Burbank X-Files Convention January 13-14 1996

When I heard Gillian Anderson's first convention appearance would be at the Burbank Airport Hilton Convention Center, all I could think about were the snide comments Johnny Carson used to make about lovely downtown Burbank. Burbank's not so bad, however, I'd been to the Burbank Convention Center before for an overcrowded convention. I had no doubt that the facility would prove a little small for someone of Gillian's popularity. The Center has only one large ballroom (1500-1700 capacity) and 2 small meeting rooms. The facility proved to be more than adequate for Saturday's, however, as I predicted, Sunday was jam-packed.

Due to the size of the expected crowds, the bulk of the dealer's tables were located in a distant meeting room in the adjacent Hilton Hotel -- not in the Convention Center. This, in addition to Creation's tables being located in the lobby, may have lead many people to believe that our Starland crew didn't even make it to the show. Fortunately, because of the larger crowds on Sunday and as a result of increased signage, we did get to see more people on the second day.

I want to apologize for not being able to make FBI badges for everyone that wanted them at the show. We had a camera and were making photo ID badges at the convention until the Fox people got paranoid about it. We had cleared it with the FBI office before-hand, however, in the absence of any written authorization, the Fox reps felt it might open them up to legal hassles. If anyone wants one, just send us a wallet-sized photo and your signature on a white piece of paper with $10.00 and we'll make one up for you. We won't be bringing the equipment to any future Official X-Files shows.

I would guess Saturday's attendance was about 600 people and Sunday's over 1700. I saw an awful lot of Press and VIP passes both days. I remember a lady handing press passes to her three kids on Sunday. I'll bet a lot of people have found-out that a free press-pass is a lot cheaper than the $35-$50 daily entry fees that Creation charges to get in.

There were a lot of mixed reports about the convention at the dealer's table -- that happens at any show. The biggest complaints were about the lack of events and not enough diversity in the dealer's room. I know in our case, we are severely limited on the types of items we can bring for sale. Fox doesn't want anyone to bring any "Unofficial" X-Files items like the Unofficial X-Files Companion or the Starlog X-Files magazine to the show. We are expressly asked not to bring anything that is Star Trek. Fox is really concerned that the X-Files shows not turn into just another Science Fiction convention. I really like the "touches" that they have added to the dealer's room with video and slides projected on the walls, however, I would like a little more light in the Dealer's Room. It really gets bad when people aren't sure what color shirt they are buying.

If you didn't make it to the Burbank show, and/or you'd like to make it to the next one, keep checking here. Since Fox doesn't like to publicize the shows too early -- I'll post them as they are given to me.

Gillian Anderson's Appearance

In a standing-room-only ballroom at the Burbank Convention Center, Gillian Anderson waited backstage while a twelve minute compilation of video clips featuring her character from The X-Files played on a giant projection screen at the back of the stage. The audience cheered louder after each successive scene and went wild upon seeing a clip from the most recent episode. When the lights came up, a young-looking, shy woman walked onto the stage to a thunderous standing ovation. The first words out of her mouth were, "Holy Cow."

Gillian apologized for not being prepared with a speech and commented, "unbelievable," referring the response from the audience. She then proceeded to ask for questions from the crowd. Without a pause a throng of eager fans then rushed to the stage for a chance to talk to "Scully."

The first person in line asked her about the bug she ate in the "Circus Freaks" episode. Gillian then told the crowd she'd let them in on her big secret. She didn't eat any bugs -- well, not really. It seems the show's crew had prepared, at great expense, several chocolate bugs for her to eat. However, after she saw that another actor had to have live bugs crawling all over him and even out of his mouth, she felt ashamed and decided to bravely eat a live one herself -- only, she confided, she didn't swallow it but promptly spit it out after the scene.

Next came a few questions about what it was like working on the show. She responded that it was hard work. The long hours, sometimes late into the night and learning pages dialog for the show made it real hard job. She made several comments throughout her talk about the great deal of work that goes into each show. Each episode starts with two weeks of preparation then eight to nine days of principle shooting with twelve to sixteen hour per day -- and that's just the principle photography. The second-unit crew puts in even longer hours and days on each show. One interesting thing she mentioned, was all the work her hand double does. She said the second unit (and her hand double) film almost every scene that doesn't require her face in a shot. By doing so, Gillian and David are able to work on other scenes - perhaps from two to three different episodes - during the same week. She mentioned occasionally filming scenes for an episode they thought they had finished the previous week! When an episode needs to be lengthened, Chris Carter will write a quick scene -- just to add a few minutes to the show.

She is looking for movies to film during her next hiatus from the show. She said she really liked "Pulp Fiction" and enjoys "Period Films." She acknowledged that David Duchovny might be getting more attention than she does on magazine covers and interviews right now. However, she felt that it was probably due to his being in the business longer than her. She commented that her body of work "is just a few plays and a couple of movies that didn't even go to video."

One person addressed the apparent "feminization" of Gillian Anderson in recent magazine articles and photos. Gillian admitted that there has been a conscious effort on her part to broaden the public's perception of Gillian Anderson so that she doesn't have to play a conservative FBI agent the rest of her career. When asked what it was like being in bed with David Duchovny for the Australian Rolling Stone cover, she clarified the question by saying, "You mean, what was it like having my naked breast against his chest?" After a good laugh, she commented that, "It was fun, his skin is soft" and that "he was gentle."

She made it a point to thank David's fans for the booties and gifts that she received during her pregnancy and after giving birth. Having a child has taken a toll in her ability to perform stunts. She related how she remembers falling down repeatedly for a scene after she was pregnant (but before she was aware of it) and noting afterwards how sore she was. Happily, her daughter didn't suffer any ill effects from her stunts during the pregnancy, but she admits she has cut-back on the number and intensity of the stunts she performs since the pregnancy.

She feels fortunate to be able to have Piper join her on the set each day. She feels that the first months of a newborn's life are the most important time for a mother and her child to bond. She expressed her understanding and a sort of pity for mothers that are not able to be with their children after childbirth.

Perhaps the most touching part of her appearance came when she related a story her nanny told her. One Friday night, when she wasn't home, her daughter Piper recognized her on TV. She then happily toddled up to the screen to get her mother's attention. (It was at this point in the story that Gillian got teary-eyed and her voice faltered with emotion.) When the scene ended, Piper started crying. She was crying because she wanted to know where her mommy had gone.

Gillian said that her dog doesn't have a stage name yet. She said she wanted to name the dog after her husband "Clide," and that others on the crew preferred "Yappy."

At one point, Doug Hutchison, posing as a fan, asked Gillian what it was like having the handsome Tooms character on top of her. Caught off-guard, she said she thought he was a "Great Guy" and remembered that it was her birthday when they filmed the scene. Doug, continuing in his obvious fan persona, then said, "I'd love to take you out for some liver."

Regarding her being more of a "believer" than David, she said she has always had an interest in ESP, paranormal and angels. She said she has a desire to believe in miracles, near death experiences, and the like although she hasn't personally experienced those kinds of things -- other than the occasional weird experience or de ja vou.

One of the more unusual questions was, if she were peanut butter, would she want to be chunky or smooth? After pausing to figure out if she heard the questions right, she then answered, "Chunky, because it's nutty!"

Generally, I would say that Gillian did great for her first convention appearance. She seemed a little overwhelmed at first, but warmed to the experience. She obviously wanted to answer every question as truthfully and carefully as possible. She was very considerate of every question asked her -- even the ones that did not deserve a response.

After her Q & A, Gillian signed autographs for everyone. I personally feel that was WAY BEYOND the call of duty. It's my fear that signing for three-plus hours might have turned her off on making future personal appearances. The line was several blocks long before she finished talking and I think she was still signing when I left the Convention Center at 8:00pm. I would prefer that she not sign for more than an hour or preferably, shake everyone's hand instead. A personal handshake is more intimate than the exchange of a quickly signed photo across a table. The whole autograph experience seems too automatic to me. An actor sitting at a table, pumping out carbon copy autographs for one person after another until their wrist cramps from exhaustion. I just think it's insincere and contrived -- and this coming from someone who makes money selling autographed photos.

©1996 Stephen Walker, permission to reprint is granted if you mention www.starland.com as the source.