The Most Surprising Facts Celebrities Shared at TORONTO COMICON 2018

Stars will open up and be candid at panels at fan conventions and the guests at Toronto ComiCon 2018 were no exception. From March 16 to 18, event-goers learned many surprising facts about the celebrities in attendance at this year’s event.

01. Mitch Pileggi had a genuine paranormal experience.
– It turns out that his role as Assistant FBI Director Walter Skinner on The X-Files is a good fit. Pileggi recounted a story of having a genuine encounter with the supernatural when he went to school in Munich as a child, his father was a defense contractor. After expressing skepticism and mocking the ghosts that supposedly haunted the building, which were barracks for the SS during the Second World War, a brass candelabra flew off a shelf and embedded itself in a door inches from his head.

02. Kristy Swanson rides motorcycles.
– The star of the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer has a love of motorcycles. She spent the first few minutes talking about some of her recent purchases and how she hoped her son would inherit her love but since he’s half Canadian, he’s a hockey player. She’s also crafty. Swanson provided fans with handmade stakes which she signed throughout the weekend, admitting that it’s “surreal” that Buffy still receives recognition 26 years later.

03. Eugene Brave Rock helped create The Chief in Wonder Woman.
– Despite having initial misgivings about his character in the blockbuster superhero movie’s name, which is derogatory amongst Indigenous people, “Brave Rock” worked intimately with director Patty Jenkins to develop the character, using Blackfoot language and even incorporating a medicine wheel into his character’s gun. The Chief’s name, Napi, is even a nod to a character from Blackfoot folklore.

04. Reign would have tied-in to Game of Thrones.
– During her panel, Megan Follows revealed had the CW historical drama Reign received a fifth season, it would have portrayed The St. Bartholomew’s Massacre, a mass murder of Protestants in France by Catholics that Game of Thrones infamous “Red Wedding” was based on.

05. Seth Gilliam will study the blade if he’s in a zombie apocalypse.
– If Seth Gilliam is ever in a zombie apocalypse, he will study the blade. The Walking Dead star revealed that should the dead ever wise, he will seek out a katana similar to Michonne’s.

06. John Wesley Shipp’s father stood up to racial oppression.
– John Wesley Shipp’s father apparently stood up to racial oppression in the South in the 1960’s. Growing up in North Carolina in the 1960’s, Flash star Shipp experienced the Civil Rights movement first hand when his father hosted a multicultural children’s party at the family’s home. His father was a pastor and was promptly fired from his job when he wouldn’t cancel the party and their home was even shot at! 30 years later, the story of what happened became a local legend and after being invited to speak at the graduation of the local high school, the church offered an apology and gave Shipp’s mother the key to the city.

07. Mara Wilson once skipped class to visit the set of The X-Files.
– The Matilda star turned best-selling author recounted a story of cutting class with her college-age brother to visit the set of the X-Files when she was 12 and, fittingly, the only actor she talked with was Mitch Pileggi. She admitted that she broke down when her father asked how her day had gone and spilled the beans. Which led to her father taking her brother’s car keys away, he had another set though.

08. Manu Bennett once considered a career as a ballet dancer.
– The Arrow star lost his mother and brother at a young age. At one point, he considered becoming a ballet dancer as a way to cope. He already had a background as a break dancer, something that was surprising to learn given the tough guy roles he’s known for on Arrow and Spartacus.

09. Mispronouncing Joonas Suotamo’s name means “swamp worm” in Finnish.
– Be sure to learn how to pronounce the new Chewbacca’s name properly, something the moderator learned, since another pronunciation of Suotamo’s last name can also mean “swamp worm” in his native Finnish.

10. The Chewbacca suit is made from yak hair.
– Specifically hair from the animal’s belly. Something else that Suotamo shared.

11. Kristian Nairn was a drag performer.
– Prior to becoming a DJ and actor, the Game of Thrones star was a drag performer who went by the stage name “Revvlon.” He also thinks nothing of “Jon Snow.” Nairn stated an unpopular opinion when he said that finds one of GOT’s main protagonists to be, “Meh!”

12. Marina Sirtis nerds out over football.
– The European version, not the American, something that started the Star Trek the Next Generation star off on a rant. When she got to speak to the captain of Tottenham FC, she had a fangirl moment and later apologized. He accepted it and told her that he was a passionate Star Trek fan. She was also Prince Charles’ “date” to the premiere of Star Trek: Insurrection. Which lead her husband to say he didn’t care who the Prince was, if he made a move on her, he was going to deck him.

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