The Secret is Out: Have ‘Faith’ and a ‘Helo’ Will Save Us!

It’s with great excitement that we announce the last of our amazing Supa-Stars for the Supanova Expo’s Sydney and Perth tour! Welcome the awesome Eliza Dushku and Tahmoh Penniket!

Fresh from the world of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse, we bring to you the beautiful star of the show, the enigmatic ‘Echo’, Eliza Dushku! From her early career in films like This Boy’s Life and True Lies; to her massive roles in Bring It On, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Tru Calling, Eliza has created a range of memorable characters. We are over the moon to welcome her to our already massive line-ups!

Not content with that however we’ve also secured Eliza’s co-star and romantic interest from Dollhouse, Tahmoh Penniket. Tahmoh won the role after concluding a critically acclaimed four season run on the hugely successful re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica where he played ‘Lt. Karl “Helo” Agathon’! Tahmoh has continued his busy career with appearances in Smallville, Stargate SG-1 and his recent starring role in the USA’s SyFy Original miniseries, Riverworld!

Given that these Sydney and Perth events are following hot on the heels of the recent record-breaking events in Brisbane (19,700 fans) and Melbourne (10,200 fans), and with the wonderful cast that has now been fully revealed (see below), we fully expect to see crowds in excess of 15,000 in Sydney and 10,000 in Perth for a combined 2010 attendance well over 55,000. The Sydney expo will take place at The Dome, Sydney Olympic Park, June 19 & 20, while the Perth expo is at the Claremont Showgrounds, June 26 & 27.

Every year, Supanova brings an array of international pop-culture stars to Australia to meet fans, give behind-the-scenes talks, pose for photos and sign autographs at its family-friendly expos but this year there’s a particular bite to the guests as they represent werewolves, vampires, and vampire slayers from popular series and films including Twilight, True Blood, Buffy and Angel due to popular demand!

FROM THE WHEDONVERSE: BUFFY’S CHARISMA CARPENTER

Charisma Carpenter gained an enthusiastic fan following as Cordelia Chase in Joss Whedons’ hit shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Viewers enjoyed Cordelia’s journey from superficiality to super-heroism as she helped her friend Buffy fight demons and right wrongs. Since appearing in Whedon’s vampire franchises, Charisma has also starred in the fun supernatural drama Charmed, hip detective series Veronica Mars and is set for a silver screen very shortly in Sylvester Stallone’s, The Expendables.

STAR WARS’ YOUNG BOBA FETT: DANIEL LOGAN

New Zealand-born child star Daniel Logan put his skills as a self-proclaimed “show off” to good use when he won the coveted role of the young bounty hunter Boba Fett in STAR WARS: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. “It’s quite strange to me, because you wouldn’t think a film company in a big country like America would want to come to a small place like New Zealand to audition for people… but I am glad they did!” Daniel has said. Now 23, Daniel has returned to huge popular acclaim to the role of Boba Fett in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

HOT TRUE BLOOD VAMPIRE: ALLAN HYDE

He may play Godric, a 2000-year-old vampire in True Blood, but you have to remove a couple of 0s to get Allan Hyde’s real age: 20! When he’s not wowing True Blood fans as the ancient jaded pacifist, Godric, Danish-born Hyde provides the voice of Ron Weasley in the Danish overdubs of the Harry Potter series.

TWILIGHT: NEW MOON & ECLIPSE’S CHASKE SPENCER

Rising star Chaske Spencer plays the alpha male werewolf pack leader, Sam, in the smash-hit Twilight saga. Like the other members of Stephenie Meyers’ wolf pack, Chaske is a Native American (or First Nation descendant) who harkens from the Lakota Sioux tribe.

TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE’S JODELLE FERLAND

With Twilight: Eclipse premiering only days after the Sydney and Perth events, fans of the series have the perfect opportunity to meet crimson-eyed vampire Bree, portrayed by Jodelle Ferland. Despite her youth, Jodelle is already a screen veteran who made her debut at age 4. Her credits include Silent Hill, Case 39, Supernatural, Stargate, & Smallville. Fans of the hit game Bioshock might recognise Jodelle’s voice as that the game’s Little Sisters.

FROM THE WHEDONVERSE: FELICIA DAY

Felicia Day’s initial popularity as Vi in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer blossomed into new-media superstardom when she produced, wrote and starred in the internet TV series The Guild, about a dysfunctional yet heroic posse of online role-playing gamers. Alongside her new-media celebrity, Felicia’s appearances in Joss Whedon’s online phenomenon Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and his eerie TV series Dollhouse have helped this charming performer amass over 1.7 million followers on Twitter.

THE INCREDIBLE HULK: LOU FERRIGNO

Lou Ferrigno: the one and only man who has ever portrayed the Incredible Hulk! Imitators have portrayed the Hulk’s alter ego Bruce Banner, but 6’5” gentle giant Lou Ferrigno appeared as the actual ‘old-school’ Hulk in just body paint! CGI is for wimps! Before he was the Hulk, Lou was best-known for winning back-to-back ‘Mr. Universe’ titles. In recent years, Lou has appeared in the King of Queens, I Love You Man and the Incredible Hulk movie.

MAN OF 10,000 SOUND EFFECTS: MICHAEL WINSLOW

The much-loved “Man of 10,000 sound effects” Michael Winslow is best known as the wisecracking sergeant ‘Motormouth’ Jones in the Police Academy series. Michael’s role in the film and his amazing talent of mimicking sounds has earned him a place as a 1980s pop culture icon, referenced in shows such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Robot Chicken. Michael’s routine had audiences in stiches on his previous Supanova tour to Melbourne and Brisbane, where he was so popular that organisers are bringing him back for the Sydney and Perth expos.

ANIMATION VOICE-ACTOR GUESTS

Vic Mignogna
The ever-popular Vic Mignogna provides the voices of Broly in Dragonball Z , Vega in Streetfighter II, Edward Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist, Fai in Tsubasa Chronicle, Ikkaku in Bleach, and many more… He’s worked on over 100 anime shows! Vic also voices video games, including Soulcalibur, Disgaea, Persona III, Project Sylpheed, DBZ, Bleach, & FMA to name just a few. As well as being a voice actor, Vic is a professional composer & singer who has written and produced hundreds of songs, some of which he shares with fans at the expo.

Travis Willingham
Best known as the voice of Colonel Roy Mustang in the hit anime serial Fullmetal Alchemist. Travis’ other anime credits include Naruto, Bleach, Code Geass, Ergo Proxy, and One Piece. His screen appearances include the movies Ray, Friday Night Lights, The Guardian, and A Perfect Getaway and TV series Cold Case, Nip/Tuck, Prison Break, and Private Practice. An avid gamer himself, Travis’ videogame appearances are as the American hero Guile in Streetfighter 4, and in Guitar Hero: World Tour. Currently, Travis is playing The Hulk and The Human Torch in Marvel’s new animated series, The Superhero Squad Show on Cartoon Network.

Laura Bailey
Laura has worked on over sixty titles in both Texas and California, providing her directing and producing talents to many of them. Laura got her start in anime playing Kid Trunks on the hit series Dragonball Z, and went on to voice many other recognizable roles, including Shin in Shin Chan, Tohru Honda in Fruits Basket, Lust in Fullmetal Alchemist, Angela Miller in Resident Evil: Degeneration, Anko in Naruto, Schrodinger in Hellsing, and Rakshata in Code Geass.
Gamers can hear Laura’s voice as Serah in the new hit game, Final Fantasy 13, as well as Dahlia in Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Chun Li in Streetfighter 4, and many other characters in Aeon Flux, Terminator: Salvation, Ghostbusters, Valkyria Chronicles, and Dragonball Z: Budokai.

COMIC-BOOK CREATORS

Joe Kubert
Comic-book names don’t come much bigger than Joe Kubert, the revered illustrator who broke into comics in 1938 when he was just 11-and-a-half years old. His seminal visions of Sgt Rock and Hawkman defined the characters, and while he was DC Comics' director of publications (from 1967 to 1976) he initiated (and illustrated) legendary strips like Tarzan and Weird Worlds. His two sons, Adam and Andy, have followed in his footsteps to become successful artists themselves. Joe was inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1997, and the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 1998. His “School of Cartooning” is world renowned.

Stuart and Kathryn Immonen
This husband-and-wife comics industry team is returning to Supanova to meet their supporters.
Kathryn has written for both DC and Marvel, including the sleeper-hit miniseries Patsy Walker: Hellcat. She recently completed a run Runaways and is currently wrapping the X-Men mini-series Pixie Strikes Back!

Over a span of more than 20 years, Stuart has worked for virtually every comics publisher and is best known for his diverse, critically acclaimed work including Nextwave and Superman: Secret Identity. After a successful run on Ultimate Spider-Man, Stuart is currently the top-selling artist on Marvel’s New Avengers.