To continue our story of what we did on Thursday at San Diego Comic-Con 2018, after the Doctor Who panel wrapped up in Hall H around 12:45pm, we headed over to the Indigo Ballroom at Hilton Bayfront. We noticed that it seemed like a lot of other people leaving Hall H were doing the same thing – which made sense. We were all Whovians who wanted to see the panel of someone who had appeared on Doctor Who before. And that someone was John Barrowman.
Although the Anything Goes with John Barrowman panel wasn’t until 2:00pm, not only did I want to guarantee that we made it into the room (considering that it was #7 on the overall Popularity list on Sched, and #3 for Thursday), but I was also interested in checking out the panel before it, which started at 1:00pm. The panel was for YouTube’s upcoming series called Origin which stars Tom Felton (aka Draco Malfoy of Harry Potter fame) and Natalia Tena (Tonks in Harry Potter, Osha in Game of Thrones).
Indigo Ballroom
We had never been inside the Indigo Ballroom before, but it was easy enough to find our way there, as there were arrows on the ground outside the Hilton Bayfront directing you which way to go. Well, that and we were able to follow the crowd who was also heading over there! The arrows led us to the back of the Hilton, facing the marina. Then we went up the escalator. There was a security guard at the bottom of the escalator who would stop groups of people to ensure there was no overcrowding, then would left a few more people up.
At the top of the escalator, there was no longer a straight line. Instead, the previously orderly line turned into a crowd. I soon saw why that was: there were several tables set up for bag check, so people were just migrating to the first available/shortest wait to have security go through their bags. After that, we were directed to a winding line which had been taped off on the floor. From there, we were slowly let into the room.
Exclusive First Look at New YouTube Originals Sci-Fi Thriller: Origin
By the time we got in and found our seats, it was about 1:20pm. There were only single seats available, so Josh and I had to split up. Luckily, we were only one row and a few seats apart. When we walked in, an episode of Origin was playing on the screens. Since we came in late, I’m not exactly sure just how much of the episode was shown. We ourselves saw several minutes of it.
The show is about a group of strangers who are stranded on a spaceship bound for another planet. There seems to be a large international aspect to the show, as a sizable portion of what we saw was in Japanese with English subtitles. This part seemed to be a flashback. Warning to the faint of heart: this isn’t just sci-fi – it’s horror as well! Something got into one of the passengers and his body began contorting in all different ways. Indeed, during the audience Q&A later, an audience member asked how scary the panelists would rate the show on a scale of 1 to 10 – because she couldn’t handle the little that was shown! The panel seemed to agree that it was about a 7.5.
The panel included cast members Tom Felton, Natalia Tena, Sen Mitsuji, Nora Arnezeder, and Fraser James, as well as writer/creator/executive producer Mika Watkins, and director Paul W. S. Anderson.
The panelists spoke about how there are so many international elements involved in Origin, including the different cultures and backgrounds the actors come from. That’s because the people on the spaceship were meant to be a slice of the world, with people from all over trying to colonize a new planet. They’re all from different places, but they’re all cooperating.
The show was filmed in Cape Town, South Africa, where it was very beautiful, but they were all far from their families. Arnezeder brought up the fact that the show is also about leaving their families and their life behind, so it was a great analogy for their real situation.
Given how tense the show is, the moderator asked how the panelists broke the tension on set. Tena said that they just cracked Harry Potter jokes. (Both Felton and Tena are Harry Potter alums.) Felton revealed, “I was called Draco for the entire shoot!” He admitted that he had given her a green light early on, “but it was to my detriment.”
Watkins talked about how the characters would be breaking up into groups. She explained that at first, Tom Felton is a clear antagonist, but that changes as the show goes on. Arnezeder added that the antagonist is actually the unknown, which makes it creepier. Felton chimed in that the show is constantly morphing every episode.
When the panelists were asked if they would you take the opportunity to go to this new planet, Theo, if it was real. Tena replied that space is terrifying, and that if she went, she would need certain things likes musicians, coffee beans, and goat cheese. Fraser James commented that if we became aware of a planet with no war, no poverty, no disease, it would be something to consider. However, it was pointed out, wouldn’t we take all that with us?
The panel was opened up for a few audience questions.
One question was how do they keep the other cities familiar but unique to this universe? Every episode, they are trying to show somewhere different. Tokyo is urban. Other episodes are set in suburbs of Washington DC, but it looks pretty much the same as it does now because 40 years ago it still looked the same. So sometimes things change and sometimes they don’t. In Cape Town they had a wide range of settings to use.
Another question was about the similarities between Tom Felton’s character on Origin and his character on Harry Potter. Felton acknowledged that reviews of the show compare his character in Origin to Draco Malfoy. He commented, “One was a wizard with crap parents, the other is a petty drug dealer from California. I really could not align those two.” However, he did admit his character on Origin is “not the friendliest person in the world, I guess you could say that.”
Watkins spoke about how every episode is like its own film, self-contained, so you’re always seeing something new. The moderator chimed in that we’ll be seeing so many different things, it’s not just the spaceship.
The question came up of how they handled the water crisis in Cape Town. We learned that they had to use a bucket of water to shower. Mitsuji added that he had picked up a bad habit. In Cape Town, you’re only supposed to flush if it’s #2, but then it was hard to break that habit after he left. “That’s my apology to the hotel.” Felton commented that he can’t hear a tap now without going to turn it off, because it’s just wasting water.
Regarding practical effects, Anderson said that they tried to build as much as possible. In fact, they took over 2 studios in Cape Town to build the spaceship. Even in Tokyo they tried to build as much as possible. He added, “Thank you to YouTube for giving us all that cash!” and said that any time they could do it practical, they tried to.
When asked if they did any research for roles, James told us that he was on Youtube a lot, looking up things like “What is an occipital lobe?”
The panel wrapped up soon after that, but it seemed like only a small handful of people left. It was enough that Josh and I were able to sit together though. Most people were probably mainly there for John Barrowman, like us, but I’m glad I got to see at least some of the Origin panel and a little of the episode, as it seems like something I would be interested in watching.
You can check out more of our photos from the Origin panel below.
Anything Goes with John Barrowman
For those unaware, John Barrowman is best known for his role as Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and Torchwood, and more recently for his role as Malcolm Merlyn on Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow. We have had the pleasure of seeing John Barrowman’s hilarious one man panel a few times before, such as at Phoenix Comicon (now Phoenix Comic Fest), Comikaze (now LA Comic Con), Gallifrey One, and Long Beach Comic Con. However, we’ve never seen it at San Diego Comic-Con. I feel like it’s usually on a Saturday — while we’re in Hall H. Or else it otherwise conflicts with our schedule. But the stars finally aligned and we were able to catch his SDCC show!
John Barrowman came out on stage debuting his latest cosplay — which he dubbed as “Captina Americana”! He made sure to show off his high heel shoes, which he told us he had gotten for $45 from Amazon Prime — on sale — but that the total cost went up to $1,500 when he added Swarovski crystals to them! He got things started off by saying, “I’m here, I’m queer, I’m ready to steer.”
He told us about how a mother had asked him earlier if it would be okay to bring her son to the panel. Her son was 13 and she was concerned about the swear words and the content. It turned out she was at the panel after all — and brought her son! He asked her, “It’s not so f*cking bad, is it?” and then told her “Welcome to the world of John Barrowman crazy!” John went on to say that his motto is: “Never apologize for being a nerd, because non-nerdy people don’t apologize for being a$$holes.”
John told us a little story about when had an emergency around this time last year and had to go to the hospital. One morning he woke up feeling queasy (“I knew I wasn’t pregnant,” he added). When his sister came to check on him later that afternoon, she was surprised to find him leaning over in pain, which worried her because he never gets sick. She then drove him to the doctor, as John demanded that she drive faster — even though she was going 80mph in a 35mph speed limit zone!
After giving him some pain medication, the doctor told him he had two options: either his sister could drive him to the emergency room, or an ambulance could take him. His sister asked how much the ambulance would cost. To which John Barrowman pointed out he paid $1,500 for shoes and put her kid through college, and demanded an ambulance! But then the drugs kicked in, and he asked how much the ambulance cost. The doctor answered that if something happened while his sister was driving him — like his appendix bursting — then John wouldn’t be their responsibility anymore. So he made the decision to get the ambulance.
When the ambulance came, they put him on a gurney, and he was very drugged up with pain medication. He felt like he was in Heaven, reminiscing, “You should’ve seen the EMTs.” He made comments to them like, “I’ll do you, and you, and then you for dessert.” His sister apologized on his behalf, but they said they knew who he was. And even though there were only supposed to be two EMTs, there were three because they all signed on when they saw his name come up! Then when they said they needed to take his temperature, he rolled over with his bottom up! But they had to tell him they don’t do it that way anymore.
Once John was admitted to the hospital, he was told that they would come in to prep him at 5am, and that his surgery was at 7am, and he would be out by 9am. Nurses kept coming by to check on him and give him “assistance” — in the form of pain meds. He kept posting on social media in his inebriated state. John said his parents had to call the hospital to take his phone away! Finally he fell asleep.
But then they came at 3am to prep him for surgery — and said that his surgery was scheduled for 5:30am! He started freaking out, because his family had expected his surgery to be later, and now that it was earlier, they wouldn’t be there when he came out of surgery. They then told him they had to shave him — but then soon realized he was already shaved.
John was brought to the prep room before surgery. This was the first time he had ever had surgery. A nurse came by and had him sign a form — so that they could resuscitate him. He kept thinking about how he didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to his husband Scott, or his parents, because you never know if something is going to happen. Someone came by and put a catheter in him. He happened to be a fan and asked for selfie. John let him, as he was thinking it might be his last one. In the surgery room they had him count backwards from 3 to 1. The next thing he knew he was waking up in the recovery room, crying hysterically, asking for his husband.
The one takeaway from the story he wanted to emphasize is that when you’re high on drugs, don’t let someone take a selfie with you! He is fearful that the selfie he took is going to pop up somewhere.
Speaking of getting high, he talked about going to a party at Comic-Con last year, and someone gave him a vape with a fruity flavor. He didn’t realize what was in it, and inadvertently overindulged. He walked the whole way back from the party to his hotel room with his head down, bending over. At one point, he suddenly stood up and said to the person he was with, “There’s a creature coming toward us!” and the person replied, “Yeah, it’s f*cking Comic-Con, John!” When he got back to his hotel room, he kept having panic attacks and was on the phone with his sister all night. So he advised us that if you ever see anyone walking like that from an EW party, you know they’ve been vaping.
John then opened up the panel for audience questions, the first of which asked for his opinion on the first female Doctor. He replied, “I’m ready for her. I think it’s about time!” He thinks she will be an amazing Doctor and completely different. We also learned that the person who designed the 13th Doctor’s costume, Ray Holman, also makes suits for John. One time when John went to have some suits made, in London, the outfit was hanging on the wall! They admitted they did it deliberately. John wanted to put it on, but he didn’t. He went on to point out that there’s nothing in the Whovian text that says the Doctor has to regenerate into a man, and that the only reason the Doctor was a man for the first 50 years was because the show was run by men. John also said that there’s always some time we spend getting to know the new Doctor, and once we get to know her this time, instead of him, she is going to take us on some incredible journeys.
The question came up of how John decided on his Captina Americana cosplay. John explained that he felt like at the moment, a lot of things were happening in the world that could affect him personally, being in the LGBT community. He also told us that he was a naturalized immigrant and that his parents came to this country in 1976 because they wanted the “American Dream.” And now John is living the American Dream. So he wanted to show that even looking like this version of Captain America, you can still have the American Dream. John added that that’s why it’s important that everybody votes.
Another audience member asked John how, in his opinion, Captain Jack became a giant floating face. John’s theory goes back to a speech that Captain Jack gave about the many ways in which he has died, but says that he’s never put his head on a railroad track — implying that this eventually happened at some point. He likes to think that they decided to put his head in a jar because his body was causing “too much havok around the universe.”
One young woman thanked John for his character showing her that it was okay to like both girls and guys, and asked him what he thought about the different representations on shows becoming more normal. John said that for him in his world, gay, lesbian, bi, and transgender has always been normal. He likes seeing these various representations becoming the norm on TV, but one thing he doesn’t like is when they are stereotyped. John also spoke about how many LGBT people who are older are still not out to their parents, and that they should come out, because there’s a whole generation that has fought for them to be able to be out. He added that in these times when things might be taken away, the more people who are out and proud, “That’s how we win.”
John invited a mustached man wearing short shorts up on stage with him, and they got a little cozy. The man’s name was Murray, and apparently he had dressed as Freddie Mercury and attended John’s panel the prior year, when he had only gotten pictures but failed to get video of John telling him, “Murray, can you bend over a little bit more?” So he wanted to get video of John saying that to him this year! Of course, John obliged.
John ended the panel by singing two songs. The first, he explained, was about falling in love with whoever you want. He and his husband Scott got married the day that gay marriage was passed in California. The song was A Thousand Years by Christina Perri. The second song was called I Am What I Am.
Once again, John Barrowman did not disappoint. We always have a delightful time at his panels, which always have us cracking up, but at the same time, are inspirational.
Following John Barrowman’s panel, we left the Indigo Ballroom and headed back over to Hall H for the Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad panels. Stay tuned for our recap and photos of those panels!
You can view more of our photos from John Barrowman’s panel at SDCC 2018 below:
