Comic Con: Special Guest Danny Trejo
Story by David A. De La Rosa
Photos by: Joseph Martinez
Alamo City Comic Con: Special Guest Danny Trejo
The inaugural Alamo City Comic Con has come and went; it was set up as a premier comic book convention. The four things people look forward to in a typical convention are comic book collectibles, artwork, dressing up in costume, and meeting celebrities. The Alamo City Comic Con did not disappoint in any of those aforementioned items.
Myself I wanted to see the actor Danny Trejo; for those of you who don’t know who he is let me tell you. Danny has had a long career as a character actor playing bad guys in both TV and film, and lately has attained cult hero status as the Machete in that film franchise. There were several ways to see and meet this celebrity either with a VIP pass, organized autograph signing, Q&A panel, or a lucky sighting in the halls. I went to see him at the Q&A panel which was free for convention goers, in the Lila Cockerell Theathre. The Lower level of theatre was almost filled to capacity with the two main isles set up with microphones for the audience to lineup and ask Mr. Trejo questions.
The Q&A session lasted 45 minutes to an hour in which the audience asked Mr. Trejo questions about his life, career, or just wanted to state their admiration for Mr. Trejo’s work. As for Mr. Trejo he could not have been cooler he answered every question fully with down to earth wit and humor. I liked that about Mr. Trejo because you could tell he was happy to be there with his fans. I’ve been to other conventions in which the celebrity guests (not mentioning any names) really made you feel that they didn’t want to be there, with their tone answering questions, or demeanor.
Here are a few questions asked of Mr. Trejo and his responses.
Q: Did you have any beef with any characters on the set?
A: Oh no god no I had a sword fight with uh Mel Gibson, and so when Robert yelled action I threw my sword down and Robert said what’s wrong. I said I’m not fighting William Wallace are you crazy he freed Scotland.
Q: Do you have a preference to play the bad guy?
A: Gimme what you got I don’t care man you got a good script I’ll be a good guy, you got a good script I’ll be a tree. It’s like a lot of people take this acting like really really serious you know but it’s I’m blessed it’s a great job but it’s still a job. You know I’m like a house painter and a house painter doesn’t really care what house he paints just as long as he gets paid. You know what I mean so somebody offers me a job it goes through my agent we get 20 scripts a week so they read’em and they see what fits me you know what is mean in a sense so ok let’s do this one. I’d do them all if I could.
Q: How old were you when you got your tattoo on your chest, that Charra?
A: God I got that, I’d hate to say it I got that in 1965. And uh and I was in prison and that was with a needle and thread. And me and a guy named Harry “Super Jew” Ross we did the outline in San Quentin and then I got kicked out of San Quentin. They sent me to Folsom, and Harry said don’t let anybody touch it, it’s my first tattoo. So he said I’ll be in Folsom, so in about 5 months later he showed up in Folsom and he did a little more and then I got sent to Soledad and uh and he was almost done he said let me finish it so then 8 months later he showed up in Soledad he finished it so it was about I don’t know 2 years and uh 3 penitentiaries. I got to tell you this was his first tattoo so he hated it because he became a real good shader and fine line and some of you tattoo artists will know what I’m talking about. He became a great tattoo artist so he hated this tattoo cause it made him so famous. Don’t show it to anybody. Shut up! (Danny lifted his shirt and exposed his tattoo to great applause) Harry just passed away but his legacy is he put the tattoo on Danny Trejo.
The whole panel session was great and before people entered the theatre everyone received a ticket. At the end of the Q&A session Mr. Trejo was asked to pick a ticket out of a bowl to choose a winner of a special prize which was a limited edition figure of Machete, sponsored by Sideshow Collectibles. Mr. Trejo graciously signed the prize and took pictures with the lucky winner. For myself I thought this panel session was the highlight in my comic con experience. A note to any organizers of this event that might read this article do yourself a favor and invite Mr. Trejo back for next year’s comic con.
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