Tag: Nerd HQ

SDCC 2015: Nerd HQ’s ‘Supernatural’ Panel Featured An Incredible Donation!

by Melissa Sanchez

Popular CW show Supernatural returned for another year to Conversations for a Cause on Sunday. It was the second to last panel for Nerd HQ and arguably one of the most anticipated. The small room that holds 200 was so packed that some fans had to stand against walls as they waited to see actors Jared Padalecki (Sam Winchester), Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester) and Mark Sheppard (Crowley) take the stage, with Aisha Tyler (The Talk) as the moderator. Absent from the panel was everyone’s favorite gullible angel, Castiel, played by Misha Collins. Jensen tried to FaceTime him during the panel, but he did not pick up.

At the start of the panel, Tyler told the crowd that Padalecki is a fun drunk and that he was dancing around the room an hour prior to the panel starting. Padalecki then explained that he was only having fun since it was a solo trip with his wife and kids at home.

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The Q&A portion of the panel began with a donation to Operation Smile in Padalecki’s honor for his birthday. An out of country fan announced to the room that she had been collecting donations from Padalecki’s fans and raised $1,400 which she presented to him as a check. Padalecki was overwhelmed with appreciation and came down from the stage to give the woman a hug.

Padalecki wasn’t the only one to leave the stage and jump into the crowd. Sheppard came down as the next fan asked if the cast could wish his wife a Happy Birthday. The woman received a hug as well and “sexy dance” from Sheppard while her husband watched and the crowd laughed.

The next audience question was more directed to the cast. Since Ackles had recently taken the directors chair, did Padalecki or Sheppard have any plans to direct future episodes? Padalecki expressed that directing does interest him, but he simply can’t commit the time to it with his family responsibilities and his current role on Supernatural. Sheppard on the other hand, replied that he would love to one day get the chance to direct, but he’s not sure if it will be soon.

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Another fan asked, “What ideal universe would you live in?” To the crowd’s applause, Jared answered Stars Hollow (the fictional town from the show Gilmore Girls where Padalecki played good guy Dean Forester). Ackles answered Salem 2040, while Sheppard would like to live in his own fictional sitcom coincidentally titled Oh Crowley.

Another question was “Who inspires each of the men to ‘Always Keep Fighting?” This was in reference to Padalecki’s foundation with the same name to help those struggling with depression. Padalecki cites his family as his main inspiration, as well as the support from the fans. He also adds aside from the fantastical elements, Supernatural is just a show about two guys doing the best they can to survive. Sheppard states he believes the show is an allegory for life’s struggles and that is something he and everyone else can relate to. To him, things that are done with love and a helping hand during dark times is what inspires him. Ackles agreed with both his cast mates adding that the interaction and strong connection to the fans is one of the biggest things he is inspired by.

The moderator points out an audience member dressed at The Doctor (Doctor Who) for the next question. Sheppard jumps down into the crowd to greet the noticeably tall fan and straighten his bowtie, claiming he gets to do this since he has appeared on Doctor Who. Padalecki then goes into the crowd and stands next to The Doctor, who happens to be surprisingly taller than the 6’4” actor. Sheppard shouts, “Jared, welcome to my world!” as the crowd claps and laughs. Aside from being taller, Padalecki also points out that the fan has longer hair than him as well.

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The crowd’s laughter continued as the next fan to come up to the microphone was wearing a unicorn head. The unicorn’s mouth got stuck in the microphone as she asked her question, resulting in many ‘That’s what she said’ jokes. The crowd and cast finally settled and she was able to ask her question.

Padalecki and Sheppard later recreated a scene per a fan’s request with Ackles directing. The panel continued by discussing the absent Collins’ GISHWHES scavenger hunt and whether or not they’ve submitted challenges. Since Misha Collins was not present, the guys told stories about pranking him and throwing pies in his face. At this point, Zachary Levi came out and joined the cast briefly talking about his new show Heroes: Reborn. He also spoke about Operation Smile and how much it means to him that there have been so many donations.

As if the panel couldn’t get any funnier or weirder, a young girl dressed as Harley Quinn asked what the weirdest fan encounter each of the guys has had. Jensen told the audience he has had spells sent to him with foreign soils and bones among many other creepy things. Mark told a story about how he went to New Zealand and had an encounter with an excited fan. Upon trying to calm her down, she told him “I’m just trying not to shit myself!” The room erupted into laughter.

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The entire panel was full of silliness and fan interaction, leaving the audience anticipating the eleventh season of the show.

Supernatural returns with its eleventh season to the CW on October 7, 2015.

For more information on Jared Padalecki’s organization Always Keep Fighting visit represent.com/jared

For more information Misha Collins’ GISHWES and how to join visit gishwes.com

For more information on Operation Smile and how to donate visit operationsmile.org

SDCC 2015: ‘The Maze Runner’ Cast Talks Budget, Gender-Swapping, And More!

by Melissa Sanchez

Saturday night’s biggest panel at Nerd HQ was with the cast of Maze Runner, back for their third year in a row. Lead actor Dylan O’Brien (Thomas) was joined by cast mates Ki Hong Lee (Minho), Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Newt), Rosa Salazar (Brenda), Giancarlo Esposito (Jorge), director Wes Ball and Maze Runner author James Dashner. The panel opened with a woman asking if she donated a smile to Operation Smile (the charity which Conversations for a Cause benefits), would the cast take a photo with her niece? They happily obliged, raising even more money for the charity. Zachary Levi, the owner of Nerd HQ and moderator of the panel, thanked the woman and her mother stating they have given at least 50 children smiles from their attendance over the last five years.

Veterans to the franchise, O’Brien and Lee were asked if they had any advice on running for the newbies in the movie? They laughed it off, responding that they have enough trouble themselves and the others picked it up quickly. Another fan asked each panelist what they geek out about themselves since they are at Comic Con? O’Brien answered the Mets, Lee replied pizza, Brodie-Sangster chose Star Wars (the originals), Salazar picked Batman, Esposito likes Flash Gordon, Ball added Star Wars as well, and Dashner stated Game of Thrones, Star Wars and Breaking Bad. Someone asked how much Dylan has gained from his character Thomas,  the cast sang Happy Birthday to another fan, and they also spoke about Maze Runner composer John Paesano and how the cast grew from the first film to the second. For the actors, they spoke about the transition from TV to film such as getting into a character and the time restrictions between the two.

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Levi got more in depth with the cast about how much has changed from the first to second movie, not only in regards to the casting additions, but locations and budget. Director Wes Ball cited that he wanted The Scorch Trials to be epic. The palette of the film changes from the dark maze and the glade to a “sand-filled, rusty, scorched world.” The film took 58 days to complete in comparison to 43 days for the first. Because of the success of the first film, Ball exclaimed how excited he was to receive a bigger budget to play with on The Scorch Trials, adding bigger and better scenes. Dylan threw in his praise for Ball for his dedication and passion to the film and in return Wes thanked the cast for their commitment.

Next, a fan asked about the theme of the sacrifice for the good of the group versus the good of the one, and how Dashner’s role as a parent impacted the book? James responded that, though his number one goal is to entertain the reader and help them escape their world for a while, his personal life and things that are important to him seem “to naturally bleed into the story.“ He added that the important message of the books has always been about friendship, loyalty, and sacrifice. Another question asked was, “if you could play any other character in the film who would it be?” Half of the cast answered Newt, for his wisdom and being the glue that holds the group together. They joked around on stage with Salazar stating her character Brenda doesn’t “Fuck around!” The silliness continued when an audience member asked if the cast could make up their own slang like in the books, what would it be? O’Brien holding his mic upside down then switching it over answered “Meshuganah”.

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Another fan asked about a scene shown in the movie’s Hall H panel the previous day. Since the majority of the crowd let the cast know they were not able to get into that panel, the same clip was then played for the Nerd HQ audience. After the clip was shown, Wes talked about how the scene was lit with nothing but flashlights to make it look more terrifying and authentic. Also discussed were who the influential people each character’s name came from (ie: Thomas for Thomas Edison, Newt for Isaac Newton) and who Minho was named after since the reader still does not know. James responded that Minho actually is the name of his niece’s husband and as for the influential person he will be in the future, it can be left open to interpretation. Lee said he would like his character to actually cure cancer in the future and be his own influential person.

The panel closed with the question of, “if each character could be gender swapped, whom would each actor like to play their respective characters? The panelist, stumped for a minute, finally got an answer from Giancarlo saying he would like Selma Hayek to play his character. Ki added Angelina Jolie for him while James chose Taylor Swift for Dylan’s character Thomas. O’Brien joked it wouldn’t work due to Swift’s long legs which would probably cause her to get tripped up while running. Rosa chose Tony Revolori from The Grand Budapest Hotel. Thomas stayed in thought while his cast mates threw out names like Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lawrence. A crowd member in response to the Lawrence suggestion replied “No, too sexy” which caused the whole room to laugh. Levi bounced back with saying about Brodie-Sangster “Do you see how sexy that man is?!” causing Thomas to blush and the crowd to go wild.

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Before leaving the stage, the cast greeted the fans and took several selfies with the crowd.

The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials comes out September 18th via 20th Century Fox.

For more information on Operation Smile and how to donate visit operationsmile.org

SDCC 2015: Nerd HQ’s ‘Sherlock’ Panel Was A Total Blast!

by Melissa Sanchez

It was the second day of Comic-Con, and the first panel of the morning for Zachary Levi’s Nerd HQ. Fans anxiously lined up at the New Children’s Museum in San Diego to see the Sherlock panel, which would feature writer Steven Moffat, producer Sue Vertue and actor Rupert Graves (DI Lestrade). Attendees were first treated to a short new clip of the show, which garnered screams for Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock Holmes) as he took to the screen, and chuckles as interactions between Watson (Martin Freeman) and Mrs. Hudson (Una Stubbs) took place. After the clip, the three panelists then came out and were introduced by Levi.

Fans asked the panelists questions, such as the thoughts between Moriarty and Sherlock’s mind palace, as well as similarities and differences between Sherlock and Moffat’s other show Doctor Who. Another audience member asked how one is able to fake a hand and trigger and shot to the mouth (in reference to the show’s season two finale where Moriarty performs the exact scene). Audience and panelists erupted into laughter as Moffat finally said, “It’s utterly unfakeable.”

Rupert was asked what his favorite and most difficult scenes were to film, and he answered that, aside from when Lestrade first sees Sherlock, he thoroughly just enjoys his lines on the show. He then added that it was a treat to finally act in a scene with long time friend Una Stubbs (Mrs. Hudson). Another audience member cited being a fan of married couple Moffat and Vertue and asked how much of the real life couple was in the characters Susan and Steve from Coupling? Sue noted that a lot of it is based on truth. The three were then asked if they were more of a Sherlock or Watson, to which Moffat answered Watson, claiming that he wasn’t nearly as intelligent as Sherlock. Rupert reported he wasn’t even intelligent enough to be Watson, he’s just Lestrade, while Sue confidently cited she was definitely Sherlock. Moffat then added he can confirm his wife is the closest thing to a genius sociopath while chuckling.

More questions were asked such as what is Lestrade’s ideal date? And how has the relationship between Sherlock and Lestrade changed over time? Moffat gave insight to his thoughts and intentions behind what he wanted the viewer to feel in season three’s finale His Last Vow, saying he just wanted people to watch and want more of the series. Other such questions included if there were any plans to include more family members into the series (with Steve and Sue’s son Louis Oliver making a cameo as a young Sherlock in the episode His Last Vow)? How does Moffat decide what Sherlock stories to focus on? Does Moffat know where the end of each episode is going? Rupert delivered his characters infamous line “You bastard” upon a fan’s request. Additionally asked was will the “other one” make an appearance? Do any stories written with intentions for Sherlock end up showing up on Doctor Who and vice versa? And how does this show’s Lestrade stand out from previous depictions of the character?

Moffat and Vertue talked about the writing and dialogue of the series as well as the comedy of the show. The relationship between Sherlock and Mycroft was also discussed and how the latter is the smarter brother. The panelists answered what has surprised and delighted them from the fans in response to the show, which included a large female fan base and the fan fiction and art that is created. They talked about whether or not it is difficult to get back into shooting and writing since the series is so spaced out, and how much supporting character involvement in the show is decided for each episode. The development of a character over time and what the best man and maid of honor speeches were like at each panelist’s wedding were also topics of discussion. The panel closed with a fan asking Moffat whether or not he would make a cameo on Sherlock as the character Moffatt since they share the same name? Moffat responded, “I’m really shit at acting” and would not fit in very well.

Though fans have to wait quite a bit to see a new Sherlock episode, this Nerd HQs panel seemed to hold them over despite the absence of the main stars.
Sherlock’s fourth season is expected to return to BBC America sometime in 2017 with rumors of a Christmas special later this year.

For more information on Operation Smile (the charity Conversations for a Cause benefits) and how to donate visit operationsmile.org

SDCC 2014: See ‘SONIC BOOM’ at Comic-Con!

by jake108

New games? Yes. New merchandise? Yes. New TV show? Wait, what?

Nerd HQ will once again be the destination for the SEGA fan in you as they will be using Petco Park as a platform to showcase Sonic Boom™: Rise of Lyric (Wii U) and Sonic Boom™: Shattered Crystal (Nintendo 3DS).

If for some reason you can’t make it there, you can find these titles and experience the “boom” on the main SDCC floor at the Archie Comics Booth #2842!