© 2024 | WUWF Public Media
11000 University Parkway
Pensacola, FL 32514
850 474-2787
NPR for Florida's Great Northwest
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Pensacon: A Visit To The Celebrity Room

IMDB.com

There is so much to do and see at Pensacon that you may have passed by one room on your way to something else.  If so, you missed a lot

Rae Dawn Chong is sitting behind a table in that room filled with photographs from her many tv and movie projects from "Quest for Fire" to her new pilot called "The Celebrant". The daughter of Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong, she always knew that show biz was in her future. "Yeah, I had no choice". She started as a musician but began getting acting roles and made the switch. "And it's funny because my dad did the same thing. He started as a musician, signed to Motown (Records) and he became a comedian".

In addition to acting, she’s been busy behind the camera. She is hoping the pilot she wrote, directed and starred in called "The Celebrant" will be picked up. The show co-stars Tim Reid from Frank's Place and "WKRP in Cincinnati". She also wrote and directed "Cursed Part 3", which gave Chris Pratt his first role.

Sitting at a table right next Rae Dawn Chong was Kristen Renton, who was having a great time at the convention. Renton spent two years, filming over 80 episodes of Days of Our lives…but she was best known to the fans at Pensacon for her role as Ima on Sons of Anarchy. She says it’s a big difference working in the two different formats. You can get away with more in terms of adult content in prime time and the shooting schedule is very different. On Days of Our Lives she once shot three episodes in one day, where on Sons an episode usually took seven full days of shooting. Now that Sons of Anarchy has ended, Renton says she has a few movies due to be released. She also is involved with a new documentary "Give Me Shelter", which is about animal rights.

Nnd while Sons of Anarchy may have ended, American Horror Story is still going strong.If you’re a fan of the series you might not have recognized Naomi Grossman without the make up that turned her into Pepper. Pepper was the only crossover character on the series, appearing in seasons 2 and 4. She says fans always ask about the make up process, which she says took about three hours. They also ask if Even Peters is cute.  Answer: "YES!". And they ask what she knows about season five. Answer: Nothing!

Sitting alongside Grossman was one of her American Horror Story co-stars Jerrod Vunovich. Jerrod, who is a native of northwest Florida, is a returning guest at Pensacon. He was featured last year as one of the walkers from The Walking Dead. He enjoyed working on American Horror Story and with great actors like Grossman, Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates. Jerrod also has a role in the new Fantastic Four movie which is coming out this year. A lot of fans have been asking about that at Pensacon.

So, if there’s a moral to this story it should be that when visiting a fan convention like Pensacon…don’t pass up those room in the corner…you never know who you’ll meet there. WUWF News.

Bob Barrett has been a radio broadcaster since the mid 1970s and has worked at stations from northern New York to south Florida and, oddly, has been able to make a living that way. He began work in public radio in 2001. Over the years he has produced nationally syndicated programs such as The Environment Show and The Health Show for Northeast Public Radio's National Productions.