Richard’s interview is continued from part one.
Richard Speight, Jr. is a man of many talents who is well known for portraying Gabriel aka Trickster on CW’s “Supernatural.” Part two of our up close and personal interview, the actor, director, and musician talks about his convention journey, and leaves a message for “Supernatural” fans who are feeling sad about the final season. Enjoy part two.
Jadeen Mercado: Speaking of conventions, what really keeps you coming back?
Richard Speight, Jr.: I enjoy it, and that’s key. It also doesn’t hurt that I get paid. If there were a slog or the actors were jerks or had a bunch of egos, it wouldn’t be worth it to me because I’m gone too much. I’m gone all of the time directing, I’m gone all the time doing acting jobs. There’s no work in Los Angeles, you get hired in Los Angeles and go elsewhere. I travel too much and to add this to the roster to come here and be treated like shit if my co-workers were pompous narcissistic jerks, or whatever. The fact that Creation’s been gracious enough to let me shape this universe into what I think it should be, and I’ve found all these sorts of willing accomplices in Rob and Billy and Mike, and Stephen, and Matt Cohen and we’ve built this world into what we wanted.
Everyone has come along after that has sort of seen the world we’ve built and added to it and created their own little pocket in that world and made the world better and brighter and more interesting and creative: That makes it worth doing. That makes it worth going on stage and be goofy and make myself laugh and make the band laugh and hopefully make a few people in the audience laugh. To me, it’s an acting exercise as much as it’s a convention for fans because I get something out of it. I get this sort of rush of doing live stuff and thinking on my feet and just sparring with wits with other people of like minds and like senses of humor.
For those who have yet to attend a “Supernatural” convention, check out this video.
JM: Would you say that you’ve grown personally and professionally while being on “Supernatural” and on the convention circuit?
RSJ: Well, that’s impossible to isolate because of course, I have because it’s been 14 years. I started at a convention when I had one 6-month old child, and now I have three kids and one of them’s a teenager, so you know if I haven’t, then I have a really bad medical condition where I have no emotional growth and no mental growth (laughs). That would be weird. I think what I’ve enjoyed and have gained for the experience is the comradery because like I said before, as a freelance actor going from show to show, you just don’t make the kind of friendships that I’ve made, or the kind of bonds, or the kind of fights, or the kind of highs and lows that I’ve had with this group of people, and actors and musicians. You don’t become part of the framework of the series. You don’t become of the family and the fandom.
I’ve become part of both of those things because “A” the show has given me great work to do as an actor, and “B” the fans have kept that character alive in their hearts and minds by watching and re-watching the show, and “C” by having a convention circuit that goes town to town and country to country reminding people and delivering people their favorite performers and guest stars and bit actors on stage. Some of us are well-known from the show, and some of us are well-known from the cons.
It’s its own entertainment. It’s like the Broadway version of “Supernatural.” We have our own theater stars that have created here that might be not as popular from the show that is popular on the road. And visa-versa, there are some that are great on the show that isn’t great con guests. That’s not a slight on them, it’s a different format here. You’ve got to appreciate that and let everybody shine where they shine.
JM: With the show ending, what do you have to say to the fans who are crying and are sad or happy or ready to move on or not: What do you have to say to us?
RSJ: I think every emotion that every fan is experiencing is a testament to the quality of show that they’ve been watching for 15 years. I think if they love the finale, good for the show. I think if they hate the finale, good for the show because the only thing that would be a bummer would be if people are indifferent.
As long as they have positive and negative feelings, passionate feelings, regrets, things they’ve missed, things they’re glad to see go, pr anything that’s heightened emotional content that the fans are experiencing is a real compliment to Kripke’s vision, and to Jared and Jensen’s acting, to Misha’s acting, to Mark Sheppard’s acting, Mark Pellegrino’s acting, Sam Smith, and everybody’s who walked through that door to be on that soundstage. to help tell those stories from Jeremy Carver taking over, from Sera Gamble taking over, Andrew Dabb taking over, and Bob Singer being there the whole time overseeing it all, Phil Sgriccia being there the whole time overseeing it all, these are the people who didn’t sleep, and fought and laughed and got their feet wet and their hands dirty and made sure that an episode of television hit the airwaves 20-23 times a season and for them the accomplishment of getting volatile reactions from the fandom, that’s the win! When people aren’t paying attention, that’s the loss. We’ve got people who are paying attention. We’ve got people who care who are going through a flurry of emotions as are those of us who are involved. That says great things about the show we’re all here an in support of.
Thank you to Richard Speight, Jr. for giving Nerd Alert News his time. Stay tuned for more of your favorite “Supernatural” related news.
Written by Jadeen Mercado
