CAPE: Episode III – Return of the Walking Dead – April 22nd and 23rd 2017

Cornwall Ontario – The third annual Cornwall and Area Pop Event, also known as CAPE, returned to Cornwall this weekend.

The two day event takes place on Saturday April 22nd and Sunday April 23rd at the Benson Centre.

From cosplayers to gamers to pop culture enthusiast to family fun, this event has something for everything.

For a third consecutive years CAPE featured actors from the hit AMC series the Walking Dead.

Guest attending CAPE 2017 include Kimberly Leemans (Walking Dead and Vampire Diaries), Sean Gunn (Gilmore Girls and Guardians of the Galaxy), Yanic Truesdale (Gilmore Girls), Michael Copon (Power Rangers Time Force, One Tree Hill), Michael Koske (The Walking Dead, Captain America: Civil War, and Guardians of the Galaxy), Don Teems (Walking Dead and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire), John Stocker (Sailor Moon voice director, and Star Wars: Ewoks voice actor), Christian Potenza (voice actor on Total Drama and 6teen), Dan Day (The Amazing Spiderman and Batman and the Outsiders), and Geof Isherwood (Doctor Strange comic book writer and X-Men: Apocalypse movie conceptual artist).

Journalist Jason Setnyk interviewed many of the celebrity guests at CAPE, and here are excerpts from some of those interviews.

Kimberly Leemans joined the Walking Dead in the Season 6 episode titled “Knots Untie”. She played the character of Crystal, a resident of the Hilltop community. In the episode Ethan, Andy, and Crystal confront the leader of Hilltop, Gregory. Ethan delivers a message from Negan by stabbing Gregory. Rick Grimes retaliates killing Ethan, and Kimberly Leemans character punches Rick, before being taken down by Michonne. It’s after this altercation that Rick Grimes and his group first learn about The Saviors.

“Working on The Walking Dead, has been one of the best experiences of my career. The cast was incredibly welcoming, especially Andrew Lincoln. Finding out that I had to punch the lead of the show could have been super intimidating but he came right up to me and was like “really go for it”. His energy is contagious it’s so inspiring to see him and the rest of the cast at work. We shot our big confrontation scene all they way through multiple times with several cameras rolling simultaneously. So when I got laid out by Danai Gurira, we had to go through the motions, even though my amazing stunt girl Kara Kimmer took the real hit,” Kimberly Leemans reminisced.

Actor Sean Gunn, famous for his roles in the television show Gilmore Girls and the movie Guardians of the Galaxy, was happy to revise his role as Kirk on the recent four part Netflix Special of Gilmore Girls.

“I liked the new series a great deal. As an actor, to be able to perform really well-written scripts is rare, and it’s a gift. So I’m grateful. I really enjoy playing Kirk, and it was nice to slip into that skin again. Seeing all the actors, many of whom I’d not seen in a while, was one of the best parts of the experience,” Sean Gunn disclosed.

Sean Gunn also played the character of Kraglin in Guardians of the Galaxy, and he will be reprising that role in the sequel which comes out on April 25th. The original film stars Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper. The movie is about a group of intergalactic criminals who must work together to save the Universe. Sean Gunn describes his favourite scene in the movie as Kraglin.

“My favorite scene was when I got to shout “Cap’ns gotta teach stuff!” to the rest of the Ravager crew. I’m very excited to share the second movie with an audience. I know it’s going to be great, and I have an expanded role as well,” Sean Gunn stated.

Yanic Truesdale, The two time Gemini Award nominated actor, is best known for his role as the sarcastic and high-brow French concierge ‘Michel Gerard’ on the series Gilmore Girls. Audiences got to catch up with Yanic Truesdale’s character on Netflix when the series was rebooted last November with four new episodes in “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life”.

The French Canadian actor shares one main thing in common with the character of Michel – his sarcasm. “I share with Michel mostly his sarcasm. My sense of humour is very much sarcastic. I would say that is the common trait. I’m also not a Celine Dion fan so I don’t share that with Michel, and I am French Canadian which is a little bit different than being French from Paris,” said Truesdale.

The Netflix reboot of Gilmore Girls felt like a high school reunion for Yanic Truesdale. Seeing actress Alexis Bledel was a reminder of just how much time has passed.

“It was great. It was very much like a high school reunion. We were all so young when we met originally. Especially Alexis, she was 16 years old. Now she is an adult and mother and has a child. I think everyone felt very privileged to have a chance to go back to the show. It was great to have an opportunity to give back to the fans,” Truesdale reflected.

The original sets for the Gilmore Girls were destroyed, but with a little bit of movie magic the set design crew recreated the Inn and also brought Stars Hallow back to life.

“What was special for me on set was to walk back to the Inn. Those sets were destroyed when the show was over. It was like a deja vu experience to walk back to a set that you remember, and see it all put back together the same way it was. It was pretty magical on the first day, after coming back so many years later. After a few takes, I turned around to the director and said wow it feels like we never stopped. It all came back very quickly,” Truesdale responded.

Actor Michael Copon is best known for his roles as Blue Power Ranger Lucas Kendall on Power Rangers Time Force, Felix Taggaro on One Tree Hill, Mathayus on the “The Scorpion King: Rise of a Warrior”, and Penn on “Bring It On: In It to Win It”. His acting resume also includes roles on That’s so Raven, Scrubs, Beyond the Break, CSI Miami, Hawaii Five-O, Greek, and Reno 911!.

A lot of fans ask him about his experiences working on the Power Rangers at conventions.

“I get a lot of Power Ranger questions at conventions but I love it. It’s amazing to be a part of this legacy forever,” Michael Copon stated.

Michael Koske’s acting credits include frequent appearances as a Walker on AMC’s The Walking Dead. His zombie likenesses has appeared on t-shirts, figures, other official merchandise, and he’s graced the pages of Entertainment Weekly, The Walking Dead Official Magazine, the cover of The Ultimate Guide to Zombies, Rolling Stone Magazine, and most recently, the cover of TV Guide.

“I’m still surprised and excited every time my face shows up on Walking Dead merchandise. It’s pretty surreal seeing myself on so much stuff! There have actually been times that I’ve been out in public with my friends and family, and people have recognized me. The show’s fan base is so strong, and the fans really like getting to know anyone involved in the show, so quite a few people actually know who we are. It also helps that Entertainment Weekly had pictures of some of us in, and out of, makeup,” said Michael Koske.

Michael Koske appeared in Entertainment Weekly once again, this time alongside Michael Rooker. Koske is going to be one of the Ravagers in the upcoming Marvel Studios movie Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Michael Koske has also appeared as a day walking vampire on The Originals, USA Network’s Necessary Roughness, the movie The Crazies, The Following featuring Kevin Bacon, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Need for Speed, Goosebumps, Captain America: Civil War, the third installment of the The Divergent Series: Allegiant, season 3 of Sleepy Hollow, and most recently in Hidden Figures starring Kevin Costner.

Don Teems is an actor and DJ from Atlanta Georgia, who has worked on numerous projects, and he is a regular member of the undead on AMC’s The Walking Dead. He has portrayed numerous walkers on Seasons 2, 3 and 4 of the popular show.

He describes his experience working as a zombie on the Walking Dead as amazing.

“It was an amazing experience. There was lots of great times and relationships created from being on that set,” said Teems.

Don Teems has also worked on The CW’s The Vampire Diaries and other various TV and movie projects including The Originals, The Following, Resurrection, Identity Thief, Flight, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Halt and Catch Fire, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and Dumb And Dumber To.

Sailor Moon voice director and Star Wars: Ewoks and Star Wars: Droids voice actor John Stocker was also at CAPE. He has over 130 credits on IMDb including The Real Ghostbusters and X-Men (both shows have just been recently added to Canadian Netflix). However, he is best known for his roles as Beastly in Care Bears, Newton in The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin, Basil in Babar, Mr. Owl in Franklin and Friends, and Toad in the Super Mario Brothers.

Before adding his voice to two Star Wars cartoons, John Stocker had a role in a movie with legendary Star Trek actor William Shatner best known as Captain James T. Kirk.

“I had a pretty good sized role in the movie The Kidnapping of the President, and a lot of my scenes were with William Shatner,” John Stocker recalled.

In addition to working with William Shatner, John Stocker was also a part of the Star Wars universe.

The cartoons Star Wars: Ewokes and Star Wars: Droids both came out after the original Star Wars movies. George Lucas was the creator of both cartoons and an executive producer on Droids. John Stocker was a fan of the original trilogy, but he enjoyed doing the two cartoon shows even more.

“I was a fan of the very early Star Wars, but I probably enjoyed doing Ewokes and Droids more than I enjoyed watching the movies. They were really fun. I still get people who talk to me about it at Cons, it’s really peripheral. For me it was a great experience, working for a great company, of course it was Nelvana. The voice director would call me in and show me a picture of that week’s villain or one of the leads. He wouldn’t tell me what it was before I came in. He would show me the character and ask what do you got? We would find a voice, and he’d say yup that’s it. I would then go into the studio and record. Of course Willy in Ewokes was a pretty regular character, while in Droids I didn’t have a regular character, I just did guest roles,” John Stocker explained.

Dan Day has an impressive portfolio of work having done comic book cover art for The Amazing Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine, The Incredible Hulk, Silver Surfer, Star Trek, The X-Men, and the Cases of Sherlock Holmes. He has also been a comic book penciller and/or inker for Batman and the Outsiders, Doctor Strange, Swamp Thing and many others.

What are your favourite super heroes to work on as an artist for DC and Marvel?

“I enjoyed working on them all but my favourites are Batman and Captain America. I prefer the less super powered heroes. In my youth I drew as a hobby, I drew for fun, and I still draw for fun today,” Dan Day stated.

Geof Isherwood has done work for both Marvel and DC Comics including such titles as Doctor Strange, the Silver Surfer, Conan the Barbarian, Daredevil, Suicide Squad, and more. He has also been a penciller and inker for such titles as The Astonishing Spider-Man, the Fantasic Four: Atlantis Rising, Thor, and X-Men.

His movie credits include the 2016 X-Men: Apocalypse and the 2009 horror-thriller Orphan. Now he can add Doctor Strange, a comic he first started work on twenty-five years ago, to his credits. He was given special thanks in the movie credits, and he got to see it first hand at the official World Premiere.

Geof Isherwood was a special guest at the Red Carpet World Premiere of Marvel’s Doctor Strange in Hollywood California on October 20th. He recounts his experience and meeting Benedict Cumberbatch afterwards.

“I received a surprise email invitation from Marvel to the world premiere of the movie on October 20th. So, my wife Amanda and I decided we could not miss this opportunity, and flew out to L.A. and Hollywood. It was fascinating to observe the entire red carpet event live, and from the inside,” said Geof Isherwood.

Geof Isherwood was impressed with the movie and Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance as Doctor Strange – he thought the film, the visual effects, and acting were excellent, inventive, and awe-inspiring.

“The movie itself was excellent. No spoilers, but I can say that while the visuals were so inventive and awe-inspiring, Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance of Doc was so human that he grounded the story in reality, and that made it work. Also, there is enough humour sprinkled in that adds nervous relief, and in places you would never expect. This was one movie that grows on you in retrospect, and, to me, provides a crossover for moviegoers do are not normally Marvel fans, yet has enough specific references to Dr. Strange lore that us longtime fans (and artists) are left slavering for more. What these movies can show the public is how much imagination went into these characters in the comics that so many have dismissed over the years as juvenile nonsense. Folks can see what attracted us as readers when we were kids,” Geof Isherwood disclosed.

Geof and Amanda enjoyed the magic they saw on screen, and they enjoyed the magic after the screening where they met the star of the new superhero blockbuster movie.

“To top things off, Amanda and I were invited to an after-party at the Magic Castle, a private club for magicians. There, we had the rare chance to meet and speak for a few minutes with Mr. Cumberbatch himself, a thoroughly charming and gracious man,” Geof Isherwood recounted.

Christian Potenza, who is a voice actor on 6teen and Total Drama, was also a guest in attendance. See an interview with him in The Seeker very soon.

For more information on CAPE, including ticket prices and the hours Saturday and Sunday, visit: http://www.cornwallpopevent.com/