interview by Mary Anne Butler ComicsOnline Editor, Reporter, Photographer

I was lucky enough to have a few minutes of actress Torri Higginson’s (Stargate: Atlantis, The English Patient, editor’s favorite Stonehenge Apocalypse) time this week to talk to her a bit about a special event going on in September (the 12th-14th) 2014 on the Big Island of Hawai’i, and what she’s been up to.

Torri Higginson:  Hey there, how you doing?

Mab:  Oh, can’t complain, the rain finally stopped.

Torri:  Rain?!?  Oh that sounds so….balmy.  We’ve got minus 30 or something here.

Mab:  Oh my gosh, that sounds CRAZY!

Tori:  Well, that might be hyperbole, I tend to lean towards hyperbolic.  *laughs*

Mab:  Well I mean sometimes it’s called for, if it’s COLD then it’s cold!

Tori:  Exactly!

Mab:  You know what’s NOT going to be cold?

Tori:  I KNOW!

Mab:  What are you doing in September, Tori?

Tori:  I think i’m going to Hawaii!!

Mab:  *silly sarcastically*  Hawaii?  What’s going on there?

Tori:  I’m VERY excited!  It’s a gathering of unique minds and hearts *giggles*  a celebration of science fiction, and surf and sun and sand!

Mab:  That is SO the perfect description!  So for those who have NO IDEA what we’re talking about, we’re talking about the first of it’s kind HawaiiCon!  That’s right, a convention on the Big Island of Hawaii.  And one of the fun things about this event is that the fundraising was done mostly via crowdsourcing sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, which was kind of crazy because it had full funding within what, two weeks?

Tori:  Oh that’s awesome!  I didn’t know that.

Mab:  Yeah, that’s how my fiance and I found out about it, actually.  Looking over all the plans they had, and all the people they have coming, it was very much a ‘how could you NOT support this idea’ type of thing.

Tori:  That’s so cool, I love all those social media fundraising things.  I’m actually in Montreal right now doing a play, and a lot of how we got it up here for the Montreal leg was through Kickstarter.

Mab:  Ooo, what play are you doing?

Tori:  It’s a play called “The List”, it’s a one person show, it’s written by a French Canadian author, Jennifer Tremblay, but I’m doing the English version.  *laughs*  Sadly, my French is not that good.  But yeah, it’s a lovely piece.  It’s very challenging, I’ve never done a one person show before, it’s a very different set of muscles than a regular play, and even more different muscles from sci fi television.

Mab:  How did you find out about HawaiiCon?  Did you come to it, or did they approach you?

Tori:  Someone approached me, and asked ‘Do you want to do a convention in Hawaii?’ and I thought about it for a nano second, *laughs* and said ‘yeah, well, I guess I could do that.’   I’m thrilled, I’ve only been to Hawaii once before, and I had never thought I wanted to go.  I almost thought it’d be a little bit like Cancun,  just an Americanized resort place, but I LOVED it, such a beautiful beautiful series of islands.  So I’m very excited to revisit.

Mab:  I’ve only been to the Big Island,  and what’s really funny is the resort the convention is at is literally one hotel down from where we stay when we go on vacation.

Tori:  Oh sweet, so you’ll be our tour guide then!

Mab:  Heck yeah!  I hope so, that’d be kind of awesome.

Tori:  Cool!

Mab:  And I know several of the guests are hosting some events through the convention that the attendees can then sign up for, what can we look forward to doing with you?

Tori:  I know, they sent me a list and said “pick one!”, and there’s this list of 12 or so really awesome things, I can’t decide, I want to do all of them!  So I’m sort of down for all of them, and whichever of them they need an extra guest for, I’ll be there.   They said “you can do MORE than one”, and said OH HECK YEAH, then I’m in!

Mab:  I was having a crisis when looking at the list, going “BUT THAT ONE!  AND OOO THAT ONE!”

Tori:  I know, right?  It’s not like you read the list and say ‘ooo, not really’.

Mab: For those of you who don’t know, some of the tours and workshops include things like a trip up to the Observatory with Michael Hogan from Battlestar Galactica, hula lessons with Claudia Christian of Babylon 5, there are all these different things you can chose from and I think people are gonna have a really hard time trying to pick.

Tori:  It’s true, too many, we’re spoilt by choice.  Who else is coming, do you know?

Mab:  So far confirmed they have Rachel Luttrell, Paul McGillion, yourself,  and Rainbow Sun Francks from Stargate Atlantis (as well as others); Claudia Christian and Patricia Tallman from Babylon 5; Nicholas Brendan and writer Jane Espensen from Buffy The Vampire Slayer; Esmé Bianco from Game of Thrones;  Bobak Ferdowsi systems engineer at JPL (better known as NASA Mohawk Guy); Walter Koenig who will be celebrating his birthday while at the convention, that’s going to be a big deal.  There are other guests, I just don’t have the list in front of me at the moment.

Tori:  Oh cool, cool.  That’s the other thing I love about conventions, there is this whole group of actors who sort of meet up.  It’s a social thing for us too, and you go “oh hey, I haven’t seen you since Paris!” it’s great.

Mab:  What thing are you looking forward to the most about the con?

Tori:  A little bit of all of it to be honest, I’ve been up here in Canada for about a year now, and after being in LA for 11 years, it’s been shocking dealing with the weather.  I am DEFINITELY looking forward to some sun and sand and nice salt water.  Also, this year has been pretty quiet for conventions for me, and I’m just looking forward to that. I find them such a warm, welcome, and humbling gathering.  I think conventions are awesome, and I’m only doing three this year.

Mab:  What are the other two?

Tori:  I’m doing one in Wales, Wales ComicCon, which is very cool because my family is from Wales.  I’m going to be pulling double duty of the con and visiting some peeps, it’ll be opposite of weather though, it’ll be very wet.  Not a lot of surfing going on that day.  And the other is in Toulouse, France.

Mab:  So as far as conventions, what’s been your favorite experience?

Tori:  I’m not sure, I mean there’s this great energy to it, I remember when I was first starting to do conventions, I was very uncomfortable with them, I’ve always been uncomfortable with the idea of celebrity.  I mean if anyone should be revered it should be teachers and garbage men, because I mean our job is our reward.  It’s humbling, but at times very strange, people are giving are giving you all these kudos for this thing that you’re just sort of lucky to get.  But over the years what I’ve really loved seeing is the connections that happen with the fans, it’s this meeting ground for these people to make these really deep friendships.  I’ve met people who have gotten engaged, they’re fans, they’ve met at a convention, they’ve become writing partners, created art together.  That’s the other thing, is the inspiration that happens, they take their obsession so to speak of science fiction and they create something with it.  They don’t just google the stars, they do paintings, or write fan fiction or scripts, it’s just a wonderfully inspiring environment.

Mab:  Those have to be some of my favorite moments to see, when those creative fans get to meet the actors/actresses who’ve inspired them in person, sometimes it can really be something special.

Tori:  Yeah, completely.  This script I’ve been trying to write, working on for a few years, is dealing with that, the fine line between obsession and inspiration.  And I think a lot of the time obsession sort of stops you from having your own voice, and what I see at conventions are people being inspired, and that is just exciting to see.

Mab:  What inspires you?  Are you a sci fi fan?  You seem to gravitate towards those projects.

Tori:  It’s kind of funny, I wasn’t initially, I guess I didn’t think I was.   I never really define things well, I never used to think I was a sci fi fan, I didn’t grow up watching Star Trek, or Dr. Who or those genre things.  But I look back and I realize I loved things like Lord of Rings.  I mean it was me and a bunch of men all lined up for the first film, and I was the only woman there in Silver Lake, there was this very strange male audience.  But then I look back and realize there were so many of those things that would fit into that genre.  As I’ve gotten to know it better through the Stargate experience more than anything, I’ve found I have such respect for it, because it’s such a beautiful venue to discuss these really big ideas that a lot of times people are frightened of discussing, like politics and religion.  But if you put it in the science fiction realm, and all of a sudden, you can have these deep philosophical conversations without it pinching people personally.   I think it’s a very important and vibrant thing, especially in this day and age.   Art inspires me, music is a big part of my life, and poetry, I love it.  And Patti Smith, she’s my person, I would line up for a convention for her in a second.   I get inspired by people who are really brave and honest with their art.

Mab:  Wow.  I just, I really loved what you said there about the sci fi realm making things like politics and religion more palatable, it’s so so true.

Tori:  It really is.  It allows a place to have these open dialog, because people don’t get their feathers ruffled because we’re talking about another species, another planet, another galaxy, we’re not talking about this country or that political party.  You’re really able to discuss what you feel and what you want to be able to understand through ideas, not through defense.

Mab:  So what are you going to do once you’ve finished with this play, what’s on your schedule?

Tori:  Oh, well I have this writing I’m trying to finish up, I’m trying to sell some ideas here in Canada, and then I head to Europe for those two conventions, and then hopefully back to LA for awhile, because I’ve been gone a long time.  I love Canada, it’s my home, but I miss my friends and the taco trucks.  Toronto taco trucks just don’t cut it.

Mab:  I’m totally gonna pick your brain about the European conventions when I see you, I’m super curious.

Tori:  Well cool, I’m looking forward to them, the French convention guests always bring wine!  I mean some of the places bring you stuffed animals, but you don’t always have enough room for them but….wine!

Mab:  Bring all the guests at HawaiiCon a bottle of wine, got it!  Thank you so much for your time, Torri, this was lovely.

Torri:  (laughs) Oh, my pleasure.  And I’ll see you in Hawaii!