My brother-in-law, Michael, and I got up
at the ungodly hour (ungodly for us, as
we are night people) of 6:30am! We arrived
at the hotel about 20 minutes before the
doors opened and were the second people
in line. When we got our tickets we had
to wait about an hour before they opened
the convention. I was starting to get excited
at this point (I was just starting to really
wake up at this point). I kept checking
the door and the ticket area for Carly [Carly
Smith, Veteran Fan-Sapien and Dougie-Approved
Puppy Handler - Ed.], but no
luck. I did spot Danny Trejo, a character
actor I’ve seen in a number of films,
in the hall and was surprised to discover
he was not a huge, scary man. In fact, he
isn’t tall at all ... shows what the
camera does for someone.
Finally
we were allowed to go into the Celebrity
Room. When we got in there were only like
3 celebrities there ... and Doug was not
one of them. I found Doug’s table,
which they were in the process of setting
up. I spotted a tall guy in a cool looking
suit with a name tag which read “Derek”.
So I asked him if he was the Derek I had
read about on the forum and he said yes.
He informed us that Doug was going to be
late as he wasn’t even physically
in the building yet. I was slightly disappointed
but still excited. Still no sign of Carly.
One of the celebrities present was Count
Gore De Vol, a local Horror Movie host and
former children’s show host, whom
Michael grew up watching. So we spoke with
him for a while until he had to leave. Then
we decided to go check out the vendor room
downstairs and check back later.
So now it’s
later and we returned to the Celebrity Room,
where more celebrities had arrived. However,
still no Doug. So we decided to go meet
some of the other celebrities. First was
another visit to the Count, who graciously
posed for a picture with Michael and signed
an autograph. While he was signing the autograph
I hear someone say, “Noelle?”
and turn to see my Puppy Handler, Carly.
I informed her that Doug was late. She went
to speak with Derek, and then said she and
her entourage were going to the vendor rooms
and would meet us back at Doug’s table.
Next we met William Katt, from Carrie and
Greatest American Hero. He was very pleasant
and engaging. We each got an autograph and
a photo with him. Still no Doug, so we went
to speak with Corbin Bernsen from LA
Law and Psych. Also very pleasant.
I got an autograph for my Mom who loves
Psych and we each got a photo with him.
Still no Doug.
By this
time there were two other people at Doug’s
table so we decided to get in line and just
wait. Some other people began lining up
behind us. I overheard Derek telling the
woman setting up Doug’s table that
he told Doug not to rush since he’d
just gotten off the plane. Michael says
he probably flew into BWI, which put him
about 45 minutes away. Not 2 minutes later
I see a shadow pass behind me and look up
to see Doug, in the flesh, walking up to
Derek. My heart skipped a beat. Doug said
Hi to everyone in line and handed some things
to Derek. He then moved behind the table,
then came out again with a comic book entitled
“Super Capers Back to the Feature”.
He told us these are free and he’ll
sign them when we get up to the table and
explain what they are all about. Then he
looked directly in my eyes and says “Hi”.
Again, heart skips. OMG!
So there
was one couple in front of us and we waited
patiently while Doug talked to them. Then
it’s my turn. OMG! So shaky! I point
out my button and say I’m a Fan Sapien.
So Doug says, “What’s your name?”
and I say “Noelle” and he says
something to the effect of “Oh, I
know Noelle. I’ve been waiting for
you”. OMG! So Doug came around the
table to give me a hug (the first of many
for the day). Then I get my first Bosie
and thankfully Michael captured the moment
on video.
Doug asks
if I’ve seen Carly and I tell him
she’s downstairs and will be up soon.
He then remarks on my “Fan Sapien
in Training” button, acknowledging
that there is Love then commenting about
the “in training” saying “Doesn’t
take that much”. He then gently cradles
my face in his hands saying I’m precious
and he wants to shake me like a little baby.
During this whole time I have a stupid grin
on my face (as seen in the video) but I
can’t help it as it is just so wonderful
to be called “precious” by Doug.
I gave Doug the Kit Kat I brought for him
telling him Helen told us to tell him to
eat. He called me “sweet pea”
and hugged me again. I then gave him the
poem I wrote inspired by his mime “The
Gift”. Doug read my poem and seemed
genuinely touched. He said it meant a lot
to him that I took the time to do that.
He gave me yet another hug. I introduce
my brother-in-law, who also gets a hug and
a great picture with Doug.
Doug then
moved behind the table to sign our pictures
and the comic book, which I only now realize
he didn’t explain, although he signs
as “Agent Smith #1” so I’m
guessing it’s another movie/voice
role he did. Michael and I chose the same
photo for him to sign, it’s a picture
of Hellboy and Abe during
the famous singing scene in Hellboy
II (as a Ronnette
[A Ron Perlman fan - Ed.]
I had to get a pic with Big Red and this
is my favorite scene in the film). Doug
signs “I can’t smile without
Noelle”. Doug then introduced us to
his friend Monica, whom he’s known
since they were 14 and she also knew about
us coming (how special do I feel now). Michael
tells Doug he was so glad he got to use
his own voice in Hellboy II and
that he wished he’d gotten to voice
The Silver Surfer as well. I honestly
can’t recall Doug’s responses
to this as I was so in awe watching him
and radiating from the hugs that I just
didn’t process what he said. Before
we left, however, Doug told us that Carly
was planning a Sunday Breakfast, which is
something he likes to do when Fan Sapiens
show up … more specialness. He asked
if we’ll be staying around and tells
us to come back when the line goes down
saying “We’re not done yet”
… more feeling special. We then surrender
Doug to his other fans and I fairly glide
out of the room.
I immediately
called my Mom to gush about Doug, forgetting
she is at the dentist and having to leave
a message. So then I called my sister and
gushed incessantly. While I’m on the
phone I spot Carly and her entourage and
caught up with them. We get back in line
for Doug with Carly and the gang. Monica
comes by to say Hi to Carly, whom she saw
at DragonCon. Monica is from this area and
she helped to plan the Sunday Breakfast.
She seemed as sweet as Doug and is very
pleasant. While in line my Mom returns my
call and I gushed more. Eventually we reached
the table and Doug immediately goes to Carly,
which Michael again captured on video.
This included
a humorous moment where Doug poses than
says “This is video, right”
and he goes on to explain how he always
does this, posing for video than wondering
why they don’t take the picture. Carly
introduced Doug to her friends and more
hugging ensues. Once again Doug told us
to come back later in the afternoon.
The six
of us move off to meet two other celebrities,
Danny Trejo and Jason Mewes, both of whom
were also very nice. By now we were all
hungry, so Carly’s friend locates
a Quiznos in her GPS and we head over to
get something to eat.
After lunch
we returned to hang out at Doug’s
table. I noticed he was eating the Kit Kats
I brought (again … special). There
is a break in the line where we got more
hugs and Doug offered us some trail mix.
We told him we just had lunch and he says
he hasn’t, but that he doesn’t
really want anything. (We have to work on
getting this man to eat). He does have a
handful of trail mix which he barely got
down before more fans showed up. So I took
a stray seat next to Doug’s table
and we just hung out and chatted in between
the throngs of fans. Again, more specialness!
At one point Carly’s boyfriend (ok,
can you tell by now I have not gotten anyone
else’s name … so sorry Carly’s
boyfriend, Carly’s friend and Carly’s
friend’s boyfriend … I’m
horrible with names) … Anyway, Carly’s
boyfriend asked Doug if he knows how many
Kit Kats it would take, stretched end to
end, to reach the moon. Doug’s response
“More than I’ve eaten in my
lifetime.” Carly’s boyfriend
explained that Michele had said at DragonCon
that they should just hang around and ask
Doug random questions. So Michael asked
Doug what he’d do for a Klondike bar.
Doug’s response … hold on to
yourself girls …. he’d take
off his pants and run around the room in
his briefs! I turn to Michael and say, “Get
a Klondike bar quick!!” Carly told
Doug he’d have a lot of happy Fan
Sapiens if he did that. Doug says this shows
how much he likes Klondike bars. Carly’s
friend’s boyfriend says, “Or
you just like running around in your underwear."
We can dream ladies.
A few other
things stand out from the hour or so we
hung out with Doug. One was when a woman
walked by with a Gargoyle on a leash. Yes,
you read that right! The woman on the leash
was made up to look like a Gargoyle. It
was obviously a professional job as the
makeup and costume were incredible. The
lady holding the leash says that the Gargoyle
has carved Doug’s name into her arm
so she thinks she wants a picture. Doug
says “As long as nothing gets carved
into me”. The Gargoyle then unfurls
its wings … no lie … they actually
unfurled … it reminded me of the Angel
of Death in Hellboy. Doug
took a couple of pictures, one pose where
he looked terrified and one where he is
standing with his arm around the Gargoyle,
his hand resting on the wing. Several other
people, including Michael, took the picture
also. (Michael had to use his phone as we’d
left the camera in the car).
At another
time Derek Mears, who played Jason in Friday
the 13th, stopped by the table. He was joking
with Doug about how there were people around
and so he couldn’t hurt him. I said
he could but we’d have to beat him
up. We explained about the Fan Sapiens and
he jokingly looked afraid and said he wouldn’t
do anything. He also admired the Abe
Sapien figure that Doug had on the
table. Derek said he thought the Jason figure
was bigger, then wondered what it’d
be like if they had the two figures fighting.
Derek seemed like a very nice man, so unlike
his character.
So by now
it was nearly 4pm and Michael and I had
to leave to meet my sister for dinner. I
interrupt Doug before his next fan and told
him we have to go. More hugs (of course).
Doug also made sure we set the time and
place for breakfast the next day before
we left. What a sweet guy. We said goodbye
to Carly and the gang and departed. As we’re
driving away Michael says, “How cool
is it to go to a convention, meet a celebrity,
and then get to have breakfast with him
the next day.” So very cool!
So, I'll
write more after breakfast tomorrow. Now,
I have to try to come back to earth so I
can get some sleep.
So we had
breakfast today with Doug. The training
wheels have come off ... I am a full fledged
Fan Sapien now ... I love this man!
So we arrive
at Bob Evans early, again. This time my
sister Chrissy was with us. We gave the
hostess a heads up that we’d have
9 people for breakfast and waited. Carly
and the gang arrived next and hugs and introductions
were exchanged. Finally Doug and Monica
arrived. We looked like paparazzi with flash
bulbs going off as Doug entered the restaurant.
Doug hugged everyone. I introduced my sister
and she got her first Dougie hug. He actually
introduced himself to her as “Dougie”.
As we made our way to our table Doug mentioned
that he just let himself be led around.
He said he just rolls out of bed and goes
where they tell him to.
Our party
consisted of Myself, my sister Chrissy,
my brother-in-law Michael, Carly, Carly’s
boyfriend Matt, Carly’s friend Erin
and her boyfriend Josh, (I made sure to
get the names before we left so I could
actually address them this time) and of
course Doug and his friend Mocina (aka Monica
but Doug has been switching the n and the
c for years).
I won’t
be quite as detailed with this report as
I can’t really remember all the details
of the conversation, but I will point out
some key points.
First of
all Doug actually ate! He had a big bowl
of Oatmeal with cranberries. So he does
eat on occasion. He also mentioned going
to Outback for dinner last night. Before
we let him go we tried to tell him to eat
lunch but he brushed off the idea. Carly
gave him “the look” on behalf
of Helen and told him to eat and sleep.
Monica said in 35 years she has not been
able to get him to eat so we probably won’t
have much luck. At least he had a good breakfast.
Chrissy
asked several questions about Doug professionally
and personally. She asked him what he likes
to do when he’s not acting and he
said he was doing it (awww). He said he
loves to sit at a Starbucks twirling and
sipping a cup of coffee and catching up
with people he doesn’t get to see
too often. She asked about the amount of
traveling he does and he said this year
it’s been a lot of short hops. He
compared “the con circuit” to
being a rock star going from city to city.
When talking
about this Doug mentioned Mrs. Laurie and
how she really isn’t into the whole
frantic con scene. He also mentioned that
Mrs. Laurie is having gall bladder surgery
on October 1. So we have to rev up the prayers/good
thoughts machine and send them her way!
Chrissy
also asked him about upcoming projects and
he mentioned most of the ones we all know
about. Then he dropped a bombshell …
he filmed a pilot for a new reality/competition
series called “Doug Jones’ Monster
School”! A weekly series, can you
imagine! Doug said they initially wanted
him to host, judge, and give the contestants
advice and such. Doug said he didn’t
want to do all that and he didn’t
want to be the one to send anyone home,
so he cut it all down to just hosting. So
Doug will be the one to introduce the show
and wish the contestants luck and such.
In the pilot Camden Toy was the one to offer
advice and they’ll have guest judges
from the industry every week. Doug doesn’t
know exactly where this will go yet, but
we all thought it would be a cool show.
I knew the
girls in the Tunnels [The
famous Ron
Perlman message board at Del Toro Films
- Ed.] would never forgive me
if I didn’t ask Doug about what it
was like working with Ron. He said Ron is
a lot like Hellboy in his personality.
He said Ron is a sweet guy but he can be
a bit gruff sometimes. Although he said
most often when Ron is gruff it’s
when he is protecting someone he loves.
He said Ron is a great guy but gets a bit
“Big Dog” when defending people.
He said Ron was a “Big Brother”
to him and was always telling him he was
too nice. He said if anyone tried to take
advantage of him Ron would start “barking”.
What a good Big Brother Ron is!
After breakfast
we took more pictures and Doug recorded
a brief message for all the Fan Sapiens.We
all got more hugs!
DOUGIE
HUGGIES
Doug called
me “sweet pea” again. (By the
way, can this be my puppy
name? If no one else has claimed it, I’d
like it. I love when Doug called me this!)
We had to let him get back to the con as
Mocina said Derek would kill her if she
didn’t get Doug back in time. We all
waved as they drove off. All in all a wonderful
morning. Doug is just such a wonderful,
kind, generous, funny man. I’m hooked!
