Sean Astin showed his quality at South Texas Comic Con — the very highest. Photo credit: South Texas Comic Con.
South Texas Comic Con (STXCC) took place in McAllen, Texas, on May 9-10, 2015. STXCC is a young con – 2015 is only its second year – but it’s spending its youth well, bringing in a range of headliners.
One of the key guests this year was none other than Sean Astin, loved by The Lord of the Rings films fans as Samwise Gamgee. I hadn’t had the opportunity to meet Sean before, so I was hardly going to miss the chance when Samwise the Brave was coming to a con so close to where I live in the vastness of Texas. Armed with both a VIP admission and media clearance, I headed to the con at the appointed hour.
The obligatory con line. Photo: Valdis Longbeard.
As with all cons, even small ones like STXCC, I arrived to find a line of eager fans waiting for the doors to open. My VIP admission got me in the line for the door that would open earliest (a perk of the VIP admission), and we didn’t have a terribly long time to wait.
STXCC: Time-lapse Video of Day 1 (Video credit: South Texas Comic Con)
The con was housed in the main exhibit hall of the McAllen Convention Center. I admit that, for me, this con was almost entirely about Sean Astin. I also had the opportunity to meet some really terrific fellow fans, and introduce some new folks to Middle-earth News. I even ran into some great young cosplayers. Unfortunately, I was not able to get a one-on-one interview with Sean, but I did have a chance to chat briefly in the autograph line and during the photo op. In one exchange, Sean asked me how long I thought it would be before someone did another version of Lord of the Rings. I replied that the existing films are so magnificent, why would anyone want to do others? He said, “There’s ALWAYS another one,” and then gave me his prediction: “Fifteen years.” He said I could quote him on that number, by the way, so there you have it!
I met this lovely Galadriel cosplayer (Cara Ingram) on Saturday while waiting for the photo op with Sean. Photo: Valdis Longbeard.
This Witch King cosplayer (Elizabeth Casanova) was pretty scary. Photo: Valdis Longbeard.
Sean did two panels, one on each day of the con. I’m such an intense LOTR fan that I was somewhat surprised that, on both days, the majority of the questions were not about LOTR, but about Rudy and The Goonies. Of course, this makes perfect sense, I’m just too much of a Tolkien dork to entertain the notion that any film would be more interesting to a fan than LOTR. Fans were treated to a bit of an extra floorshow on the second day, as Sean worked with the photographers and technicians to set up a “special limited edition” Mother’s Day photo to help support the con. He had helped swing a deal with the photographers to lower the price of the photo, and he provided an autograph as a bonus. Besides the sheer pleasure of listening to Sean talk about his experiences, there were two particular highlights for me from the panels, both on Sunday. One was being officially made a Goonie (along with everyone else in the hall), and the other was helping wish a Happy Mother’s Day to Sean’s mom over the phone. In case you’ve forgotten, that’s Oscar- and Emmy-award winning actress Patty Duke. Her Oscar is for her performance in The Miracle Worker opposite Anne Bancroft (who also won the Oscar for her performance in that film). The Miracle Worker is one of my absolute favorite (non-Tolkien) films of all time. Perhaps I’m showing my age, but it was an absolute thrill to hear this renowned actress on the phone.
Photo: Valdis Longbeard.
The one thing that Sean said during his panels that has really stuck with me came near the end of Sunday’s panel. He was talking about his experiences going to various cons, and how fans are always so happy and grateful that the guests come to places where the fans live, and how welcoming and warm the fans always are. He said that the thing that he has learned from going to these cons is that con experiences show people, “You can touch your dreams.” He has it, right there, in a nutshell.
Sean made a special “limited edition” Mother’s Day photo before his Sunday panel. Photo credit: Wolf Studios,South Texas Comic Con.
Thanks for a great weekend, South Texas Comic Con, and I hope that the event keeps growing. And thanks to Sean Astin, our Sam, for being so warm and generous. I’ll keep my interview questions in a safe place, for next time.
