She will be playing the role of a good terminator, named Cameron Phillips, who helps Sarah Connor and her son after the events of Terminator 2. Summer was asked if she feels she is typecast and her answer was yes but that she is OK with it. Someone asked how much of the dance was improvised in the episode “Safe”? Summer answered that none of it was improvised but that the dance was fun except for the heavy boots. She said her legs were so sore from lifting the heavy boots she could barely walk for a few days. She said she used to go over the steps of the dance in her head before she fell asleep at night and could probably still do it. Summer was then asked how she felt now, 5 years after Firefly. She replied that she missed Nathan and was very sentimental about the cast. When asked if she took anything from the set, she said she did not because she was new and followed the rules.
As Summer was answering another question, a voice everyone recognized came over the speakers and said “I have a question.” Yep, it was him, again, Nathan Fillion. Everyone started looking around the room for him as he said “No, I’m not over there. You won’t see me there.” Then, a large shadow appeared on the screen behind Summer. The shadow appeared to be trying to tickle her and the crowd went wild as Nathan came out to join Summer on stage. From that point, jokes and silliness were nonstop and note taking was hard. A volunteer brought out a small chair from the autograph table for Nathan and put it next to the director’s chair that Summer was sitting in. Fans were running to get in line to ask questions. A young boy asked Summer who her favorite cast member was and Nathan was veryinterested in her answer. She finally said to Nathan “You’re everyone’s favorite.” To which the crowd cheered their agreement.
One of the volunteers indicated to them that the time for Summer’s panel was over. So, Nathan and Summer switched seats and the screen behind them changed from “Summer Glau” to “Nathan Fillion” and the crowd cheered like he hadn’t already been on stage for 15 minutes.
A fan asked if they had any pets, Summer said she has a dog, Tuga. Then Nathan admitted to owning a cat called Dirty Cat that he inherited with his rental. The rental agent told him the cat was 18 years old and never came in the house. Nathan thought “that’s good. It never comes in and 18 that’s about when cats…” and made a slashing motion across his throat, because he really didn’t want a cat. Six years and $6,000 in vet bills later, the cat is still aive and kicking. She’s is always in the house and has taken to crawling under covers. “So, when I sit down”, he then sat back like he was getting comfortable and “Rowr!”
Nathan handed out a prize to each fan that asked him a question. The prizes ranged from actual Alliance money from the set of Firefly to stills from White Noise 2 and calendars from Halo 3. There was even a Polaroid of Christina Hendricks in “her box” from “Our Mrs. Reynolds”.
Nathan was asked how it feels when Fox cancels your show; he replied “It gets easier every time”. A fan wanted to know what inspired Summer to act. She said it was a backup plan to dancing. She added she had followed a guy she had a crush on to Los Angeles and stayed. A technical question on how Summer stayed on the ceiling in Serenity. She stated the walls were built to her measurements and that she hung from a hook from her back. Summer stated that he used to get in her face and imitate her smoking in 10 years. When she went for her audition, Summer thought that Nathan worked there because he was serving water to everyone. He went in first for his audition and when he came out Summer asked him how it went. He told her “It went great, but don’t worry. I don’t think were auditioning for the same part”. She also admitted to not playing any pranks, that again she followed the rules.
The next fan at the microphone mumbled his question and they asked him to repeat it. Hey, wait a minute, who’s the guy in the long overcoat and hat, yes, it was Alan Tudyk. Again, the fans exploded in applause and laughter. Alan joined his cast members on stage and the questions resumed.
The next question was how much of your identity do you put into acting? Nathan replied that you have to tap into something in yourself. He said had a hard time auditioning for a role as a smart guy, but for him, Mal was easy. In an answer to a question about pie, Nathan said he is happy with any pie without fruit, except pumpkin. Nathan predicted that if Mal and Inara were to get married, they would be likeThe Honeymooners in space.
Then, Sean Maher tried to sneak on stage and after sharing hugs with his on-screen sis, a fourth chair was brought out. Nathan was asked about the differences in his experiences on Buffy and Firefly. OnBuffy, he was a guest and on Firefly he was home, it was “my house”. In answer to what was the weirdest question ever asked by a fan, Alan replied that he was once asked to take his shirt off. Sean Maher said that one fan was very offended that he had cut his hair. Summer said a fan told her that River used to be her least favorite, but was now her favorite. “Thank you?” Nathan said an older fan told him that they liked his naked scenes and he should do more. “That’s very creepy, sir.”
Joking and silliness continued to the enjoyment of the crowd. With many fans still lined up for questions, the panel was over. It was time for the autograph sessions and then the weekend, the fun and camaraderie of the convention would come to an end. I say thank you to Creation Entertainment, you did it again. See you all next year.
