Credit: Kerrie Geier
Supanova came through Adelaide over the weekend, whipping the Adelaide Showgrounds up into a bit of a frenzy, so much so that the torrential rain and thunder on the Saturday added to the hectic vibes the pop culture expo brought on its own! I had the pleasure of catching up with some of the guests as they spent the weekend here, meeting fans, having fun perusing the stalls and getting amongst the madness that comes with two days of cosplaying, geek madness. Tahmoh Penikett, representing for Supernatural and of course, Battlestar Galactica, ducked out of autograph duties on Sunday afternoon to spend some time with me in debriefing on the weekend gone.
“I’ve been really happy to finally come to Adelaide!” he says of his time here. “I’ve never been here. I came to Supanova in 2011 and did Melbourne and Brisbane and I’m actually going to go to Sydney for a few days with Jamie [Bamber], we’re doing a little bit of press for SyFy there before Brisbane. It’ll be good.”
http://youtu.be/uVOZN_o7UdE?list=PLj4DBQlOCkzBXrcPv6FS1qRitZJExSc7a
Both Penikett and Bamber were involved in SyFy’s FanCam set up which will travel with the convention to Brisbane this coming weekend, involving the fans in fun and out there videos. As the weekend continued, more Supanova guests became involved, with the station in the middle of the main floor proving to be a highlight of the weekend for many.
“We had a blast doing it!” Penikett says. “Jamie and I got a crazy workout doing it because there are these blazing lights and it’s very physical and we’re doing all these great shots…I got to choreograph a bunch of different fight scenes and I was getting ready and choreographing all these really cool scenes that I thought would look amazing, and they did! They pretty much all turned out, except for Jamie’s and my sweaty pits, that you can see in the shot!”
The Canadian actor, who has remained fiercely passionate about his heritage and the amount of Canadian talent existing in film and TV in particular, comments on the state of the industry in Canada currently, with more and more productions basing themselves in those territories, as we draw similarities between the Canadian landscape and ours here in Australia.
“There was a lull of work happening in Vancouver,” Penikett explains. “A lot of people were worried about it because most of the productions were heading into Toronto, but there is a tonne of work happening in Vancouver now. It’s amazing for the economy and it’s amazing for local artists and if anything, it’s putting a lot of money into the local economy again. In some ways, it’s facilitating and encouraging indigenous product. We’re at the point now, where there may have been an idea in the past, maybe ten years ago, that a lot of the writers and actors still situated in Vancouver weren’t worthy or capable of handling leading roles or to be writing feature scripts. Now, you’ve got some local talent coming out of there, a lot of the actors there are very respected and a lot of them come right out of Vancouver and lead some series’ and are getting significant supporting roles in feature films. That idea’s has changed. It’s great for us, it’s wonderful for our economy; we make a significant contribution to that industry and to that medium.”
“Australian actors in particular have played such a significant role in film and television for so long. You guys produce per capita, an incredible amount of actors, very talented and capable ones. I’m happy for you guys, there are a lot of similarities between our two countries. We’ve both got so many metropolises and we’ve both got proud indigenous cultures in both countries. We’re also big countries with a fairly small population, I mean Canada is bigger than Australia, but not by much.”
With some of his fellow Supanova Supa-Stars Sydney bound this week for a series of holiday hijinx including diving with sharks, Penikett is using his time off to work on studying up for his next project. A busy schedule keeping him travelling working for much of 2014 already, Penikett isn’t slowing down as we reach the end of 2014 either.
“I have a tonne of homework to do.” he admits. “I’m shooting a webseries right after Brisbane, as soon as I head back, I’m right into shooting every single day. I’ve got to get some homework in! I’m working right through until the 21st of December, so I’m not getting much in the way of holidays. I’m getting a week off and then of course, pilot season starts in January and there is another project we’re looking at. Things are busy! It’s good to be busy.”
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Catch Penikett and the rest of the fantastic Supanova crew when they come through Brisbane’s Convention and Exhibition Centre this weekend, November 28th-30th. Visit www.supanova.com.au for more information!
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