Austin, TX
November 19, 1995
3:40pm
Mitch was on home soil for this convention, having lived in Austin for about 8 years. So the crowd was especially enthusiastic at this convention.
They showed several clips before Mitch came out on stage. They included Skinner's Vietnam speech in "One Breath", Mulder punching him in "Blessing Way", the fight in the stairwell from "Paper Clip", and of course the infamous "Pucker up . . . " line which cause an uproar with the audience that I'm sure was heard for miles away!
Mitch received a standing ovation when he came out on stage. And it was definitely a well deserved one. He was wearing blue jeans, cowboy boots, and a blue long sleeve shirt (yes, the sleeves were pushed up . . . gotta love those forearms <G> ). He thanked everyone for coming and said what a wonderful time he was having in Austin. He said he and Nick had been staying and visiting with some of his friends. He also, once again, greet me when he saw me sitting in the audience by saying "Hi Paula, how ya doin'?" Since he doesn't like just standing up on stage talking, he almost immediately opened the floor up for questions.
The line for questions got long really quick. I went up with some things to give him. One of the questions asked was whether he thought there would ever be anything between Skinner and Scully. He said he really didn't think so. Skinner's feelings for Scully are more paternal, although he doesn't like that term cause he doesn't feel Skinner is old enough to be. Someone suggested maybe a big brother kind of role which he liked better. He did blame some of the thinking of a romance between the character on himself cause he did flirt a bit when he first started playing the character. A joker in the audienced asked if there was any interest in Mulder from Skinner. Mitch laughed and firmly stated "None!"
The question was asked if Mitch thought there was any role he wanted to play but didn't think he would be cast for. Mitch thought for a moment then answered "Blanche DuBois. And I'd play the hell outta that role too." That set the audience rolling on the floor laughing. For those of you who don't get the reference (and I admit I was one <G>) Blanche DuBois is the female lead character in "A Street Car Named Desire".
I finally made it up to give him what I brought. The first item was the Skinner Action Figure that Marcy and Jeff created. I took it up to him and he laughed, saying "Look at the chest on that guy!" He thought it was really neat that someone would take the time to make something like that. I also gave him flowers with M&Ms. I told him that there was a story behind the M&Ms and that he should ask Doug Hutchison (Tooms) sometime. Doug had said to me during a discussion with friends about M&Ms, that they reminded him of little Mitch Pileggi heads <G>. I explained the joke to Mitch the next day to which he replied "I'm gonna have to have a talk with Doug."
At the end of his talk he asked if we all wanted to meet his girlfriend. Of course everyone said yes. I won't tell you what she looks likes. I'll let you see for yourself :-)
Mitch left the stage to another standing ovation. And got set up for the autograph session. I stood in line and had him sign a backboard for Marcy and Jeff's Skinner figure. I also gave him the usually package from the MPEB of posts and letters. He said he always looks forward to them. And he graciously agreed to pose for pictures after he was through signing. I really want to thank him for taking the time to do so. I know he had plans and wanted to visit with friends so we made the photo session as brief as possible. I hugged him and told him thank you for coming and for having his picture taken with myself and my friends. That ended the convention. I did see Mitch the next day as he and Nick were checking out from the hotel and talked with him briefly before saying goodbye one more time :-)
Paula Mackey
plmackey@delphi.com
Mitch
on the Road