Eureka/Warehouse 13 Panel

Dragon*Con

September 3–6, 2010 • Atlanta, Georgia

Q&A transcription by Marguerite Krause
(originally printed in the January 2011 issue of the ORACLE newsletter)

René was a guest star last fall [August 2010] on Warehouse 13’s episode “13.1”, which was one of a pair of crossover episodes between that show and Eureka. That crossover was the inspiration for this panel.

The panel included cast members Neil Grayston (who was a guest on “13.1” with René), Erica Cerra, and Colin Ferguson of Eureka, Saul Rubnick and Eddie McClintock of Warehouse 13, a couple of other people whose names I didn’t catch, and René, who got a particularly huge cheer from the audience when he was introduced.

The room for this panel was absolutely packed, and the audience was wonderfully energetic and enthusiastic. The actors responded accordingly, with a lot of good-natured talking and laughing between cast members of both shows, and entertaining answers to the questions posed by the fans. The joking around often veered toward “mature” subjects, but the actors were aware of children present in the audience and so tilted their remarks toward innuendo and suggestive comments, which added to the humor. The actors also demonstrated a comfortable knowledge about the sci-fi concepts of their shows, making suggestions for possible future crossover plots and things their characters could do.

Because of the acoustics in the room, the actors on stage had some difficulty hearing the questions from the audience, even when they used the microphone.

For the sake of space in this issue, I’ve transcribed only the sections of the Q&A that were more or less related to the Warehouse 13 cast or René.

MC: Welcome to Dragon*Con, and what have you seen so far that has made you go, “Wow!”

Eddie: This crowd. (huge cheers) And there was this…are there little kids in here? (laughter) With the…she was…(gestures suggest a woman in an intriguing costume)…that made me go “Wow!” (laughter) What about you, Saul? This is our first…

Saul: Dragon*Con is awesome and you guys are awesome. (cheers)

Fan: I have a question for…(pauses, and says carefully) Mr. Auberjonois.

René: Well done! (laughter)

Fan: I remember you from Benson (wild cheers). You were the reason I went into politics, actually, for a brief time…they’re not all like Clayton. (laughter) The question is, when you were on this show, coming in as a guest star, how did you fit in with Saul and Eddie and everyone else, and Neil as well.

René: Well, you know, it was tough. (laughter) Let me say, first, I’m just thrilled to be here, and I was thrilled to be part of the show. I feel like a total interloper sitting here. But I had a great time, these guys are just sweethearts, the whole crew, everybody. I know, that’s the sort of stock answer, but genuinely, I had a wonderful time, it was a great character. It’s always fun to play dual kind of characters . So, it was all gravy, sort of out of the blue, and I had a great time.

Neil: And now we need to get you on Eureka. (much applause)

Eddie: I was just going to say, Hugo Miller goes to Eureka, so that means he can always come back, and we sure hope he comes back.

Saul: (to the audience) Here’s what’s going on, is the fact that you guys are here like this, that’s important. Well, first of all, Eureka, and the way you gave a life to our show, because of the way the comedy and drama mixed on Eureka, the truth is, they were the forerunner, so we wouldn’t have a Warehouse 13 if Eureka wasn’t as successful, because of you guys. As a result of that, we’re able to attract people of the quality of René, they’re wonderful, wonderful. (cheers and applause) The more you guys watch, the more appreciative you are, the more we have wonderful actors and actors want to be on our show. So we’re very grateful, we’re really lucky.

Fan: My question’s for René, I’m asking about how it felt to move from something so serious as your Star Trek to coming over to the Warehouse 13 team, which carries a lot more comedy.

René: What? (laughter) I’m sorry, what was it like to go from…?

MC: Serious drama…

René: To comedy?

MC: Serious drama from Star Trek:DS9 to the comedy of Warehouse 13.

René: Right. Well, I think that comedy is serious business. You can get caught with your pants down, and so it’s, I think, the hardest… I don’t know, was that appropriate? (laughter) I really love doing comedy, and so, one of the reasons I was doing it was, A) because I admired the show, but also because the character was interesting and offered that opportunity to show… I’m a character actor. I like to do it all. So, that gave me that opportunity. (applause)

Fan: This is for all of you, if you came to Dragon*Con not to work but just as a fan, what would you dress up as?

(Panelists started answering from the end of the table farthest from René, offering various amusing and/or sexy ideas)

MC: René?

René: Oh, god, I have to answer that? (Laughter) No, I’m not going to answer that, I’m just going to quickly interject here, that I’ve been doing this type of thing for years, never anything as extraordinary as Dragon*Con… (applause starts, René’s waves it down) Nah, nah, nah… I have been doing it for years, and what’s fabulous to be here, and I feel really honored to be part of it, is because the energy in this room, it’s like a first date. (laughter) You know, when we go out, like our panel yesterday, was fabulous, wonderful, but it was like seeing old friends. People…it’s not like they take us for granted, but we’ve been around for a while. But there’s like a wonderful energy in this room that you’re giving these people, and it’s why these shows are so great, and it’s just wonderful to look at you all and hear you all react. (applause and cheers)

MC: We have one last question for the panel, a kind of X-Track tradition: If you had to chose one: Star Wars or Star Trek?. (much laughter and applause as René makes an “Isn’t it obvious?” gesture)

Erica: (hesitantly) Star Wars? (mix of cheers and boos)

Saul: Twenty years ago, I did this episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called “The Most Toys” (applause and cheers) Star Trek—No contest!

Neil: Mine is definitely Star Trek. Not so much anything after the original…. (laughter and “ooooh” sounds from audience as René reacts) Star Trek, Star Trek.

Another panelist: My dad was a Trekkie, so I grew up watching Star Trek with my dad. Next Generation. So that’s like a fond memory. (whispers) But I think it’s Star Wars for me. (applause)

Colin: It would be Star Wars, for the time it came out and how old I was and everything. But maybe we’re competing TV against film here, I don’t know, it’s getting kind of complicated, I would rather say, Next Generation. (cheers)

Eddie: I think I would date Star Wars and marry Star Trek. (huge cheers and applause)