It certainly was Celebrity Central this weekend as the 20th annual FAN EXPO CANADA took place at Metro Toronto Convention Centre this weekend. Known as the “Comic-Con of the North”, the four-day Gathering brings together Genre Fans and their favourite Artists under one roof for a Celebration of Fandemonium.
Names new and returning graced the Conference Halls, Photo Booths and Autograph Stations, being met with thunderous applause and starry-eyed admiration. The likes of Ian Somerhalder (The Vampire Diaries), Stephen Amell (Arrow), Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings), William Shatner (Star Trek), Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The New Generation), Matt Smith (Dr. Who), Richard Dreyfuss (Jaws), Nathan Fillion (Castle), Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead), David Morrissey (The Walking Dead), Michael Rooker (The Walking Dead), Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) proved most popular among Fans, many of them quickly selling-out Photo Ops with Fans at prices of up to $125 per Snap. Reedus turned quite a few heads walking through the Convention on Saturday with a Rob Ford mask, having fun with it!
Cosplay Artists more than ever were the rage of the Fan Expo Canada this year, the elaborately-costumed Performance Artists drawing long lines among their Admirers, including the likes of Jessica Nigiri (who unfortunately had to curtail her visit short one day) and Nadya Sonika.
Toronto’s Amell drew a large crowd today in one of a few Fan Q&A Sessions hosted by SPACE‘s Morgan Hoffman. On his Cousin, Actor Robbie Amell recently being cast in new Series The Flash as Firestorm, he tells his Fans he had knowledge of this well in advance. “He (Robbie) sent me a text in all-caps and I was like… I know!”, admits Amell. ” The only time we ever teamed up was playing Beer Pong, so Firestorm and Oliver Queen may soon cross paths.”.
Somerhalder as expected, always draws a large female Audience speaking candidly about his Character Damon being killed on People’s Choice Award-winning TV Series The Vampire Diaries, stating he only found-out about the news filming the fifth Season’s second episode. In response to the many marriage proposals he received from his Fans, he says “You don’t wanna marry me. I have five companies, a TV Show and an Organization which operates in 180 countries… I didn’t even know there were 180 countries!”. The Actor was spotted by Fans arriving a couple days back with current Girlfriend, Actress Nikki Reed of The Twilight Saga.
Toronto also got a rare opportunity to see The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Star Elijah Wood, known best for the role of Frodo Baggins. The Austin Native tells Fans at his Q&A that he finds it odd when Fans dress-up as Frodo, but also enjoys Fan Conventions. “It is the one time you get that concentrated experience meeting a lot of people at once and I like it!”.
Missed Fan Expo Canada this year? Learn more about it here and start planning for 2015!
It wouldn’t truly be Fan Expo without a couple Photo Ops with some of my Faves:
Mr. Will + Elijah Wood:
Mr. Will + Matt Smith:
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
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