Heroes and Villains Fan Fest London 27th-28th May 2017 – Meeting the Guests

Its been 4 days now since I got back from the first Heroes and Villains Fan Fest London and I’m still buzzing thinking about how incredible the weekend was! When I sit here thinking about it I realised that I did so much during the show and got to meet so many amazing guests, all of which were just brilliant with the fans.

So this post is just going to be about me sharing the experiences with you guys about some of the guests I had the pleasure to meet. which was pretty much nearly all of them but I’m going to talk about the ones that really stood out to me and made an impact on the show for me personally.

Stephen Amell

Now this guy was the main reason I wanted to attend Heroes and Villains Fan Fest London in the first place, as I am a massive fan of Arrow and have been for 5 years now and when I heard he was one of the first headlining guests I knew that I wanted to go and meet him. To me personally, Stephen Amell is an idol of mine and getting to meet someone you look up to in real life is just one of the best feelings in the world.

First thing I did when I got in the show at 9:00am on Saturday morning (thank you VIP pass) was that I decided to head over to Stephen Amell’s autograph table, as I wanted to try and meet him before the GA fans got into the building. In order to get his autograph I had to buy a presale voucher, (as he was one of the headlining guests this had to be done for him, Emily Bett Rickards and Melissa Bennoist) and I was one of the few lucky ones that was successful in purchasing a presale autograph voucher for him.

So anyway I got a feel for where things were on the show floor and headed up to the first floor where both Stephen Amell and Emily Bett Rickards signing tables were. I had an Arrow poster ready for signing as well as The Arrow Pop Vinyl and my Sharpies at the ready to have him sign my items. Now I have been to a lot of conventions and haven’t really suffered from being star struck before but I must admit I did have a slight case of it when I met him. I mean besides from being the ultimate Green Arrow, I really admire the things he does off the screen for charity and how interactive with his fans he is. I got to talk to him for almost 5 minutes which doesn’t sound like that but at a convention that is very rare when meeting a huge guest. I knew that he was great with his fans and comes across as a really genuine and humble guy and that was exactly what I experienced first hand when I met him. He was just so genuine, friendly and welcoming and everything I hoped he’d be in person. I just basically thanked him for being the ultimate Green Arrow, for all the charity work he’s done with his Represent campaigns and how I thought he smashed the Ninja Warrior course. He was just so down to earth and it really kick started Heroes and Villains to an amazing start. I just thanked him for being a really hero to look up to and admire and he was just so thankful to hear those things and so glad I got the pleasure of talking to him. It’s definitely a memory that won’t fade anytime soon! I also got to have a photo op with him in the afternoon and that was pretty cool as he recognised me and that was so awesome too.

This is my Arrow poster that I got signed by Stephen Amell, so awesome in the silver sharpie:

I think the one thing I really admire about Stephen Amell is the dedication he shows towards his fans, I mean he genuinely wants to meet as many of his fans as possible and really goes above and beyond to ensure he met everyone over the weekend. A prime example is that when the show finished on the Sunday at 5:00pm he was still there signing autographs for fans, making sure no one missed out. I really admire him for doing that as he didn’t have to do that at all; also John Barrowman and Josh Segarra did the same thing staying there until after closing to make sure they met every fan and I think that says a lot about them as people.

Check it out below and yes that is a Green Arrow snapback and a Sinceriously t-shirt:

Brandon Routh

After the excitement and buzz I had from meeting Stephen Amell, I put my signed Arrow items away and headed back down to the ground floor. I was wandering around with my friend and we came across Brandon Routh’s signing table and I wanted to meet him so queued up to meet him. In the Arrowverse, Brandon first appeared in Season 3 of Arrow as Ray Palmer, later on going on to become The Atom who then would shift shows to DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.

I had an Atom Pop Vinyl that I was going to get signed by Brandon as I thought it would look cool as shit to have it signed and up on my shelf. When he got to his table I approached and decided to get an autograph and a selfie with him, cos why the hell not right?! He was so tall and I was like damn I feel like a hobbit! He was so nice and down to earth, very chatty and was so great with his fans. I just said that I’ve been a big fan of his since his stint as Superman and just said that I think he’s doing brilliantly on Legends of Tomorrow. He was very humble and so great that he was up for having a selfie with me, left an impact as a memorable guest. I was off to a great start at Heroes and Villains meeting both Stephen Amell and Brandon Routh within the first hour, at this point I was already buzzing with joy!

Gotham Cast

At Heroes and Villains Fan Fest London, there were five members of the Gotham cast there and I was lucky to be able to meet all five of them twice! As I had a photo op with the whole cast in the afternoon who when together were the most fun and amazing group of people. As soon as I walked in for my photo they all noticed my Sinceriously top and was like “it’s Sinceriously nice to meet you” that freaking made the shoot more memorable and loved that from the minute I walked in. Then I went back to each of their signing tables afterwards to get their autographs, have a talk with them and take some more selfies with them.

I got a photo op with the Gotham Cast and it was super awesome, they were the nicest group of people you could ever want to meet:

Drew Powell

The first cast member I got to meet was Drew Powell who most of you may know for playing Butch on Gotham. Oh man the guy was so awesome and so charismatic, he just looked like he was having a whale of a time and was so brilliant with the fans. When it was my turn to meet him I had a lot of fun with him, laughing and joking about how he was hardly on any Gotham posters and I managed to find on with Butch on it and he was like “I’m gonna sign the hell out of this for you”. The dude was like a gentle giant and was so down to earth, another lovely guy.

Robin Lord Taylor

Robin Lord Taylor was a guest that was high on my list of people to meet at the show, as I think he’s done such a brilliant job portraying a younger Oswald Cobblepot in Gotham who would later on go on to become the Penguin.

His table was constantly busy and fans were queuing up in the masses to meet him and when it was finally my turn, man was it worth the wait. He was another kind and genuine guest that appreciated each and every fan and really made them feel like he was their friend. I loved talking with him as he was so cool and genuine, had a great talk about how his character is one of the highlights of the show and how I thought that he is playing the best version of the Penguin. He was so thankful and got him to sign my Gotham poster on his respective character and he even wrote a cool message on there too. I was really enjoying how the first day was shaping up so far.

Jessica Lucas

After meeting Robin Lord Taylor, I then went on to meet Jessica Lucas who plays Tabitha in Gotham. I was quite lucky as all the Gotham cast were in the same part of the convention so I didn’t have to stray to far to try and meet all of them. Jessica Lucas was just lovely, she was really kind, very welcoming and had a lovely chat with her about the show and about being over in London. She signed my Gotham poster and then I just said thanks for being a total badass character on the show.

Sean Pertwee

I then went on to meet Sean Pertwee who plays Alfred Pennyworth on Gotham and he was one of my stand out guests of the weekend. He was just a wicked guy to talk to and was so chatty and really appreciative of the fans, he was one of those guys you could talk to for absolutely ages. When it was my turn I shook his hand and just commented on how I really enjoy how he portrays Alfred on Gotham. I like the cockney approach to Alfred and think that where he is more active than the versions we’ve seen in previous years, it makes the character have a much more stand out impression on the show. He was just so cool, a proper Londoner, and was a real joy to talk with. He signed my Gotham poster too, that was 3 down and 2 to go on there, and he even posed to have a few selfies with me. Just sheer class and a wicked guy all around.

David Mazouz

Last but not least was David Mazouz, who plays Bruce Wayne in Gotham and does it so bloody well in my opinion especially in Season 3. I didn’t realise how tall he was but before I got to my turn in the queue, I was watching him with fans and he just seemed like he was having the best time at the show. He was so down to earth and it was a real pleasure talking to him and getting him to sign my Gotham poster. I had nothing but nice things to say about him and all members of the cast did a Gotham Panel on the stage in the afternoon, which was one of the stand out moments as they were so much fun to watch and could tell they must have so much fun on set when filming.

Josh Seggara

After watching the Arrow Season 5 finale my aim was to meet the man behind the character of Adrian Chase/ Prometheus, Josh Segarra. I easily think that Josh stole the show of Heroes and Villains as he turned out to be a big surprise in terms of how he was with the fans.

The guy’s table was also busy with fans queuing to meet him and I can understand why! I got to have a few photo ops with him on the Saturday, both a solo and duo op with Stephen Amell, and after that he left such an impression on me that I wanted to try and catch him at his table which is what I managed to do on the Sunday. I tried a whopping 6 times to try and meet him, as I had photo ops I had to be at by certain times, or I had autographs to get for other guests. At one point it looked like I wasn’t going to get to meet him as the queues for him were so big and time was running away, luckily I managed to get to his table on Sunday afternoon and was so worth the wait.

My duo photo op with Josh Segarra and Stephen Amell:

Before it was my turn to meet him I watched him with the fans and the guy was so talkative and was having full blown conversations with each person which last ages and that was so cool to see! It wasn’t a case of quickly signing an autograph and then hushing people away quickly, he really took his time and was having some lengthy conversations with the fans and that was brilliant to see. I mean this is how cool and laid back Josh Segarra was…at one point I was looking at some artists stool and I just felt this tall presence standing next to me and when I looked, it was only Josh freaking Segarra stand next to me looking at the stool! That was so damn cool seeing him walking around and just looking at merchandise for sale on the vendors stools. I was just talking about the art and he was like, “where’s the Prometheus art at?” and I was like yeah where is all the Prometheus art?! Then he high fived me and walked back to his signing table, I sort of just stood there and was like….did that actually just happen?! I thought that was so awesome that he, as well as the other guests, were walking around just looking at stools and interacting with the fans. I’ve never experienced that with conventions before so already I was thinking that this was the best show ever.

I went to his table and got to meet him properly and got to have a really awesome chat with him about Arrow and playing Prometheus. For me personally, Josh Segarra was one of the highlights of the weekend for me as the guy was just brilliant with all the fans. He was just outstanding at Heroes and Villains. He spent so much time with every fan he met, always smiling and laughing, came up with the best photo op poses and just had such charisma that was really infectious. For me personally, he just blew everyone away and I think he deserved the attention and love from all the fans. I got to have a selfie with him and my photo op and he was just the nicest dude ever. I really hope he comes back next year as I would definitely want to meet him again!

Maisie Richardson-Sellers

One of the guests I was so pleased that was appearing at Heroes and Villains was Maisie Richardson-Sellers and I was so stoked for the chance to be able to meet her at the show. I’m a massive fan of her from portraying Vixen on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and think she has been a brilliant addition to the awesome roster of time travelling superheroes. I really have enjoyed her character in Season 2 of Legends and think she has been a great addition to the team, so naturally I wanted to meet the actress behind the awesome character that is Vixen.

On the Sunday I had a photo op with Maisie pretty much first thing in the morning and I was so excited, even though a photo op is just a quick meet and greet, she left an impression on me that I wanted to go to her autograph table. She was just so lovely and up close in person she is absolutely stunning! When it was my turn for my photo op she greeted me so nicely and commented on my Green Arrow hat, saying how cool it was. So naturally the inner fan boy inside me was like “OMG Maisie Richardson-Sellers just commented on my hat!” She was really kind in the photo op and very down to earth so I knew I wanted to get my photo signed by her.

Check out my photo with her below that I got her to sign as well:

Once I collected my photo I was still buzzing as it was a great start to the second day of Heroes and Villains and after watching some of Stephen Amell’s Green Arrow panel, I decided to hear over to her signing table. What was so cool was that she recognised me from the photo shoot, must have been the hat and glasses! But she was just so lovely to talk to and I did feel like I was going a little red in the face, she was one of the guests I was really looking forward to meeting and talking to. I liked it as there was no crowd around her table as most people were watching the Green Arrow panel so I was talking with her for nearly 10 minutes. I just thought she was the nicest person to talk to, really engaging and lovely and had a really great talk with her about Legends and how I think Heroes and Villains has been an amazing weekend. Maisie was one of my highlights of the weekend and could’ve stood there talking to her all day. She signed my photo op I had with her and then I got a few selfies with her too.

One of the selfies I got with her below, she so pretty!

Milo Ventimiglia

My friend had met Milo Ventimiglia earlier on at Heroes and Villains and she said he was so cool and he takes great selfies, so naturally I wanted to meet him too as I’e been a fan of him since Heroes. He had a brief appearance in Gotham as well portraying The Ogre and he played such a menacing villain in that show, so I definitely wanted to try and meet him over the weekend.

The guy was a trooper the whole weekend as his signing table always had a big crowd and you always saw him at the table with his fans, I rarely saw him taking breaks and that goes to show how brilliant he is with the fans. I didn’t have anything for him to sign so I chose out a Heroes print that he signed and I had such a great chat with him, talking about Heroes, Gotham and hoping that he comes over to London more often as i think that he is such an awesome guy. He was giving out free selfies with his autographs too which was do dope and it was like 6 or 7 he was taking at once. I got to have loads with him and I swear he is the selfie king. A brilliant guest and addition to Heroes and Villains 2017, I would definitely want to meet him again next year!

Robbie Amell

Robbie Amell was one of the last guests that was added to Heroes and Villains London, he basically announced himself on Twitter that he was coming to London which so awesome of him. It was a wicked surprise as he’d been teasing on social network leading up to the event he was trying to come to the show, seeing as Italia Ricci was already there, so when he was “officially” announced I knew that I wanted to meet him no questions asked.

I’m a massive fan of Robbie Amell, I really enjoy his character on The Flash and the fact he was Firestorm as I love the Firestorm character and thought he was brilliant in Season 1 until he was killed off in the finale that same year. I also donated to him and Stephen Amell’s Code 8 Indiegogo campaign as they released a teaser of this movie project they were working on and I was so impressed I donated to the cause.

When I got to meet him at his autograph table he was so genuine and humble and I had a great conversation with him about his stint on The Flash and about Code 8. I was wearing my Code 8 t-shirt I received from donating to the campaign and he spotted that straight away when I was in the queue to meet him, which I thought was really awesome and I thoroughly enjoyed talking to him. He was great with all the fans and he did not disappoint when it was my turn, such a cool dude and I got him to sign an awesome Firestorm print I bought from one of the artists at the show and he wrote a little personalisation when he signed it.

Check out my signed Firestorm print below:

Straight up, Robbie was one of my highlight guests from the weekend and was such a pleasure to meet both Amell’s in one weekend. I look up to both Robbie and Stephen and to meet them in the flesh and thank them for what they do on and off screen was an undescribable feeling as a fan. I loved every moment that I got to speak and hang with Robbie like I did with Stephen on the Saturday. I had such a great experience meeting him that it was one of my stand out highlights of the show.

Also got a photo op with Robbie too, check it out:

Michael Rooker

Now one of the big guests at Heroes and Villains was Michael Rooker AKA Yondu from Guardians of the Galaxy and Meryl Dixon from The Walking Dead. All weekend I tried to meet him and didn’t get the chance due to photo ops, autographs and panel schedules. I came out of my last photo shoot just before 5:00pm on Sunday with Matt Ryan and my friend pointed out that Rooker’s queue was really small.

Now at this point I was pretty much out of money and I really wanted to try and meet him get his autograph. My friend who was an absolute trooper all weekend convinced me that I needed to meet Michael Rooker as I would regret it if I didn’t. It was a funny scene as we were both sitting on the floor combining our last bits of money together to try and string together enough for me to get his autograph. Thinking about it now it must have looked so funny to other people. But we managed to pool enough money together so I could get his autograph and it was so worth it in the end.

I managed to get to the front of his queue (thank you VIP pass) and i finally got to meet the man himself and man was he worth the wait. Rooker was such a friendly and down to earth dude, so cool and was really great with all the fans. I got to chat with him about Guardians 2 and how I thought his performance of Yondu was brilliant and such a fitting end to his story in the movie. Then my friend explained to him how we both combined our money together so I could meet him and the guy absolutely loved we did that. He started laughing and he said how that was the coolest thing he’s heard and was grateful that we did that. He gave us both a bear hug and he was so cool about the whole thing and then he turned around and said that he was going to sign our passes for free too, which was just amazing. He didn’t have to do that but both me and my friend were completely shocked at the kind gesture by him and it really rounded off an incredible weekend!

The guests that appeared at Heroes and Villains Fan Fest London 2017 were all amazing and all really took the time to talk to each and every one of their fans, which I thought was awesome and made the weekend such a memorable experience. All the guests were fantastic over the weekend and I had such a blast talking to each and every one of them, its an amazing feeling talking and meeting people you admire and look up to and it’s memories that will never fade away. The ones I have mentioned in this post are the ones that really stood out for me and were my highlight moments across the weekend. 

I can’t wait for Heroes and Villains 2018!!