2009 Star Trek Convention: The Meet and Greet with Zachary Quinto

One of the most exciting moments of the Star Trek Convention experience was for me to go the Wine and Cheese party with one of my favourite actors: the wonderful and very talented Zachary Quinto.

As some of you already know, I had managed to win one of the 9 tickets auctioned on Creation Entertainment’s website for a chance to personally meet with the Heroes and Star Trek actor in a private setting for an hour. Did I say in private and for an hour? I needed to really stress that.
The location was held secret almost until the end. When I got to the room, I saw that we were going to meet him in a conference room, sitting at a huge conference table. It felt less convivial than I thought it would be. Still, the wine and cheese were there, and what was important was to meet Zach, albeit in a more . . . businesslike fashion.

It was with trepidation that I was awaiting the arrival of ZQ, as we affectionately call him in some circles. Perhaps it was the fact that I had already seen him up close at the breakfast function earlier that morning or perhaps it was because everyone had nothing to say but how nice he was, but I strangely felt more comfortable than I thought I would be. When he came in, Zach greeted us and sat at the head of the table, and I found myself sitting immediately to his right, merely a few feet from him.

Let me tell you about the Zachary Quinto I met. He must be one of the nicest, kindest, sweetest man ever. His sincerity shines through. He is even more beautiful in person than he is on television: can you imagine that? (I found that many of these actors were indeed more beautiful in person than on television). When he came to meet us, he was very laid back though he was a bit tired (he told us he had slept less than 2 hours). Accompanying Zach at the Wine and Cheese party was one of his oldest friends and Before the Door partner Corey Moosa.

After greeting us, the actor at once proceeded to learn everybody’s name by heart, which I thought was sweet and made us feel important for that whole hour. It was clearly a matter of principle for him to make us feel that way. Not many others would have bothered or taken the time to do so.

Simply as if going into a conversation, questions began, and Zachary Quinto talked about his time working on the show 24, which was not his favourite work experience. But then he talked about how much he loved his Heroes family, and it was completely endearing. The actor also mentioned that he loved the direction in which his character, Sylar, was going for season 4. Talking of Heroes still, he said that he did not like the fact that they killed Elle on the show and that he did not understand why the writers introduced Sylar’s son in I am Become Death if they’re not going to pursue this. Though he is contracted for 3 more seasons (which, I have to admit, was a relief for me as Sylar is my favourite character on the show), Zachary shared with us his uncertainty as to whether or not the show will go on past season 4 (I’m really hoping it will, crossing my fingers). For him, it is still unknown.

Sometimes real life intrude into these events, and while talking with us at one point, Zachary received a text message from Tori Spelling telling him something about an airport lounge. Zach was kind enough to share, to our complete amusement, and quickly texted her back.

Zachary Quinto talked again about his love of the theatre and that his ideal career as an actor would be to act in a play, then a movie, then a play, then a movie. But as for television work, after Heroes ends, he may not return to it for the time being. He also expressed surprise at not seeing any of his movie co-stars at the convention. He had thought that some of them would be there, but he tried to excuse them all, which was sweet.

Zach talked about the paparazzi and said that they were mostly not too intrusive and that the only pictures they usually got of him was when he walked his dog, because that’s all he had time to do besides going to the studio to film Heroes. We learned that the paparazzi now knew where he and Chris Pine lived after both were followed to their respective homes while returning from the airport after their Star Trek tour was over. The actor added that it gave him the idea to do his little video with Buddy and Andy and him walking the dog and having the paparazzi making him fall down. What was to be a way for him to help his friends get coverage turned into something other as many people really believed he was being harassed in this fashion. Zach said that not many people got it.

He and Corey then discussed the partnership between their compagny Before the Door and Archaia Comics with their 2 projects called Mr. Murder is Dead and Lucid. Both believe that the comics will probably debut at Comic-Con in 2010. They also revealed exclusive news about a Fraggle Rock project coming up – which both Zach and Corey happen to love - but nothing more was revealed. Corey made us laugh when he mentioned he’d been watching hours of the show the evening before.

The conversation was easy and it was going back and forth between Zach and the other guests. I managed to tell him hi! from SArmy at which he seemed both surprised and happy. He also talked to me about trying to learn French with the Rosetta Stone program. I should have said more things but I have to admit that my brain could not function properly. That and I basically just liked to hear him talk.

Most of the 11 people assembled did not talk. Some did more than the others, driving the conversation between the guests and the actor. And for a wine and cheese meeting, not many were either drinking or eating. I had tried nibbling on a bit of cheese and I had taken a few sips of rosée wine for courage but everything stayed mostly untouched.

At the end of the hour, the Creation handler came in and Zach had to leave but he shook all our hands and bid us all a farewell. I left this extraordinary meeting with one thought: that there was one of the greatest guys I had ever met.