Castle Fan Charity Convention

Andrew Marlowe

Last weekend the folks from CastleTV.net and the SoCal Browncoats organized the first annual Castle Convention held at the Airtel Plaza Hotel in Van Nuys. Among the events held during the one-day convention included a trivia contest, two separate charity auctions – benefitting organizations chosen by the special guests – and two different Q&A panels with series creator Andrew Marlowe and writer Terri Miller and cast members Seamus Dever, Tamala Jones and Jon Huertas.

In sharing what inspired him to create the series, Andrew explained that he was a feature writer with his first film being Air Force One. As a fan of Star Wars since the age of 9, Andrew was beyond thrilled to be the writer for a Harrison Ford film. He then used his skills as a writer to segway into TV writing, creating Richard Castle as an archetype of himself.

Terri Miller

He and Terri, who met years earlier through a fellowship won by each of them at the Academy of Arts and Sciences, worked together to create a couple reminiscent of the legendary Hepburn and Tracey; but they both knew that chemistry between the actors playing the lead roles would make or break the show. After looking at about 125 actresses for the role of Beckett, when Stana Katic walked in to do the chemistry read with Nathan Fillion, they knew they had the right actress, but it took some convincing with the network because Stana was a relative unknown.

They both agreed that as a writer you can make great narratives but it’s not until the words are taken by the actors and made into something even greater. It is nothing short of magic on film when Nathan and Stana are on screen. They both stated they are fans of Firefly and the film Waitress; and having Nathan as part of their team is a remarkable experience.

Seamus Dever

But when the whole process started, neither Terri or Andrew knew who would be the primary players in the show, but “they have made the show what it is”. And, they both shared that “they are grateful every day to work with the cast they have”.

Speaking of the cast, as actors Seamus Dever, Tamala Jones and Jon Huertas took the stage, they were received by thunderous applause. The fun and frivolity started with all three of them joking around with each other and the questions from the fans began in earnest. Several questions were lobbied to Seamus about Ryan’s upcoming marriage and the physicality involved in the episode were Ryan was held under water with Seamus explaining that he can actually hold his breath for a very long time.

Each of the actors shared how they got their respective roles with Jon explaining he was sure he had screwed up his audition, but to his surprise he actually landed the role. He also shared that he was up for a role in the TV series Southland, but the offer from Castle came first. Tamala explained that Lanie was supposed to be a one-time only role for a Caucasian woman, but she “begged” for the audition; and just as she was getting ready to go out for a role on the TV series Hawthorne, she was offered the role on Castle. As for Seamus, he had been working on General Hospital but then his character got killed off. Then he went to work on Army Wives but that character got killed off too. Then he got cast on Castle after the original pilot was done.

Jon Huertas

All three of the actors even did some impressions: Seamus mimicked Christopher Walken talking under water and did some weak Italian impressions; Tamala pretended to sing like Diana Ross and Jon spoke Spanish seductively to Tamala. These little performances had the audience in stitches. They also regaled the audience with stories about the worst jobs they ever had, with Jon sharing he worked for an ex-mafia member and his lawyer, Seamus worked for 1-800-Dentist (which he stated is nothing but a scam) and Tamala worked for Subway where she had to deal with a really mean boss.

Turning over to slightly more serious subjects, each of them shared the storylines they would like to see happen on the show. Tamala said she would love for actress Pam Grier to play Lanie’s mother and for her to give Javier the third degree over his relationship with Lanie. Jon said he wants Lanie and Javier to get back together and Seamus said that Ryan getting married and the whole storyline around Ryan’s gun being stolen were more than he could have asked for.

Tamala Jones

Near the end of their Q&A, Jon actually came down into the audience, walking around with the microphone so the audience could ask more questions. This was either his way of interacting more with the audience or as a diversion for the convention organizers to sneak a birthday cake to the stage for Tamala, who actually came to the event on her big day. This gave everyone the chance to sing her “Happy Birthday” with Jon and Seamus a chance to ‘harmonize’ along with the audience. The final big surprise was a new piece of artwork by well-known artist Jason Palmer featuring the entire cast of Castle.

While the convention was attended by just over 80 fans, more than $9,000 was raised for the charities Best Friends Animal Society, The Young Storytellers Foundation, Ox Fam and Puppies Behind Bars.

Thanks should be extended to the cast and crew who were able to join the fans for the one day as well as the staff at CastleTV.net and the SoCal Browncoats for all their hard work.