Salute To Supernatural New Jersey 2012 - Meet and Greet With Jared Padalecki Recap

08 Aug 2012

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Created on Wednesday, 08 August 2012 10:13

Last Updated on Sunday, 09 June 2013 22:44

Written by {ga=metamorphic-rocks}

Sunday was Jared’s meet and greet, so 20 of us headed into a conference room, drawing numbers to see where we would sit amidst the two rows of 10 chairs.  At 12:50 pm, Jared walked in- light blue shirt, jeans, and boots- all smiles and ready to chat.

He first talked about getting Thomas’ passport photo, and mentioned that Thomas was very new at the time, and the passport people were making all kinds of demands like he couldn’t smile and he had to have his eyes open (try telling a new baby not to sleep!), and it was difficult to get the picture, and ultimately the photographer had to hover over Thomas and take the picture with him lying down.  Then he said that technically, Thomas has to undergo the passport interview as well!  Some joked about that, making up pretend interview questions:  “Has anyone asked you to hold any packages? Can you hold any packages? Are the contents of your diaper your own?”  We all had a good laugh over that. 

Next, someone said they saw a recent picture of Genevieve, and that she looked incredible and so fit after just having had a baby, and Jared said she gets a workout carrying Thomas around all the time (he’s in the 98^thpercentile for height and weight) and she never sits down, so that’s how she did it.  Jared commented that Thomas gets heavy to carry around, but then Gen will carry the baby for over an hour at a time, so Jared knows he can’t complain.
 
One person asked Jared what book he is reading now, and he stated he doesn’t have much time for reading now that he’s a dad, but he just downloaded a book while in Vancouver called “The Longest Day” (an account of D-Day), and he was well into it now.  He also mentioned that he doesn’t get to play “Words with Friends” much anymore, and proceeded to show every one of us his phone as proof that it had been 125 days since he last played. 

While he had his phone out, he decided to show us a picture of Thomas.  He said he likes to keep those pictures private, though he did want to show the fans the photo of Thomas (or HippopoThomas, as they call him) in his USA outfit that he tweeted, but since we were all there supporting him for the meet and greet, he wanted to share one more with us.  He then went past every one of our chairs, showing each of us an adorable shot of Thomas, sans shirt, so we could see how gigantic Thomas’ belly is.  Needless to say, it was a pretty cute moment.  

Someone brought him Fantales candy, and he opened one up and gave us the trivia questions on the wrapper (they were guess the actor by the films questions), but he said he would wait to eat one.  Less than two seconds later, of course, he popped one into his mouth.  

One fan told Jared she really enjoyed seeing his audition tape (to play Sam) on DVD, and asked if we would we ever see Jensen’s audition for Sam, and Jared said that at some point we might. On that same topic, someone asked how Jared thought the show would be different if Jensen had ended up playing Sam and Jared had played Dean.  Jared answered that it would probably be a totally different show, and it might not have lasted this long, because their roles as they are now just really fit each of them.  One fan then raised her hand and said Jared just embodies Sam perfectly, so it worked out how it was meant to. 

Someone brought up “The Born-Again Identity,” and asked Jared how he decided to convey the aftermath of being tortured, because though Sam knew the details about the torture, the audience got almost no specific information about it, so she wondered if he researched torture or did any other “homework” to realistically portray it.  Jared said that he did prepare for it, but not in a Supernatural way.  He told us that torture, though physical, can also have non-tangible manifestations, like the absence of hope.  So he decided to play out the aftermath in that type of way. 

Someone continued with that same episode, and asked how difficult it was to play the effects of lack of sleep and that sense of despair that Sam had, which was so completely different from Soulless Sam who also didn’t sleep.  Jared said that he thought about real people,  like the kids who went to war (like those from the “greatest generation”), who were so young and brave, many who were tortured, and how that must have been for them, and while shooting those scenes he often kept them in his mind.
 
We shifted gears onto the Season 5 episode “The Real Ghostbusters,” when someone asked Jared how he thought the show walked that fine line of laughing with fans versus laughing at them.  Jared said they all saw it as more of a shout-out to fans, just like any meta episode (he specifically mentioned Season 6’s “The French Mistake”), and that they felt all those in the fandom would get it, even if an outsider might not see it in that light. 

One person then asked what is motivating to Jared as an actor.  He said that he loves redemptive moments for a character, and cited the movie Shine as an example.  He explained that in the movie, Geoffrey Rush’s character (Australian pianist David Helfgott) is fighting mental illness, and in one scene goes into a restaurant/bar and sits down to the piano (after not playing for some time).  He is taunted by some jerk who doesn’t know him and harasses him to play, thinking it will be a big joke, and then Rush’s character proceeds to blow everyone away by expertly playing “Flight of The Bumblebee.”  He said that it is such a great redemptive scene, and Geoffrey Rush’s performance helped inspire Jared to become an actor. He also said those redemptive themes can often be found in Supernatural. 

We were almost out of time when something happened.  A quiet fan raised her hand and told Jared how inspirational he had been to her.  She got very emotional, and I won’t go into any detail about what she said so as to keep her anonymity, but it was obvious how difficult it had been for her to speak up and show her vulnerability to Jared and the rest of us sitting there.   I bring it up because I have to share what happened next.   Jared popped off his chair, and in about 3 seconds was at her side, saying “give me a hug.” He spoke in such a reassuring way to her, telling her she had the support of everyone in that room, and we spontaneously (Jared included) broke out into applause for her.  It was pretty touching, and a few people got teary eyed watching it unfold.  I thought she was very brave (and later told her so), and I hope she knows, wherever she is, that although it’s great that Jared inspires her, she is ultimately the one who did the work to get herself to where she is now. 

With that, our meet and greet ended.  Jared thanked us for our support, and with a gracious “I love you guys,” he left the room.

It was a great half hour.  And now, I have to talk about one last thing before closing.   It’s always enjoyable and exciting meeting, and spending time with, members of the Supernatural cast.  For some fans, and for many varied reasons, it’s also very emotional.  They draw inspiration in many different ways from this show, and its actors, and when fans finally get to meet them, it opens up all kinds of feelings for them.   I happen to have been witness to a few of these instances at the last two NJ cons.  Specifically, I was directly behind someone last year in Jared’s photo-op line, and this year, in addition to Jared’s meet and greet, I was also directly behind a fan in Jim Beaver’s autograph line.  Each time, Jared and Jim were so kind and responsive, truly taking their time with fans overcome with emotion, even while the Creation people sometimes got impatient and tried to move the fans along.  Both guys held fans’ hands, hugged them, and spoke comforting and supportive words to them.  Even though we suspect (and hope) that this will be our guys’ reactions, it’s always nice to see it in action.  So when we hear the term “Supernatural Family” bandied about, we really can believe it.    

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