Highlights from Fan Expo Chicago
This weekend, I had the pleasure of going to FanExpo Chicago where I attended Friday and Saturday of the convention. This convention is held all over the country, and used to be known as Wizard World before the rebrand. I didn't know what to expect as this was my first time attending a Wizard World/Fan Expo convention. My only other con has been Chicago Comic Entertainment Expo (C2E2) here in Chicago. Fan Expo Chicago was a ton of fun, and I hope to go back next year. Here are some highlights from the convention.
Day 1 - Friday
Friday was a day of waiting in lines. Some highlights of the day included a duo photo op with Matt Lanter and Ashley Eckstein, the voice actors of Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano, respectively, in The Clone Wars animated series. Photo ops were quick, but a fun experience nonetheless. I also got an autograph from Ashley, who was super nice and pleasant.
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I was lucky enough to see the amazing Snips and SkyGuy reunion panel, with Ashley Eckstein and Matt Lanter. Ashley discussed mental health and Star Wars where she said she “learned a lot about her mental health through Star Wars. She also mentioned Star Wars Mindful Matters, the video series which is just not for kids, but for everyone of all ages.
Ashley and Matt also talked about their favorite The Clone Wars episode. Matt spoke of the Mortis Arc as they had never really “got to go there before with Anakin’s emotions.” Ashley’s favorite is the Season 5 finale because “even though it's devastating, it's a pivotal moment in Ahsoka’s story.” Another point of discussion was what lightsaber colors they (Matt and Ashley) would have. Matt said purple because he thinks it looks cool. Ashley wanted white because of what it symbolizes.
In talking about the character she portrayed, Ashley mentioned that Ahsoka was originally supposed to have an Icelandic accent, but she could not do one. She sassed Dave Filoni a bit during her callback when he asked her to try again. And that was how she got the part of the sassy Togruta. She also “hopes we get to find out more” about the relationship between Ahsoka and Plo Koon.
Day 2 - Saturday
Saturday highlights included the Four Hobbits photo op, and the reunion panel in the evening. The four hobbits were very nice during my five-second interaction with them. I was also lucky enough to attend the Paper Girls panel, where I was one of the first lucky 150 people to get a free autographed poster from the cast, which was awesome. The girls were all very nice, and I am super excited about the show.
The Paper Girls panel was very informative about the upcoming Amazon Prime series and even showed us some clips from the show. The cast mentioned that the show will “stay true to the source material” and will be as close as it can be as the comic writers are on the writing team. The fun discussion and exclusive sneak peek have me looking forward to the series when it comes out on Amazon Prime on July 29th.
The Four Hobbits reunion panel with Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins), Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee), Billy Boyd (Pippin Took), and Dominic Monaghan (Merry Brandybuck) was awesome. All four actors have a great time with us, and each other up on stage. They were asked to do some improv, which is popular in Chicago.
They also shared some funny behind-the-scenes stories from the set of the films, and answered fan questions like “If you could watch any movie again for the first time what movie would it be?” Elijah said either Star Wars or ET. Dominic said Apocalypse Now. Sean wanted to watch Lawrence of Arabia in London on 44mm film, and Billy Boyd Interstellar. The panel was wonderful, and as a huge Lord of the Rings fan, it was definitely worth the long wait.
Fan Expo Chicago was a great convention and experience. I got to meet some great people, both famous and fellow congoers, and watch some great panels. My only criticism is that the autograph and photo op lines became very chaotic and could definitely be better organized. Overall, it was a ton of fun and I can’t wait to go again next year!
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