Tolkien fans were excited for Dragon Con 2023 early on, when Andy Serkis was among the first guest announcements. Then, just a couple weeks before con, the excitement compounded with the announcements that Elijah Wood and Sean Astin would also attend. This would be the first Dragon Con ever for both Wood and Serkis, and the first one in a while for Astin.
I made a point of booking a photo op with the trio (you can see the results later in this article), and planned my Saturday and Sunday around their respective panels. I knew there would be some line-standing involved in getting in to those panels. In the end, I was lucky enough to get in the room for both, and even snagged some darn good seats into the bargain. I confess that I focused more on enjoying the panels than on reporting them, so details of the panels are largely lost in the “fan haze” of the experience. I also apologize for the bad photos. I should have had the sense to bring my good camera. Note to self, for next year.
Saturday afternoon was the panel with Elijah Wood and Sean Astin. The panel was quite possibly the most enjoyable celebrity panel I have ever attended. The SAG-AFTRA strike meant that the actors couldn’t discuss any struck work. That just added to the fun of the panel. The careful side-stepping of naming or talking about projects was, in itself, pretty entertaining, but even more fun was hearing the much more personal stories. Permeating the whole panel was the obvious sincere affection the two men have for each other. The hour practically evaporated, a true delight from beginning to end.
Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis teamed up for a panel on Sunday. Andy was about 20 minutes late (issues getting from photo ops and autographs to the ballroom for the panel – it happens). The mutual affection between the two actors was again evident, and the panel was again delightful from start to finish. Not being able to talk about past work only served to highlight more clearly the passion these two have for their work and gave us more insights into their other interests.
I hope that we can look forward to more Dragon Cons with these actors as guests. They are all generous, energetic, and kind with the fans, and wonderful to talk to. Elijah was quite excited by the Dragon Con vibe, remarking on it with great enthusiasm in both panels. He glowingly described the con as “rad” in one panel and “awesome” in the other. My good sir, we think you are also rad and awesome. Please come back again! All three of you! And bring all your friends!
