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Convention Information

BURBANK, CA
(Los Angeles Area)
Fri., Sat. & Sun. January 25 - 27, 2008
Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel
2500 Hollywood Way

Guests

Lucy Lawless
Renee O'Connor
Brittney Powell
Tsianina Joelson

Ted Raimi
David Taylor
Daniel Sing
Steven L. Sears
Katherine Fugate
Liz Friedman
Zoë Bell

Adrienne Wilkinson

 

2008 OFFICIAL XENA CONVENTION
Burbank, California, USA

January 25 - 27, 2008


Photos & Reports

Created and maintained by MaryD

Con 08 Burbank David Taylor

Review by KTL
fsktl@uaf.edu

Who’s David Taylor, you might well ask. David Taylor is the original Solon. I’ve thought for a long time that it would have been nice to get the boy who played Solon to come to a con-we haven’t had any children on stage ever. Of course, now the boy who played Solon is like 25 years old. You know, right this moment, I wonder who the youngest guest onstage at the con has been. Ebonie, who played M’Lila? Katie Stuart who played Genia in Many Happy Returns? Hmmmm. If someone wanted, I guess they could do a search online and check out the date of births of the guests. I don’t want to particularly.

We had our first glimpse/interaction with David at the dessert party. He was charming and friendly and dare I be an old biddy and say it, respectful. He was amazed by the fact that we were still around loving the show but he gave absolutely no vibe of thinking we were dumb or losers or weirdos. Not that any of them have done this, but he’s so young and a first timer to the whole experience. Now I’m sure the cynics among us are thinking, "Well hell, he’s paid to be there!" And yeah, sure he is. But he was also NICE about the whole thing. C’mon-lots of people try to make fun of us. But David had a sincere interest in us that was very obvious. And sweet.

Okay, on stage. One of the first questions many guests get is "What are you working on now?" He told us that he’s not working as an actor. Over the last four years, he was in that transition period between being a kid and being a man. And people don’t know where to place child actors-they worry that he’s too old to play a kid and yet too young to play a man. (He IS young looking.)

David was asked how intense playing Solon’s death scene was. I believe that part of the question was about him having to just lie there while Lucy held him in her arms and screamed her head off in grief. He mentioned her screaming in his ear and said, "You can’t even flinch since you’re dead". He was also asked if they’d gotten it in one take or did they have to do it again. He said they shot it a few times. "Lucy has this incredible ability to get into character." That when they would yell cut, Lucy would be Lucy, not Xena. She just dropped the character immediately. "We’d be chatting-‘What are you doing this weekend?’ They’d yell, ‘Action!’ and then she’s SCREAMING right next to my ear. I thought, ‘well, I won’t ask that again’."

He said he wasn’t on TV when he was cast. And that he always had looked young. "At 14, I looked like I was about 10."

He talked about having gone to the Dessert Party the night before. And found it "intense and amazing".

He was asked about "Bitter Suite". He said, "Everyone is breaking into song. A little bit out of character." It was only a one day shoot for him.

A fan mentioned Orphan of War and brought up him having a sword. David said this was great for a boy. (Boy? Ahem. On this show grrls get to play with swords too, young man.) He said he liked it that "My father is the great Borias."

"This was about a little boy trying to be a man." He talked about how there was great weather in Auckland when they filmed this. "I always enjoy outdoor work." Then he talked about how there was anger in that little boy.

He was asked about playing in "Hercules and the Amazon Women".

"I was lucky enough to be in a village being attacked by Amazons."

There was another question on "Orphan of War". It was about the last scene, where Xena walks away, leaving her son behind. I think the question had to do with how hard was this to go through. David said it was "A very emotional journey. It’s hard for the character-not for an actor."

He was asked about how they ended the character of Solon. He said he was "Disappointed in the scene. No actor wants their character to die. But if you HAVE to die, do it on Xena. ‘Cause there’s always the afterlife."

How did he get started in acting? His brother was the one who wanted to act. His parents enrolled them in classes. He talked about working as an actor. "Every audition is like trying to get a new contract. In a regular job, you’re hired indefinitely."

Fan: "Did you see Lucy and Renee as maternal figures?" "Lucy more so-she was the mother of my character. They’re fantastic. On set they always looked after me. They were my mothers on set." AWWWWWWWWWWWW.

A fan said something like, "You had to die-for the good of Xena’s emotional growth". David immediately replied, "You’ve been talking to the writers, haven’t you?"

"It’s really cool to look back and see I was a major part. . .Yeah, I had to die."

Solon came back in "God Fearing Child" but they recast it with a younger actor. David said, "I had a growth spurt." And he talked about how would they have explained how much bigger Solon was. "It was a bizarre reaction-that after death, I’m suddenly a foot taller?"

There was a really good question, "How did Hope kill you?" He looked at the fan for a bit and then said, "My understanding was that she stabbed me. There was a blade-but no blood." I seem to remember that someone talked about her powers – that some people thought she’s kind of killed him with her mind. But David said that she had stabbed him.

A fan yelled something out and he repeated it for us, "Was I aware…of…you guys?"

"No! I had no idea. I think it’s fantastic. This is the 13th year after the show started. I was really surprised."

Adam of Creation came out from behind the scrim and said something about they should have had David come sooner. He started to say, "What were we thinking?" but then changed that to "What weren’t we thinking?"

David said he took about two seconds to decide whether to come or not. "The weather in Auckland was really rubbish. There or sunny California?" He laughed and so did we, since it had been pouring for at least two days already. (And in fact the day before, when Xena fans were picketing to help the writers’ strike, it not only rained on them, it HAILED on them too.)

David said that for four years, he had had no acting work. "This is an amazing door opening."

He was asked about having to do an American accent. And he said that he asked them which one-a Southern accent, a New York accent, there’s so many. But that they said to him, "No, no-you gotta be neutral."

"In New Zealand, you can’t live off acting. You have to move to the U.S. or the U.K. It’s hard when you’re a Kiwi and you love your little island country."

He was asked how long he would be staying and it was like only until Monday. We gave out a disappointed "Aw" for him.

He told us he’d been cruising around enjoying the sights. "I went over to Pasadena yesterday and almost got run over 100 times." (A number of the Kiwis have referenced this in the past-about how we drive on the other side of the road here.)

He told us he was 25 now. "Got married three years ago." I believe we applauded for him, maybe for her. "No offense to you all, but she’s the most beautiful woman in the world." We lapped it up. (There’s MANY real romantics in this fandom. . .)

He said, "I work with an export office-well, we’re not export—though we export stuff." Then he laughed and shook his head and said, "I can’t believe I’m talking about my desk job at a Xena convention."

Fan: "Got any kids?" "No-but we have 3 cats and a dog. I said ‘No’ after 2 cats, but they kept getting cuter!" We liked that comment.

He told us he had worked with Lucy before. They were both on "Black Stallion". "We met briefly there."

He was asked what the difference was between working on the Herc movie and working on Xena.

"I was 12 when I worked on Hercules. On Xena I was older, so more aware of plot, etc." He said, "On Xena the main attraction was with women. On Hercules, the main attraction was with men." (Speaking of the characters he played, I believe.)

It’s possible someone asked him about getting off work to come here. "I hope my boss doesn’t notice I’m gone." He said about having to explain where he was going, "I was really embarrassed." I think because they didn’t know he’d been an actor maybe-or maybe that he’d been on Xena. A fan yelled out, "Show ‘em the video!"

David looked at the banner behind him which included Solon’s face. "Look at the hair." A fan yelled out, "Was that really your hair?" He points to himself on the banner. "No." He told us that he had a band of real hair (his own I think?). "The extensions were horse hair. How do they come up with these things? It was very, very strange-when changing into my wardrobe to feel hair on my back." I showed my dad a picture of me as Solon. He asked, "Who’s that girl?"

And then his time was up.

As I said, to me he came across as a nice kid-respectful, interested and appreciative of us. And like most Kiwis we’ve seen at the cons, very funny in a very self-deprecating way.

It strikes me that including men (or the "boys to men" like David) balances out the star roster a bit in terms of gender. There sure were a lot of women on this show and that is reflected in the estrogen laden line-up. Heck, the only man we regularly get is Steve Sears. But at least he’s man enough for anybody.

KT

 

 

 

 

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