Power is a State of Mind: For the Love of Sci Fi 2019

Sunday 15 December 2019

For the Love of Sci Fi 2019

Brian Blessed

The first thing I see when I get into Bowlers Exhibition Centre is British actor Brian Blessed, now 83, characteristically yelling into a microphone on stage.

“I went to the Antarctic on a submarine,” he excitedly tells us. “They were asking me to say, 'Gordon's alive!' Then when I went to Buckingham palace to meet the queen, she asked me the same question. Some years later I visited Kilimanjaro and the tribesmen there they wanted me to say it.”

It's Sunday 8^th December, and I'm in Trafford Park for the second day of For the Love of Sci-Fi, a science fiction convention featuring some of the genre's top actors. There's a series of Q+A panels planned, the first of which is with Mr Blessed. He's answering questions, first diving into anecdotes about his role as Prince Vultan in Flash Gordon. His bazooka, he tells us, was actually cardboard, and as he was 'firing' it during takes he was making the sound effects himself. The director Mike Hodges was not amused. “'We put in the special effects!' he said. I never felt such a tit.”

At this point the Tannoy goes off- someone is sending a message to the staff, drowning out Mr. Blessed (if you can believe that possible). He glances at the ceiling speakers. “Shut your face!” He yells. “Do you know I'm huge in Tenerife?!” He then reels off a story about winning a bone-shaped award which, subsequently, one of his pet Jack Russells ate.

Animals play a key part in Blessed's life. He has many pets and gives to numerous animal charities, leaving him with 'not a penny to scratch my arse.' He tells of the difficulties of working with Basil Brush, of how a female gorilla 'tried to unzip' him, and of how a Shetland pony once 'shat everywhere' in his kitchen.

He wraps up, over his allotted time, with a spectacular Pavarotti impression.

After a short intermission, the next guest is brought on stage: Hollywood actor Danny Glover. He opens on Predator 2, as this is a Sci-Fi convention.

“I've always been enamoured with Sci-Fi,” he tells. “I approached it as a thriller. This is my town, so don't come in and fuck up my shit,” he says, referring to the titular predator that dismembers gangsters in futuristic L.A. “I'm just as bad as you are. I can control everything in my territory.”

An audience question: How different is Harrigan (Predator 2) to Murtaugh (Lethal Weapon saga)?

“Lethal weapon was 33 years ago. I had an image of the Cosby Family, a strong, black family. Then Riggs (Mel Gibson's character) was the off-centre bomb going off. I was 39 when I first played Murtaugh, so I was playing older, just like when I started out in theatre. I'll bring my entire life experience. I grew up in San Francisco with farming grandparents. It felt mythical, as my grandparents were born in the last decade of the 19^th century."

Another question relates to the 'bathroom scene' from Lethal Weapon 2.

“It was almost totally improvised,” tells Glover. “The bathroom was full of fishing books. Imagine the most dangerous things happening in the most safe place.”

AQ: Do you ever get starstruck?

“When I worked with Robert Redford (on The Old Man and the Gun) I thought, 'I'm working with Butch Cassidy!' When I worked on Chiefs with Charlton Heston, I called my mom and said, 'guess what? I'm working with Moses!'”

AQ: What are your memories of working with Harrison Ford on Witness?

“It's an amazing film. If you take screenwriting courses, you'll study that film. I particularly chose the role of the bad cop. I met (director) Peter Weir in '83, and he allowed me to pick the role, and feel it out in my own way."

AQ: Are there any roles you regret not taking?

“In '67 I'm a young student at San Fransisco University, I get handed a pamphlet about Nelson Mandela. Little did I know that years later I'd play him for (UK's) Channel 4, and meet him. If I had not read and been moved by his story, would I not be the person I am? Everything we do gives us ideas, has an impact and translates into something much larger than us.”

AQ: Do you do your own stunts, like the drainpipe scene in Predator 2?

“That was me. I did more stunts in Predator 2 than in any other movie. I was 43 years old, almost 30 years ago. It's probably the most physical movie I've done. I was chained, but I did a lot of stunts.”

AQ: What was your favourite role?

“My first role, in Places in the Heart. My mother graduated from college in 1942. I'm sitting on this stage right now because my mother didn't pick cotton; she went to school in September.”

He ends the talk by taking a selfie with the audience.

Danny Glover

Next up: the photoshoot with RoboCop himself, Peter Weller, here with mock-up of his on-screen rival, ED-209. He greets me with a fist-bump.

Flash Gordon himself, Sam Jones, takes to the main stage.

“Eliminate all the noise,” he's saying. “All the distractions. Because I eliminated stuff, now I can enjoy watching the movie. Just focus on the simplicity of, 'what am I supposed to be doing?'”

The audience Q+A reveals a few gems. “You don't turn down anything,” says Jones, discussing his career. “Flash was a triple blessing. One, provision. Two, it's good business. Three, it has longevity, and a fan base. Now at the table watching the film there's the grandfather, father and son.”

AQ: Was he a Queen fan (the group provided the soundtrack) before the film?

“A little bit. There's a documentary out called Life after Flash, and it's a fascinating study on my family. I learned if I want to reach people, I have to be transparent.”

The day ends with a viewing of fan movie Star Wars Origins, set on Earth during World War II. A Q+A session with the cast and crew follows.

A brilliant day, well-organised by Monopoly Events. It's a shame that so meany things were happening at the same time- I'd have loved to have seen the Peter Weller and Dolph Lundgren Q+As.