There is already a frontrunner for the Northern FanCon celebrity "over and above" gold star.
Last year that distinction went to Michael Hoggan for adding "you really didn't have to do that" gestures like shaking hands with each and every person who sat down to watch his live on-stage interview, and how he pulled on a spare yellow volunteer T-shirt and stood at the front door handing out pamphlets to the fans as they came inside.
This year, FanCon hadn't even started and Garrett Wang (pronounced Wong) was already pitching in to help out. He was one of the celebrity guests hired to do all the regular VIP duties fans love so much, since he was a seven-year regular on Star Trek: Voyager as popular character Ensign Harry Kim. But when a host was needed for the FanCon VIP afterparty at Cariboo House, Wang volunteered to do it, and when he heard that Star Trek star LaVar Burton
(Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation) was one of the headliners, he agreed with the idea of being the first Northern FanCon peer moderator, on stage helping the conversation along.
This is a position he has held before, so adding that value to the convention will also be within Wang's comfort zone. The first time it happened for him, it set an inspirational fire within him, when he found out who he was to interview in front of all the fans.
"For years I went as a celebrity guest to conventions throughout the world, I did my Q&As, my signings, my photo ops, and went home," said Wang, who splits his time living between Las Vegas and Calgary. "But specifically I was in Calgary at the fan expo when the TNG reunion (Star Trek: The Next Generation) was here, and that was on the 25th anniversary of the premiere of The Next Generation.
"I was sitting at a booth for the City of Vulcan, the Star Trek capital of Canada, I was a guest of their board of tourism, and I offered the expo people the opportunity to utilize my abilities in terms of moderating if anybody dropped out. And the funny thing was, they did have someone call in sick, the moderator of one of the guests. They called me and said 'we do actually need you for one of our on-stage appearances' so I said 'oh, sure, who is it?' and they said Stan Lee (the Marvel Comics legend who invented characters like Spider Man and Hulk and so many more). And I said 'uuuuu uuuuu uuuuu.' I remember sitting on stage next to Stan Lee, he's literally 12 inches from me, and he leans over at the beginning and he says to me (taking on Lee's soft-spoken New York accent) 'Ok, I don't hear so good, I need you to repeat the questions for me, because I'm old.' And he's patting my leg like I'm his grandson. And I'm sitting there feeling tears of joy welling up in my eyes. I know the people in the front row must have thought 'Ensign Kim is about to cry.' But it was so exciting to be able to moderate Stan Lee."
He also did three years as the master of ceremonies at the enormous FedCon event in Germany.
Helping him with those live presentation duties is his educational background. He didn't go to film school as a youth, he is a graduate of UCLA's theatre program.
"It's definitely an advantage," he said. "I'm a fish in water, when it comes to moderating. You have to rely on your improvisational skills. As actors we play improv games, and I love doing improv and comedy. You're kind of thrown into the deep end of the pool - you don't even get to test the shallow end - so you have to think on your feet. The job of the moderator is to keep that panel moving, keep that discussion flowing, adding wit and insight, and keeping everything light and positive. But having a background in theatre has helped me just in navigating this world."
In a pinch, he can always fall back on his good looks, to his own surprise as much as anyone's. He admitted feeling baffled when People Magazine called him and offered him a spot in their annual 50 Most Beautiful People edition.
It was even more puzzling, he said, because he went through five successive publicists as he struggled to get media traction for his character on Star Trek. That show became the first in the franchise to feature a female starship captain (Capt. Kathryn Janeway, portrayed by Kate Mulgrew), and one of the first power-women in prime time TV history, so the major talk shows and magazines wanted to talk to Mulgrew.
After a few seasons of that frustration, he dropped his attempts to retain a publicist, and that's when the phone rang.
"I got two calls in one week," he said. Both callers insisted they spoke to no publicist, it was of their own volition. "One was from E-Entertainment Channel asking me if I had any interest in being a part of their 20 Coolest Bachelors feature, and then two days later, People Magazine calls and asks if I want to be in their 50 Most Beautiful People edition."
It was nice for his scrapbook, but it didn't help him get new roles or any dates, he said with a big laugh. It's a frequent laugh he shares liberally with the fans. It is the people lined up for autographs and photos that epitomize the reason an actor can ever call themselves successful, he said.
He learned from original Star Trek actor George Takei that if it weren't for those people, you would have nothing as an actor, so it is important to give convention-goers an honest look at who you are when you're just being you, and honour those people who come to say hello. Besides, when he got to sit beside Stan Lee on that Calgary stage, wasn't that exactly how he felt?
Wang and all the FanCon celebrities are arriving in Prince George as of now. Tonight's panel action includes the stars of the Captain Canuck franchise, the professional cosplayer panel, and Marvel's Agents Of Shield star Brett Dalton.
