Events: At 5'8 "Game of Thrones'" Joe Dempsie is considered tall in the Philippines -and he loves it!

"The amazing thing is - in the Philippines I'm considered tall?" Joe Dempsie said in an intimate meet and greet session with fans during the last day of AsiaPOP Comicon. Ending the sentence as a question, rather than as a statement. This was met with laughter from the crowd. 

"That has never happened before!" He continues on saying. The "Game of Thrones" actor, stands at about 5 feet and 8 inches tall. 

There are many characters in the hit HBO series "Game of Thrones" whose fate or demise has been an object of heated discussion and contention but it is the fate of Gendry, played by Joe Dempsie which is surrounded by the most mystery. The now-only surviving Baratheon was last seen rowing away three seasons ago and no one knows what became of him. 

Once news that he would be hitting Manila for AsiaPOP Comicon spread the interwebs, the joke was that he rowed all the way to Manila. There is even a variety of memes on the internet on Gendry's rowing and when  you're a meme then you know that you have made it. 

The question "How long will you think Gendry will be rowing?" was tossed a lot during Joe's time at APCC. "He'll be rowing until Dave and Dan (Benioff & Weiss, the show runners) decide to have him back. When we last see Gendry, we see he's rowing away, rather terribly. He'll have to get a lot better at it if he's going to survive." Dempsie jokes. 

"I'd love to have him back. I'd love to be back. Fingers crossed." he adds. 

In his scheduled "In Conversation" session during APCC, Dempsie was interviewed by radio personality Chico Garcia, who asked him. 

What do you think about that whole internet theory shipping you with Arya Stark? The whole crowd goes wild at this. Is it going to a thing? People would love to see Gendry and Arya together. 

"I mean, it's one of those things that um - fans are going to pick up on in the show and I think that maybe there's a hint of that in the books but again I don't have any idea if Gendry is returning and let alone if he will cross paths with Arya again. I'd say that I'd like to because I like working with Maisie (Williams, who plays Arya Stark) She's an incredible young actress. It's weird because I thought I'd be doing this (acting) for a few years now but I was learning from her (Williams is 19 years old). She's incredibly talented. 

Chico then asks. Have you seen the meme, where she (Arya) tells you, (that) you'll be her family and you tell her, you won't be my family, you'll be my lady. This elicits cheers from the crowd. 

"I remember when that episode aired and there's this avalanche of memes on Twitter. For me the way I interpret it is - you wouldn't be my family, you would still be my superior. You are a highborn and I am a lowborn, essentially a nobody. People can read those lines however they want, I think that's one of the interesting aspects of being part of "Game of Thrones" the fans are so committed and they will analyze and pick apart every scene and line and I think it's just great. 

In a cast as large as "Game of Thrones" Chico asks Joe, if there's any friction on the set. 

"Yeah-there's bound to be d*ck in there?" Dempsie jokes but then goes on to say. 

"I auditioned for three parts before I was cast. I initially auditioned, wouldn't get the part. I thought, they think I'm terrible, I'm rubbish but that wasn't the case and they keep getting me back in for other roles and I think in my mind what that was all about is that they identified people they wanted to work with, that they (Benioff and Weiss) felt would fit in this kind of family that they created. Which piece of the jigsaw are you? Which character are you? I think they deliberately assembled a team of people that would kind of get on and it worked. 

Joe confessed to being a big fan of Kanye West but said that he couldn't rap. 

Click HERE for more photos of Joe during APCC. 

Click HERE for more posts on AsiaPOP Comicon on the blog. 

Events: Meet "Zen" The 3-Year Old Show-stopping Stormtrooper

Day 1 of conventions are usually low key since the crowd pours in on the second day; but as Paul and I were going around the convention floor we zeroed in on a cute, little Stormtrooper.

He had just come across the Philippine Garrison and it was just adorable to see him look up to Stormtroopers who were twice his size. As if things  couldn't get even much more adorable, the "good guys" of the Philippine Garrison invited him to join them!

The little boy needed some coaching from his dad, let's say a guy dressed in all black with a red lightsaber scarred him a bit. (Yeah. I'm talking about you Kylo Ren!)   

The little kid left a big impression on us, so after the hustle and bustle of AsiaPOP Comicon we got in touch with his parents and sent some questions to find about the little show-stopping Stormtrooper - who goes by "Zen" by the way.

How old is Zen? 

Zen is three years old. (Cue in the awwwwwwwwws). 

 Was this his ever cosplay? Was APCC his first convention? 

Officially, yes. He did a wear a panda (costume) a year ago (More awwws) but only in school. 

Did he decide to go as a Stormtrooper on his own? 

Yes. When his Uncle asked what costume did he want. He said he wanted to dress up as a Stormtrooper, since he was two years old. We ordered it from ebay. 

Did he enjoy his cosplay for Day 1 of APCC? 

It was very memorable for him, since seeing his toys come alive was nothing he could have imagined at his young age. Boba Fett was his favorite. 

What was it like for Zen to meet the "good guys" of the Philippine Garrison? Do you think that he'll be an honorary member some day? 

The Philippine Garrison was very nice and considerate to kids. They allowed him to interact with them and join them. (As to whether he will be a member in the future) I'm not so sure yet, since kids change as they grow up but we'll see.

One of the boys. Zen hangs out with the "good guys" of the Philippine Garrison during Day 1 of APCC.

Any future 'Cosplans' (Cosplay Plans) for Zen? 

We don't really participate in Cosplays, but if Zen wants to dress up as another character then perhaps next year.. 

Is he looking forward to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story this December ? 

 Very much, even if he doesn't understand any of it. (He's only three after all). He saw "Episode VII: The Force Awakens" and "A New Hope" a few times already. Can't make him sit down more than 20 minutes for the other Star Wars movie. Hopefully he will watch Rogue One. 

Thank you to Zen's cool folks for taking the time to answer our questions and we hope to run into you in a convention in the future! Keep it up little Stormtrooper!

Events: Nicholas Hoult Is A Big Fan of Stranger Things' Millie Bobby Brown

Nicholas Hoult and Millie Bobby Brown during AsiaPOP Comicon. 

Manila - August 2016. During the recently concluded AsisPOP Comicon British actor Nicholas Hoult gushed about being a fan of the twelve year old actress who took the world by storm in the Netflix series "Stranger Things" since its release last July.

"I haven't met her (Millie Bobby Brown) yet-" the twenty six year old actor said, blue eyes sparkling as he met with the local press for APCC. "She gave a wonderful performance (in "Stranger Things") "and I'm kind of  fanboy-ing over meeting her. I'm looking forward to that and I think I'll be line for her autograph as well 'coz she's fantastic in that show and I loved watching her so-yeah that's what I've been geeking out over recently. 

And Nicholas Hoult would know a thing or two about child actors, as he himself was one. He started acting at the age of seven and played the role of Marcus Brewer in the 2002 romantic comedy "About A Boy" alongside Hugh Grant.

In a separate event during APCC, which was open to the public, Hoult sat across radio personality Chico Garcia went to the topic of child actors by asking Nicholas. "(Nicholas) You started very early in your career. From "About A Boy" How has it been? A lot of child actors, they struggle a little with the transition but in your case it was relatively painless. How did you do it? For others, they really struggled a lot." 

Nicholas Hoult in "About A Boy" 

"Yeah, teenage years, are a pain for most people-"  Hoult responded. "I was lucky, whereby I stayed in school until I was 17 , so normal school, normal friends. I had a pretty normal life outside of work. And I got very lucky being cast in "Skins" the TV show. The crowd goes wild at this.

"A lot of 'Skins' fans-" Chico acknowledges, which is met by more screaming.

"Wasn't it a shock for a lot of people? Because you were this adorable kid in "About a Boy" and "Skins"" was a little edgier-a little scary. 

"Yeah-that's what I liked about it. You know, whenever reading a script or looking at some potential work., I like to do something that people don't really expect, or to do something different. I haven't done before." 

This was also tackled in the press junket when Hoult was asked: "Is it a conscious decision to take on unusual roles?" to which Hoult responded.

"Outside of working with great people and telling a good story, the aim for me is to play as much varied characters and styles of film, the stories that I tell - that's what my aim is. I would get bored if I played the same characters again and again. As much as you can transform physically and emotionally for whatever it is then  that makes a big difference." 

Nicholas Hoult in various roles. From L to R. The zombie "R" in "Warm Bodies". Beast/ Hank McCoy. The War Boy "Nux" in Mad Max: Fury Road.: 

Hoult talks about his upcoming work in "The Rebel in the Rye" when he was asked- 

"(So) You're playing J.D. Salinger for "A Rebel in the Rye" Why is entitled that-and what processes did you go through to prepare for the role since J.D. Salinger is described to be very reclusive." 

It's called "The Rebel in the Rye" (since) it's a play off his most famous novel, "Catcher in the Rye" but also he was a very rebellious character. He got kicked out of quiet a lot of schools-his writing was very much against the phoniness of the world he saw around him and that's what lit the fire within him for him to go out and write about what he felt would prove his depictions of the world and the characters he saw around him. That's why its called "Rebel in the Rye"  in terms of preparation it's difficult because there;s no video or audio of him that exist that we could find. 

Nicholas Hoult and Kevin Space on the set of "Rebel in the Rye" 

So it was a lot of reading biographies about him, reading his novels alongside those biographies. A lot of his work is quiet autobiographical, his writing even though they are fictional, they kind of stem back to his life and then basing the decision (on how) to play him around that. Luckily, Danny (Strong) -the writer wrote a brilliant script that was very tight and I have wonderful actors to work with, so that obviously makes it a lot easier, aside from that in an emotional level I would like to sit at home on a typewriter writing stories, just to try and understand what that felt like as well. 

During the convention, Hoult met with his fans in autograph, photograph and meet and greet sessions. He even ended his "In Conversation" session with an epic Mexian wave. He will be staying in the country after APCC to check out the beaches in Palawan with his "Skins"co-star and friend Joe Dempsie, who is also a guest for AsiaPop Comicon. 

Click here for more photos of Nicholas Hoult during APCC. 

Click here for more posts on AsiaPOP Comicon on the blog. 

Events: APCC Concludes + Day 3 Post + Photos

"Game of Thrones" Joe Dempsie with a fan during his "Meet and Greet Session". 

Unlike my first two posts for APCC which was uploaded right after Day 1 and Day 2, the post and photos for the last day came in late. For specifically four days later. It seems that the fatigue of the three day event finally caught up with us. As I am writing this, the luggage we used for our Microtel stay for APCC is still on the floor and has not been put away yet. I guess our daily routine post APCC hasn't come back yet. We spent the entire Monday following APCC sleeping as we were transitioning back to the night shift, unlike most people, we had work on Monday evening and needless to say I had to battle a nasty bout of a headache. :( Tuesday, we took care of some personal matters, I went to an Advanced screening and needless to say that means deducting about four hours of sleep, which I could have spent writing this. It's now Thursday morning and it's a good thing that the movie I saw last night Morgan will still come out next week, so I don't have to write my review yet and I can finally work on these. 

As I said the fatigue of the past two days finally caught up with Paul and me, you see when we would go back to our hotel room after each day we would not dive under the covers and sleep but immediately work on photos and write ups, hence the immediate posting of Days 1 and 2. I guess by the time Day 3 came, we were just tired. I don't know how the other cosplayers do it, maybe next year an energy drink can sponsor. It would really do good for those like ourselves who work on covering the event.

Unfortunately, Paul and I were not able (yet again) to join the special Marvel panel APCC was offering. I missed the line of the instructions which said that you should check in at F5 by 12:00 noon, maybe third time is the charm next year eh?

I guess this is what pissed Paul off, not being able to part of "Hall M" but having to lug the cameras up and down, since we decided to leave our recording devices in the car for Hall M only to get them again, since we were not attending said Hall M. So going up and down SMX with cameras and a laptop in tow kind of put Paul off and I don't blame him. Mental note to read all instructions carefully next year. Sigh.

On the third day, we also sort of became on-call photographers for the organizers, which explains why we have photos from Joe Dempsie's "Meet and Greet Session" which is the upside, the downside of which was not being able where we wanted to go. Paul was just itching to take photos of cosplayers but was not able to fully do so. I also kind of feel bad not being able to cover CAGE, especially since our acquaintance Fred Viñas won. I also wanted to take photos of the "Fight Saber Philippines" show.

I'm just glad that we ended the day and in retrospect the event on a high note and that was spending time with our FlipGeeks team. We needed the laughs and the jokes to lighten up our moods. So I guess at the end of it all, despite the tiring APCC coverage it's a good thing that we have a tight knit support group who knows what we go through. The physical and mental struggles we go through just to pursue our passion.

I got to see Millie Bobby Brown, I was able to ask Nicholas Hoult and Joe Dempsie a question, saw friends and witnessed pop culture come alive. This is definitely one for the books!

I can't wait for next year! Will make sure to pack Enervon, energy drinks and if we could afford it go on a leave the day after the event as well.

Click HERE for MORE Photos! 

Events: APCC Day 2 Goes Geek Crazy! Day 2 + Photos

Excited friends just got their Day 2 passes. 

As I am writing this, the sun is slowly making its way up the Manila skies. In a few hours the last day of the biggest pop culture event in Manila is about to conclude. Pardon the lack of literary eloquence in this post as time is always against me and we would seen be preparing to check out of the hotel and make our way for Day 3 of Asia Pop Comicon. 

With most of the guests arriving at Day 2 the crowd was noticeably larger and all the booths and exhibits were in full swing. Now, the thing about these kind of conventions is that you don't get to go to all of the events happening, since they are all happening at the same time. So it would be presumptuous to write about a "highlights of Day 2" features. What I will be writing about are my experiences around the convention.

First up was the sit down of celebrity guest and Hollywood headliner Nicholas Hoult with the local press. Nick Hoult has been acting for a long time, you may not remember him as the adorable Marcus in "About A Boy" but he was literally just a boy when he starred across Hugh Grant on the 2002 romantic comedy and has since played a variety of characters, from a zombie, a giant slayer, a mutant and the war boy, "Nux" in Mad Max: Fury Road. 

When asked if this is a conscious decision, Hoult replied: "Outside of working with great people and telling a good story, the aim for me is to play as much varied characters ion  and the stories that I play. I would be bored if the I played the same characters again and again." Will be posting a separate post on the sit down soon! You ca catch him at the Main Stage at 4:00 PM on Sunday. 

Right after the sit down we had to rush to the Main Stage for Millie Bobby Brown's first appearance at APCC. As expected, the hall was filled to the brim with fans eager to see the twelve year old actress, who took the world by storm with the fan favorite and critically acclaimed Nextflix series "Stranger Things" which, since it's debut in July has become a big hit. Brown plays the mysterious and telekinetic "Eleven" and has become a fan favorite. 

Millie spotted local cosplayer Spider-Dan in an Eleven Cosplay in the crowd and took photos. Talk about highlight of his year right!

A fan asked if Millie could pretend that she was breaking everyone's neck with her "Eleven stare".

To which, the surprised actress asked "You want me to pretend to hurt you guys?" and the crowd responded with a resounding "YES!". That's such a weird request, host Delamar Arias said but Millie gladly obliged to the crowd's delight.


Will be posting more on the "Conversation with Millie Brown" on the blog soon. 

We rested for a bit and went around the convention floor to take photos, I was really happy to run into friends from work and in the music scene around the con, some members of my family will be coming on the last day. 

The last media time for the day was with "Game of Thrones'" Joe Dempsie and I was really excited to see him, being a big Game of Thrones fan and all.

When asked if there was a superhero he could play, Joe said he always wanted to be the Red Power Ranger. He went on to say that when he was five years old, he had a falling out with a friend because they both wanted to be the Red Power Ranger. Full post on Joe Dempsie on the blog soon. You can catch him at the Main Stage at 11:30 AM. 

Our last stop was Hiroshi Kitadani's live performance and it was as energetic as we expected as he sang songs from "One Piece" and "Yugi Oh". You can catch another performance later at 6:00 PM. 

I hope you guys come back when I do another write up for my overall APCC 2016 experience, which would probably be the case, we just want to get these photos out, we're just excited to share them with you :)

For our Day 1 highlights you can click here - it has photos too! 

Click here for more photos from Day 2.

#apccph2016 #asiapopcomicon