and the full head mask he wore, it wasn't a problem -- that it was the ultimate in safe sex.
A young lady asked him about what DS9 episode (if any) had changed his way of thinking or had broadened his horizons.
He indicated that it was probably "Duet", thanks to all the elements in that episode and how it illustrated personal growth. As for an episode that was personal to him, he mentioned "Chimera", saying "shim-er-ah, or ky-meh-ra, or however you want to pronounce it". He indicated that this episode really resonated to him in re: relationships and how they change and grow.
Another fan asked him about how he made the decision to go into acting.
He said very reverentially that it was probably his mother. She was his biggest supporter, a very vivacious and flamboyant person. He added quietly that she was gone now. [much audience sympathy] Then he talked about his family background, how his father was a writer and worked with clay, and how his grandfather was a famous artist in Europe, and therefore that it had been easy and almost expected for him to go into a creative field.
He added that having grown up in a Who's Who sort of theatrical neighbourhood had been a huge impact on his choice of work. He mentioned baby-sitting for Lerner who wrote "My Fair Lady" with Loew (sp?), about going to work at the age of 16 with John Houseman and knowing the avuncular Burgess Meredith, running errands for them and getting to hear all the stories of the "craft". He added that he'd been acting since that age (16) and therefore we were looking at 43 years worth of experience, and that he couldn't imagine any other kind of life.
There was still about 15 minutes more of time for Rene to talk in, however, this was the moment we had to regretfully exit in order to get our friend to her plane on time, so that was all we managed to get. My thanks to Karol and Cecy for helping me piece this report together after my (brand new!) Memorex microcassette recorder punked out on me. :-/
Anyway, over all, the main impression of the weekend was - FUN! It was great getting together to dish the dirt and see the dear one looking so incredibly sexy (when doesn't he?) and get a chance to hang loose. That said -- go hang loose gang.
The con was held on Saturday, November 13, at the Plaza Hotel in Downtown Las Vegas; Rene wasn't slated to talk until 5pm, which left plenty of time to investigate some of the other diversions Las Vegas has to offer.