Austin PhotosWell, I got back from Austin late, late Monday and had to be at work at 8am Tuesday but it was all worth it!
Nick was fabulous, just like at Reno. He was wearing brown loose fitting pants with a light colored shirt. The sleeves on the shirt were rolled up revealing some very nicely tanned biceps :) They played some really good scenes of him before he came out on stage which included the scene from "Sleepless" where he tells Mulder "I don't like being ditched like someone's bad date", the scene from "Duane Barry" where Kasdin asks him if he has his notepad, the scene from "Blessing Way" where Mulder beats him up, the scene from "Paper Clip" where he beats up Skinner, runs from the exploding car, and tells CSM off (he was cheered greatly after that scene).
He came out on stage and told us how Mitch had been showing him around Austin. They'd been to 6th Street and Barton Springs. And he was still recovering from Thursday night (the first night they got in). He also said how he just got back from England and France not too long ago. "Being able to visit places I've never been is one of the perks of this job" he said. Someone at the England con gave him a t-shirt that had the X logo on the front and said "Trust No One... Especially me". Got a lot of laughter out of the audience. He told how he'd been staying with Mitch and his friends and how wonderful they are. He said hi to them as they were standing off to the side in the auditorium. Their little girl said "Hi Nick" back to him (she was adorable BTW).
He opened up the floor for questions and there were some really good ones. I went up to mic to give Nick some flowers. I wasn't sure if he'd remember me from Reno so I said "I'm not sure if you remember me from Reno..." He replied "I do, Paula." Then paused and said "Can we clarify that??" The audience laughed. I walked up and handed him the flowers. He was like "Aww.... how sweet!" He gave me a kiss and a hug and said thank you. He told everyone that I had been out gambling with then in Reno. He thanked me again and I went back to my seat.
Someone asked about him doing the fights scenes. He said he loved doing them. The rush he got from them was great. The car scene in "Paper Clip" was both fun and scary to him. The first time they tried to do a take on it, he ran out of the car, dived on the pavement, and nothing happened. He looked back and the SFX guy was crouched on the ground pushing the trigger and playing with the wire. Didn't exactly make him feel secure <G>. When it finally did work, the heat and the force from the explosion was really intense.
Someone also asked if David Duchovny was really throwing him around during there fight scene or if he was helping out. Nick said he was pretty much throwing himself around. He also thinks being called Ratboy is funny. Although, he's not too sure about the term boy since he's 33 (b-day of June 22). So he suggested a new name of Cool Rat Guy. Personally, I think just Cool Guy works for me :) When he was growing up, his home was pretty much like a "zoo". He had everything from dogs and cats to, yep you guessed it, rats. That brought quite a bit of laughter from the audience. Once again he was asked about a speedo scene. He replied my starting to undo his belt buckle then said "No, not if I have anything to do with it". He was asked what other works he was done and he mentioned an episode of Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years and Highlander. A few of the people I was with (including myself) are Highlander fans so he gave a brief but loud cheer for the show :) He didn't mention "The Raffle" for some reason but said he didn't mind doing low-budget films as long as the script was good. He mentioned that he and the actress that plays Scully's sister, Melissa, are real life boyfriend/girlfriend. Since she was laying down for most of the filming of the scene he was constantly asking if she was okay and if he could her anything like a pillow <G>. He felt guilty cause it was his character that killed her, but it's darn sweet to me :) He told us how he like to play characters that where different from him, kinda sleezy and stuff. So he deliberately had them grease and comb Krycek's hair to the side just to geek him out a bit <G>. When Nick left the stage he received a wonderful round of applause.
He watched a bit of Mitch's speech by sticking his head through the door he was standing outside of. He looked back at me several times as I stood in line to give some stuff to Mitch so I waved. After Mitch was done they signed autographs. I had him sign the standard publicity shot of him as Krycek (which really wasn't very flattering). He wrote on it "Thank you for the flowers. Very Sweet. Nick Lea XOXO". I also gave him some info about the NLEB and some posts from everyone. He was also interested in fanfic so I gave him three stories. I deleted the authors' names on all but mine since it was my email addy. I also asked if he'd take some pics with me and my friends after the con and he agreed.
So 3 1/2 hours later, myself and 4 other friends posed with him. I got to stand next to him and he put his arm around me. He was very sweet and patient even if the Creation lady wasn't. He just kept saying "Don't worry, don't worry". The Creation lady was trying to rush us through the pics. I thanked him for posing with us and he thanked me for the flowers and gave me a kiss and a hug. Then he and Mitch left to go out with Mitch's friends who were waiting. These two guys are the nicest I have meet in a long time. I wish there was some way to repay them for their kindness and friendship towards me as thanks just doesn't seem enough.
I did also run into them when they were checking out of the hotel the next day. Nick and I both agreed that the beds in the hotel left something to be desired as we both had backaches the after sleeping on them. He asked what me and my friends did Sunday night, so I told him how we went to Threadgills and then came back to the hotel and sat in the bar for awhile. He said he had a great time both at the con and before hand and that they didn't leave until Tuesday. Mitch came down a few minutes after that and the three of us talked more about the con and what we'd been doing while in Austin. At that point I also had to explain the significance of the M&Ms I gave Mitch. I told them that Doug Hutchison (Tooms) had come down to where I work to visit and go online and chat with me. During the chat people started talking about M&Ms and the different colors. At that point Doug said "Ya know, M&Ms remind me of little Mitch Pileggi heads". The look on Mitch's face was priceless as well as beyond words. I said that it was definitely one helluva marketing technique cause just about everyone in the chat went out to buy M&Ms the next day. Nick was laughing at all this. I didn't wanna keep them from anything they wanted to do so I told them to enjoy the rest of their stay and that I'd see them later. I gave them both a hug and watched them leave.
I cannot say enough how sweet both Nick and Mitch are. I am
very lucky to be friends with them. And I hope we can continue
this friendship when (god forbid) The X-Files has run it's course.
Nick's Page X-Files Page About Me