When a normal person thinks of a Comic Con, they probably think of a whole bunch of nerds walking around in Star Wars/Trek outfits trying to master Jedi mind tricks or the Klingon language. Maybe people attempting to fit into the skin tight leotards that most comic book heroes wear with varying degrees of success. And they’re right. Those people do exist, especially the latter group. However, I am here to tell you that fandoms have spread across all genres of entertainment. I actually saw a person come dressed as Bob Ross. If the name rings a bell but you’re not quite sure who that is, think of putting a “happy little cloud” in the corner of your painting and I’m sure you’ll remember.
Dallas Comic Con Fan Days, happening this weekend at the Irving Convention Center, is a lot smaller than their Fan Expo that happens in June at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in downtown Dallas. Smaller only in attendance but not in scope. This convention covers Star Trek and the Marvel Universe as it should, but also branches out to wrestling fans with WWE Superstar Mick Foley, who by the way is a flippin riot to talk with, NetFlix stars, television stars and Harry Potter fans.
This convention is all about the fans. The stars are not here to necessarily promote any new projects they have, they are here to bask in the adoration of the fan base their particular situation has put them in. Case in point… TJ Thyne.
Thomas Joseph “T.J.” Thyne is an actor best known for his role on Bones as Dr. Jack Hodgins, an entomologist. T.J. was born in Boston, raised on the east coast until high school when is family moved to Plano and he attended Plano High School. Sometime in high school the decision had to be made whether to focus on wrestling and track or theatre. He chose theatre and we are grateful for that. From Plano he went on to USC and graduated in 1997. For about four years he would get bit parts on TV shows like “Friends,” “Home Improvement,” “NCIS” and the like until finally he was being remembered by casting directors. Asked about landing the job of Hodgins he said, “Well, I was living in my car at the time…and a casting director that had remembered me from the movie “EDtv” gave me a script for a pilot.” Hodgins was supposed to be this 45 year old scientist wearing shorts and flip-flops. Thyne said, “Okay, but that’s not the way I would play it.” Four days later he was talking to Hart Hanson about the getting the job.
Dr. Jack Hodgins is an entomologist. T.J. Thyne hates bugs. He has now spent 12 years playing a bug expert. However, he has developed a more than passing interest in forensics due to his work on the show. Hodgins is known as ‘The King of the Lab’ and usually comes up with some crazy experiment to help solve a case. Among his favorites is the watermelon bash because there were actually detonators inside the watermelons to ensure a good splat on TV. They were actually fairly timid because they were afraid the detonators might be too powerful.
His character has gone through an emotional roller coaster in the 12 seasons of “Bones.” For him, as an actor, the scene where he professes his love for Angela (Michaela Conlin) while buried alive in a car was the most emotional. For the past year or so, Dr. Hodgins has been confined to a wheelchair. He is grateful that he can play his character like that and portray the struggles that person goes through when a tragedy such as that happens. He goes so far as to not be on set at all without his chair. He says the crew hasn’t seen him walk for a year and half. He wants to convey the real struggles that a person confined to a chair goes through and this is how Thyne makes Hodgins very real, very true and very loved.
When you work on a show for twelve years, you are bound to have some highs and lows and reall high points and some regrets. Thyne confided that he has so enjoyed the experience of “Bones” that he really has no regrets about the character, his storyline, or anything else, except that John Francis Daley is no longer with the show. When he said this, my daughter sitting next to me started to tear up. I asked him what life-lesson he will take away from the show after it ends its twelve year run later this season. “Always work hard for what you want in this world.”
T.J. will be appearing Sunday, October 16th at Dallas Comic Con Fan Days at the Irving Convention Center 500 west Las Colinas BLVD in Irving. And he still hates bugs.
