Supernatural BurCon: Rob Benedict, Matt Cohen, Richard Speight, Jr., and Rick Worthy Panel

Hello Supernatural fans and friends!

Before beginning, I would like to once again thank my friend AmyinSydney for providing the images in this “BurCon” report. As previously mentioned in my last BurCon report, I had trouble with my camera over the weekend and she really helped bring sweet pictures for you to enjoy here. Please visit her at her cool blog sweetondean.blogspot.com. Thank you AmyinSydney!

Some fans might find this Supernatural quartet an odd one to put together in a panel, since the four characters the actors play have never had a single scene together. True, Matt Cohen (who plays young John Winchester) and Richard Speight (Trickster and runaway Archangel Gabriel) are now the official hosts of almost every “Supernatural” convention’s infamous karaoke night, so pairing them up makes sense.

Someone had the strange and ultimately wonderful idea to add Rob Benedict (heavenly prophet and God-in-hiding Chuck) and Rick Worthy (the Alpha Vampire) to the mix, and the result was an hour’s worth of absolute hilarity!

I could hear that Speight’s voice sounded a bit worn from karaoke the evening before, but he never let that hamper his enthusiasm. As he surveyed his panel-mates, he said, “I know how this worked – Creation got together and said, ‘What four people makes the least sense?’…So every question today has to pertain to all four of us…I would like all the questions to only be about all the episodes we’ve done together!”

Furthermore, since there were so many panelists, Speight decided that he and Cohen would roam the audience to take questions, “Donahue style”, while Benedict and Worthy would remain on stage and field inquiries from the microphones nearby.

I was told later by more seasoned convention-goers that this is typical behavior from Speight, who likes to be all-inclusive with the fandom – and it was lovely to be able to see him and Cohen mingling in the crowd instead of being far away on the stage…far away from my general pass seats, at any rate.

Cohen took the first question from Katie of Palm Springs, who confessed she was losing her voice. “Are you nervous?” asked Worthy, in his deep, rich, basso-profundo tone. (At this point, I feel the need to switch to a transcript-style report to give a better reading of the repartee that followed…)

Benedict : (to Worthy, in awe) “I wish I had your voice!”

Speight : “Oh, my God, I’m totally attracted to Rick right now!”

Benedict : “I just fell in love right now.”

Speight : “Rob and I are having our first fight – no, he’s mine.”

Benedict : “Who’s on stage, bitch?”

Speight : “People always make that mistake, it’s Rich…”

And this was before the first question had even been asked. Katie of Palm Springs finally continued, If you could guest-star on any TV series, what would it be? Without missing a beat, Speight answered, “I would go on ‘Supernatural’. Matthew?” (This would become his standard answer for many different questions; he also delighted in fielding queries to Benedict if he sensed his co-star might not have a brilliant response ready.)

Cohen : “I would love to be part of ‘Supernatural’.”

Benedict : “I’d say, I’d go with, um…’Supernatural’.”

Worthy : “I would go…with ‘Supernatural’, for several episodes.”

What was your favorite character on “Supernatural”, besides your own?

Speight : “My favorite character is…whatever character Rick played. I don’t even need to see it to know that I loved it.”

Benedict : “Besides the four of us…I’m a big fan of Castiel, I’m a Misha guy, cuz he kinda talks like you, Rick…”

Speight : “Painfully sexy, that Misha Collins…”

Cohen : (noticing a couple of latecomers trying to scoot around him to their seats) “Hey, thanks for coming…it’s nice of you to show up this weekend… I’ve been late for a lot of stuff too, just nothing this important, ever…” (answering the question) “I can tell you, I for sure would not want to be Castiel, at all… Honestly, I would like to be…Dean, because, I can tell you why…not only cuz I’m his father and I birthed him… I can say I can’t imagine living a day in the life of Jensen Ackles with lips as succulent as those…”

Speight : “Just so you know, we’re five minutes in, and it’s the most erotic Q & A of all time…male-centric eroticism.”

Worthy : “I like Castiel a lot… I think the way that he plays him is perfect. And he happens to be from Chicago, so…I’m from Chicago as well – Bears! Bears and Bulls!”

Cohen : “Lot of animal lovers in the house today.”

Benedict : “Those are actually sports teams… “

Speight : “Oh, Rob, don’t be silly, of course not. Bears and bulls can’t play sports! You’re ridiculous!”

The next fan was a gal who had danced with Worthy on stage during karaoke the night before; with feigned bitterness, she said that she ought to give him her name, since he hadn’t “called in the morning, and that’s terrible.” Worthy answered, “Can you come to me?” The fan worked her way up on the stage, where he proceeded to grace her with a prolonged and rather erotic kiss on the lips. The crowd went wild and Worthy’s panel mates could only watch, jaws on their chests.

Speight : “Thank you! Goodnight, everybody!”

Benedict : (as the now light-headed fan stumbled back to her seat) “That’s amazing…”

Speight : “Ruining it for everybody, Rick! Hard to come back from that one, Rick! There’s nothing to top the ‘making out with the fan’ bit!”

Do they believe in angels and demons?

Speight : “I believe Rob has a very poignant answer about this…Rob, I’m gonna let you field this one… She wants to know if you believe in angels and demons and that kind of stuff.”

Benedict : (stammering) “Oh, uh…yeah, yes I do…”

Speight : “She would like to know why!”

Benedict : “Because, I mean, um…really, I’m really caught up in what just happened [the kiss]. It’s overwhelming for a guy like me…just to be that close to it!”

Speight : “You’re used to watching that kind of stuff online!”

Benedict : “I could never, in a million years…” (trying to get back on track) “…I do. Angels and demons…because why not?”

Jared Padalecki has been called a moose…if you could associate an animal with your behavior and appearance, what would it be, and what do you think other people’s would be?

Speight : (putting Benedict on the spot again) “Rob, it’s a question is for you… What animal would Rick Worthy be, and why…and would you make love to that animal?”

Benedict : “I’m gonna take the last question first – yes.”

Speight : “Good answer. Matthew?”

Cohen : “I got nothin’…I got nothin’…” (turning to the fan seated nearest him) “Do you have a question, cuz I’m at a loss…”

Fan : “Yes…can I touch your arms?”

Speight : “Rob, I think that’s another question for you…”

Benedict : “Yes! Touch his arms!”

Cohen : (after the fan asked for a kiss as well) “No, you cannot have a kiss! Thank you, Rick!… Wait, I didn’t say you could feel my arm yet! Wait…you can feel my arm as long as when you do it, you say it’s bigger than Jared’s. Go.”

Fan : (in a perfect overly-swooning voice) “It’s bigger than Jared’s!!!”

Speight : “The genuflecting was nice…really sold it.”

What’s the most embarrassing show that you watch that you like, that you would not want to admit you liked it?

Speight : “I’ll be honest with you…’Supernatural’.”

Benedict : “…I’m so embarrassed…’The Bachelor’! Why?! I don’t know!… It’s like crack! And at the end of the day I feel so empty and stupid…”

Worthy : “Is ‘CSI: Miami’ a guilty pleasure? I f—ing love David Caruso…I love how he does his whole ‘putting on the sunglasses’ [move]…”

Cohen : “‘Cake Boss’ is a guilty pleasure… It’s an Italian guy in Jersey, and he makes cakes, and he’s like a pretend-mobster-wanna-be…”

If you could work with any actor, past or present, who would it be?

Worthy : “Marlon Brando…when he came on board with ‘On The Waterfront’…I think Brando changed the game.”

Cohen : “I’m gonna have to go with Meryl Streep…I wanna be her.”

What’s your favorite stunt that you’ve done?

Speight : “I will tell you the craziest stunt I’ve ever witnessed. On ‘Band of Brothers‘ [the epic 2001 HBO miniseries in which Speight co-starred], a guy had to get rolled over by a tank. And they put this big stunt guy…they put a foam pad in the ground, and they just rolled a f—in’ tank over it, and he just went down into the pad. And they had to be very careful that the track of the tank went straight… And I was thinking – ‘There’s not enough money in this production to get me to lay down and have a tank roll over me.'”

Worthy : “I got knocked out while I was doing stunt-fighting for a mini-series, and I was fighting five…it was like five guys against one—”

Benedict : “I didn’t go out for that role, it’s funny.”

Worthy : “…It was 4 am before we started shooting the scene, and I was tired… And then the last guy that I came to was…I just wasn’t ready and he punched me… I lost the fight, but I won the lady. It woke me up. When we did take two, I was quite ready.”

If you guys were to have your own TV show together, what would it be like?

Speight : “Actually, I have an idea – two guys, chasin’ demons…call it ‘Supernatural’.”

Benedict : “I’m just spitballin’… One where my guy’s a writer – no, I’m God.”

Speight : “It’d be a talk show where the three of us stand in awe as Rick makes out with the, uh…”

Benedict : “Entire city of Chicago!”

Speight : “Rick actually likes that idea…”

How did Rick Worthy and his fan friends do the coordinated dance moves on the Backstreet Boys song during karaoke the night before? If you have read my article on Karaoke Night, you know that Worthy and two fans busted a proverbial move to a song by said band, which had taken the crowd by surprise.

Worthy : “We met in New Jersey, it was my first ‘Supernatural’ convention, and we partied and drank our asses off. And we stayed in touch through Twitter, and then she [a fan by the name of Rachel] told me she was coming to L.A. …And then we drank a little bit yesterday… And she said, ‘I want you to do this dance with me’…”

At that point, he invited Rachel back onto the stage with him and they performed their dance again, a cappella. I wish I had been allowed to take video, because it was spectacular. Cohen then jokingly complained that Worthy had now upstaged him when it came to his own signature dance move, the Jerk – which he also felt the need to demonstrate. And (once again) I wish I had a visual record of the experience other than my own memory so that I could share it with you.

All your characters are either dead or gone… “Awwww!” went the crowd, but the fan was accurate. Speight’s Gabriel was killed by Lucifer, Benedict’s Chuck magically vanished into thin air at the end of season five, Worthy’s Alpha Vampire was whisked away to points unknown by Crowley’s goons in season six, and John Winchester (a role that Cohen shares with Jeffrey Dean Morgan) died in the first episode of season two. Can you think of a possible plot where you could come back from wherever you are?

Speight : “I cannot, no.”

Benedict : “I think we’d have to go back in time, maybe…”

Cohen : “I agree, that’s a great idea, since I only show up when they go back in time.”

Speight : “Rick, what do you play in the show? What do you do? What’s your character?”

Worthy : “I’m a vampire.”

Speight : “I think Rick should come back as a vampire.”

Can each of you do your best Castiel impression?

Benedict : (making his voice deep and gravelly) “‘He’s a prophet of the Lord.'”

Worthy : “‘I’m God.'”

Cohen : “‘I’m far wittier than Matt Cohen.'”

Speight : “And I’ll go with ‘Assbutt’.”

When the next fan’s small voice had trouble carrying, even with the mic, Speight asked, “Are you speaking Braille?” With a bit more volume, she queried, What was the best time you had singing karaoke?

Speight : “…I don’t know what convention it was, but we were all here, and Sebastian [Roché] refused to do anything but stage dive the entire night. And, of course, if you’ve been to a Sebastian stage-diving event, you know that he likes to do it ‘business down’. He doesn’t…get passed over like Jesus sailing down the river. He’s goin’ face first, baby! You know how much change he has in his pockets after…”

Worthy : “…Everyone thinks I can sing, and I really can’t, so…I dance.”

Cohen : “…I think it might’ve been Nashville when the stage-diving started with Chad Lindberg stage-diving with a cigarette in his mouth… My shortcoming is that I’m always trying to compete with Chad, for some reason. So I just thought it’d be fun to stand in the back of the auditorium and start throwing chairs…”

Speight : “All I saw was : lawsuit.”

Out of all your individual characters, what was your favorite line?

Speight : “From the show ‘Supernatural’?”

Benedict : “Yeah, the reason we’re here, Rich.”

Speight : (indicated the camouflage netting that was decorating the stage) : “I dunno, look behind you, there’s a camo backdrop!… I know what my favorite line is… It’s ‘Lucifer, you’re my brother and I love you, but you are one great big bag of dicks.'” [from the season five episode “Hammer of the Gods”]

Worthy : “I think it would have to be…’Ouch. Stop. That hurts.'” [said in a quiet, flat tone; from the season six episode “Family Matters”]

Benedict : “I really liked a lot of lines I got to say, like ‘I am the Prophet Chuck!'” [from season four’s “The Monster at the End of This Book”] “…’Is that a molar in my hair?'” [from the season five premiere, “Sympathy for the Devil”] “…And, uh, the line about hoarding toilet paper.” [from the season five episode “The End”]

Cohen : “I think it was pretty great when I got to tell the two lead handsome boys of the show to ‘Shut up!’ in the car…” [also from season five, “The Song Remains the Same”, in which Sam and Dean traveled back in time and joined forces with younger versions of their parents] “I always tell the story because I made sure it took like fifteen takes to get it right… I was sitting in the car and I was like, ‘Oh, God, monsters and demons and s—t and shut up!’ I was like, No, cut, cut, that’s not good enough…”

Benedict : “Matt, can I ask you a question…when you were on set with the two of them…that’s a lot of manhood… What’s the energy like there? Is it like… Rrrrr! Just so good-looking it hurts!”

Cohen : “Well, personally, I never knew you thrust me into that category… It is a testosterone-fueled nightmare… Like there was a scene where I had to walk up to Jensen, right, as I’m playing Michael, the Archangel, and I’m like, ‘Hey, yada yada yada, I’m super-cool, I’m about to f–k your life up…’ I get real close to him, and like the whole time during the scene, this is so bad, but I just remember, I was like…just looking at his lips. Seriously! I was like, up close…and I’m supposed to rest my fingers gently on his forehead and then make him disappear – which I know how to do from experience, it’s easy, but… It was getting the attention drawn away from his lips and to his forehead as he gave me this scowl and it was just quite intense, you know?”

Speight : “I gotta say, Matt – thank you, because for about two minutes, we weren’t the most homoerotic Q & A…”

Cohen : “I like to get back to the roots, Rich!”

Speight : “You are a trained professional!”

How often do you cry about how pretty Jensen Ackles is?

Speight : “How often do we cry? I’ll tell you what – I didn’t realize till about thirty seconds ago what a creepy super-fan Rob is of Jared and Jensen. Now, I understand the restraining order! Now I get it!”

We love karaoke, but we didn’t get to do “Time Warp”. [from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”] If you could be a character from “Rocky Horror”, which character would you be?

I thought it was one of the most brilliant (and random) questions I’d ever heard in my entire life, and it certainly threw the panelists for a loop. The crowd thought that Benedict would either be nerdy Brad or cross-dressing Dr. Frankenfurter, and that Cohen should be Rocky.

What are your favorite plot lines from the show?

Speight : “I gotta be honest – I’d probably go with ‘Supernatural’. That’s a show on The CW that I enjoy. Rob?”

Benedict : “Thanks, Rich, thanks for throwin’ back up here…”

Speight : “No problem. And do me a favor – make it gay.”

In one episode, Heaven is described as your own personal Disneyland…so what would your Disneyland Heaven look like?

Speight : “Well, it would look like Disneyland, I guess, cuz it’s a ‘Disneyland Heaven’. We really can’t legally change their design, so I suppose it would have a Disneyland-esque quality to it.”

Benedict : (unable to think of an answer) “I’m gonna have to go with ‘Supernatural’.”

When it came time for the last question, Speight selected a fan named Tallie from the back of the room and paraded her to the stage while Benedict made up a song. Speight placed her front and center and then forced everyone else off so that all attention was focused solely on her.

Speight : “Tallie – it’s the last question of the panel. People have been clamoring to see the four of us together, finally your dreams have become a reality. You are the bookend on what has been, I would say, if I may, for most people, the best experience of their lives… Ladies and gentlemen, the last question of the panel!”

Tallie : “Okay, so sticking to the homoerotic theme…”

Speight : “So far, so good!”

Tallie : ” What do you guys think of the shipping of, um, Dean and Cas? ‘Shipping’ means possible relationship.”

Audience reaction was incredibly mixed – a goodly subdivision of the “Supernatural” fandom believes that Dean and Castiel are actually in love and refer to the pairing as “Destial”. And although it brings an interesting new dimension to the characters, Destial is usually a taboo subject to bring up during a convention Q & A. And things got worse when she mentioned that people not only ship Destial, but take the obsession a step farther, believing (or fantasizing) that Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins are a couple (which is called “Cockles”). With apologies to Fangirl Tallie, it made the room a wee bit tense. The fan next to me muttered, “Every…f—ing…convention…”

Speight : “Okay…by ‘Yays’, who here wants Misha and Jensen to hook up?” (A sizable “Yay” arose.) “Who doesn’t want them to hook up?” (The “Yay” here was much louder.) “Try Tumblr.” (Tumblr being the place where Destial photo manipulations live and breed.) “This has been the most confusing conversation I’ve ever had. Thank you, everybody!”

My stomach was sore from laughter at that point, and we were only halfway through the day. And there was barely a moment to recover…

Next up: Misha Collins takes the stage…

Many thanks to you for reading and you for visiting WormholeRiders News Agency to read our continuing coverage of the great Supernatural series!

Please feel free to leave a comment here, click an icon below to share this review or you can visit and follow me on Twitter by clicking on my avatar to the right.

Thank you,

Love,

Carrie