My final GACC Brush that I’m finally getting done because I’m going to Wizard World next week and I really, really don’t need the backlog in this department. I did save the best for last, Doug Jones! You won’t recognize him since he is often covered in makeup to play aliens or misunderstood monsters, namely the Oscar®-winning The Shape of Water or as it’s jokingly called, Grinding Nemo. I can see why del Toro casts him often, he’s very wiry and I bet he is double-jointed or something to get into those costumes.
Overall Doug was great! He loves the fans and does the pictures with them for free at this convention. I did ask him, what his initial impressions were of the pitch with Shape. He said del Toro sat him down, gave a synopsis of the story as he listened attentively and at the end he said, “Guillermo, I think you’re going to the Oscars.” Honest truth. It was a great movie given how the Academy tends to go with something more pretentious and only if it was released between Christmas and Valentine’s Day.
For the autograph, I had to go with Star Trek: Discovery. I confided to Doug that I didn’t finish the pilot but when I learned he was co-starring, I told him I would give the show another chance due to his awesomeness. Hence, why he wrote Saru’s key line from Discovery saying, trust me, you’ll get what I wrote once you’ve watched enough. He was right! Despite the pilot being a tad sluggish, the show did pick up and his character became a factor in why I enjoy it. Saru will be a well-loved alien for me, alongside Dr. Phlox (Denebuloan), Quark (Ferengi with depth) and Shran (Andorian). I closed out with how I also enjoyed his interview with The Onion (I think) about his first big gig as Mack the Night for a McDonald’s campaign when I was in college. He lit up and thanked me, answered my other question about how the character’s features were remote controlled.
Should he come to your city for a convention, see him. Doug Jones is a delight to talk to and he has played so many characters.