Meeting Samantha Ferris
I was at the ConCept sci-fi convention which took place in Montreal, Canada, over the weekend and one of the guests of honour was Samantha Ferris who played the character of Ellen on Supernatural. I had wanted to meet her for a long time so I was thrilled when I learned that she was going to be there.
What surprised me the most is how down-to-earth and approachable she is. When she arrived for the Q&A, there were maybe 20 people at the most in the room (it is a very small convention) and even though a few more people joined during the course of it, the whole event remained very intimate, much more so that I would ever expected.
She made us feel very much at ease and I never felt nervous about asking her questions. My first one to her was, I guess, a question that every SPN wants to know: "How did you like working with Jared and Jensen and do you have any funny anecdotes you can share with us?" She mentioned that by way of their upbringing, the guys were extremely polite and nice and that they were a real pleasure to work with. She said that there was absolutely nothing celebrity-like about them, that they are just two very normal and very down-to-earth guys. But I guess all of you here who have met them in person already knew that, right? :) One thing that was also really nice is that she said the entire production team (including producers and directors) were all very nice and down-to-earth people with none of that "Big Wig" mentality (except Robert Singer).
The one thing I will remember the most vividly I think is that I was actually the one person who told her about the break-up of Jared and Sandy. Just like everyone else, she was in a state of complete shock and couldn't believe it. She asked me and the two other SPN fans in the room if we knew why they had broken up and we said that Jared hadn't given any specific reasons.
She also mentioned that she's good friends with Eric Kripke and that they've been emailing back and forth about her coming back on the show! That was such good news to me because I've missed Ellen a lot. Samantha explained that she hadn't been on the show yet because Eric would ask her too long in advance, something like 3 months. She can't commit for such a long period of time in advance because if she gets the chance to do something bigger, then she'd have to cancel her appearance on SPN. So she told Eric to try and book her about a month in advance and to try to put her in at least 2 episodes. I'm crossing my fingers that they'll come to a deal soon... :)
Samantha also talked about her some of her other roles (past and future) and she talked about her passion for animal rescue, more particularly chimpanzees who were used for lab experiments for years and were about to get euthanized until a woman from Quebec (where I live) took them in and gave them a place to spend their old days. Samantha even adopted one (as a foster mother, type of thing) and she showed us picture. She said that once she retires, that is what she wants to do. She joked and said that she'd be the old lady with eight cats and a bunch of chimps. We all laughed.
After the Q&A was over, there was a session of autograph signing and I bought a nice picture of her as Ellen which she kindly autographed for me. She asked where I was from and when I told her Quebec City she asked me if I spoke French and I said that it was my first language and she also said she'd always been impressed to see how some people can master two languages very easily. And finally my friend and colleague who was accompanying me took a picture of Samantha and I together. She truly is a great person, funny and very real. She and I are the same age (I'm actually a few months older) and she's the type of woman I would LOVE to have as a friend.
The last picture is one of Sam and I. :D
What surprised me the most is how down-to-earth and approachable she is. When she arrived for the Q&A, there were maybe 20 people at the most in the room (it is a very small convention) and even though a few more people joined during the course of it, the whole event remained very intimate, much more so that I would ever expected.
She made us feel very much at ease and I never felt nervous about asking her questions. My first one to her was, I guess, a question that every SPN wants to know: "How did you like working with Jared and Jensen and do you have any funny anecdotes you can share with us?" She mentioned that by way of their upbringing, the guys were extremely polite and nice and that they were a real pleasure to work with. She said that there was absolutely nothing celebrity-like about them, that they are just two very normal and very down-to-earth guys. But I guess all of you here who have met them in person already knew that, right? :) One thing that was also really nice is that she said the entire production team (including producers and directors) were all very nice and down-to-earth people with none of that "Big Wig" mentality (except Robert Singer).
The one thing I will remember the most vividly I think is that I was actually the one person who told her about the break-up of Jared and Sandy. Just like everyone else, she was in a state of complete shock and couldn't believe it. She asked me and the two other SPN fans in the room if we knew why they had broken up and we said that Jared hadn't given any specific reasons.
She also mentioned that she's good friends with Eric Kripke and that they've been emailing back and forth about her coming back on the show! That was such good news to me because I've missed Ellen a lot. Samantha explained that she hadn't been on the show yet because Eric would ask her too long in advance, something like 3 months. She can't commit for such a long period of time in advance because if she gets the chance to do something bigger, then she'd have to cancel her appearance on SPN. So she told Eric to try and book her about a month in advance and to try to put her in at least 2 episodes. I'm crossing my fingers that they'll come to a deal soon... :)
Samantha also talked about her some of her other roles (past and future) and she talked about her passion for animal rescue, more particularly chimpanzees who were used for lab experiments for years and were about to get euthanized until a woman from Quebec (where I live) took them in and gave them a place to spend their old days. Samantha even adopted one (as a foster mother, type of thing) and she showed us picture. She said that once she retires, that is what she wants to do. She joked and said that she'd be the old lady with eight cats and a bunch of chimps. We all laughed.
After the Q&A was over, there was a session of autograph signing and I bought a nice picture of her as Ellen which she kindly autographed for me. She asked where I was from and when I told her Quebec City she asked me if I spoke French and I said that it was my first language and she also said she'd always been impressed to see how some people can master two languages very easily. And finally my friend and colleague who was accompanying me took a picture of Samantha and I together. She truly is a great person, funny and very real. She and I are the same age (I'm actually a few months older) and she's the type of woman I would LOVE to have as a friend.
The last picture is one of Sam and I. :D