Comic Film & Manga Fest Rotterdam 2024 - Guests - Part one

Spring is in the air and in a few weeks time the wonderful world of comic con is coming back to Rotterdam! In the weekend of 23rd and 24th of March, Comic Film & Maga Fest will set up camp in Ahoy Rotterdam, for two days of geeky goodness. We are so excited about this new comic con and will be there for the weekend. In the weeks leading up to the con, we will tell you everything about the movie and TV guests that will be at the con. Are you ready for part one? Here we go!

Great Scott! Next year it is 40 years ago that one of the most iconic movies in the history of film hit the cinemas and hit hard. "Back To The Future" was an immense success and became an instant classic. Now, 39 years later it, still is as popular as it was back then and one of the main characters of the franchise is coming to Rotterdam. The man who made the term 'Great Scott!' iconic with his role as Doc. Emmett Brown ...Christopher Lloyd is coming to Comic Film & Manga Fest 2024! Let us tell you all about this living legend...

His first role on the big screen was the role of psychiatric patient Max Taber in the classic "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" (1975). He starred alongside Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Brad Dourif and many other big names. In 2015, we met Christopher Lloyd at FACTS Convention in Ghent. We did a photo op and also attended his panel. During the panel he talked about his work on "Cuckoo's Nest" and he said that Nicholson became a mentor for him during filming. He said it was a great experience to work with such a great cast under an excellent director. He called it a milestone in his life. From 1978 until 1983, Lloyd played the role of free-spirited cabbie 'Reverend' Jim Ignatowski in the sitcom "Taxi". In this show he acted alongside Danny DeVito (again), Danny Kaufman and Tony Danza (among others). For his portrayal of the Reverend, he won two Emmy Awards. Two years after the end of "Taxi", Christopher landed the role that made him the living legend he is to this day. In 1985 a little movie called "Back To The Future" hit the cinemas and Christopher played on of the leading roles as the quirky scientist Doc. Emmett Brown. This was the beginning of a franchise that is still immensely popular almost 4 decades later. Also in 1985, Christopher played the role of Professor Plum in "Clue", a movie based on the popular board game. In 1988, Christopher joined the cast of another iconic movie of the 80s and played Judge Doom in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". In the following years, Christopher reprised his iconic role as Doc. Brown in "Back To The Future Part II" (1989) and "Back To The Future Part III" (1990). In 1991, he takes on another iconic role as Uncle Fester in "The Addams Family" and he reprises the role in the sequel "The Addams Family Values" in 1993.

Over the following three decades, Christopher Lloyd keeps on doing what he loves most and that is acting. Over a career span of almost 50 years ,he has more than 240 credits to his name. I think I could write 4 articles about the career of Christopher Lloyd alone, but just check out his IMDb page for more about this iconic actor.

In 1981 he graduated from the University of Saskatoon with a Bachelor of Arts. He went on to play the youngest MacBeth at the Stratford Festival (in Stratford, Ontario, Canada). From there he went to Broadway (he played Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire" for 5 months in 1989). In 1986, he had a small role in "The Boy in Blue", which was his first movie role. While he was mostly a stage actor during the 80s, Kim started to combine stage and screen work more and more towards the end of the decade. In 1990, he decided he wanted to become a screen actor and it wasn't until 2018 that he returned to the stage. 

In 1991, Kim played the role of Chet in the action comedy "The Last Boy Scout" starring Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans. In 1994, he landed the role of Paul Gronke in the movie adaptation of John Grisham's thriller "The Client". Throughout the 90s, Kim had a steady stream of acting jobs in all kinds of TV shows and movies and by the turn of the century, he had made quite a name for himself. 

In 2008, he was asked for the role of Alexander 'Tig" Trager in a new TV show called "Sons of Anarchy". At first, he turned the role down, because he thought it was too violent. The show's creator (Kurt Sutter) persisted and explained the character to Kim. He told him that although Tig is a violent, edgy and somewhat psychotic guy ... he is also very loyal and a true warrior. Kim took the leap of faith and this paid off: he ended up playing the role of Tig Trager in all 92 episodes of the show over 7 seasons. The show about a small-town motor cycle club called Sons of Anarchy, became a huge hit and Kim rose to fame in his iconic role. After his time on "Sons of Anarchy", Kim returned to the Western genre with his portrayal of Ed Logan in the mini series "Godless" (2017). In 2017 and 2018, he played the role of Billy McGrath in the first (and only) season of the sci fi series "Ghost Wars". Also in 2017/2018, Kim takes on the role of Declan Gardner in "Bad Blood", a TV series about the rise and fall of the Montreal based Rizzuto crime family. In the following years, Kim Coates keeps on playing roles on the big and the small screen with roles in shows and movies like: "Pretty Hard Cases" (2021, as Bill Misiano), "Action Royale" (2021, as Jeno), Donkeyhead (2022, as Brent Maloney), "Double Down South" (2022, as Nick) and most recently in "White House Plumbers" (2023, as Frank Sturgis). Over the last 35 years, Kim has played in a lot of great movies and TV shows and he is still going strong. It is impossible to talk about all of his roles, but if you want to know more about his career just take a look at his IMDb page .    

Our own experience:

I already mentioned that we met Kim Coates almost 10 years ago at our very first comic con. The comic con was the horror convention Weekend of Horrors and the year was 2014. In October 2014 we went to a Halloween scare event in Gaia Zoo and we had so much fun. While we were having a coffee, Carola spoke the epic words: "are there more events like this?". With "more events like this" Carola meant horror related events and she started searching on her phone. She found Weekend of Horrors and we were so excited about it. I knew there was something like a comic con, but I honestly thought events like that were only held in the U.S. A few weeks later we got in the car and went to the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen and we had no idea what to expect. We walked in and suddenly we were surrounded by actors like Scott Wilson, David Warner, William Forsythe and many more. One of the actors was Kim Coates and we were both very excited about him being there. We walked around all day and stared at the actors like lunatics. At the end of the day, we pulled ourselves together and brought up the courage to walk up to Mr. Coates to get an autograph... and he was so very nice. He had a chat with us and even let us take a picture with him. This was the beginning of a hobby that grew into a passion and also in the start of Conmose. Needless to say, that if Kim would have been a grinch, we would never have gone to an event like that again. So in a way, Kim Coates started it all!

Things are gonna get wicked in Rotterdam in a few weeks time, because the Queen of Green will honor us all with a visit. Attention to all the "Once Upon a Time" fans in The Netherlands and the surrounding countries! Yes! Rebecca Mader will be a guest in Rotterdam and she is mostly known for her roles as Charlotte Lewis in "Lost" and her role as Zelena/The Wicked Witch of The West in "Once Upon a Time".  Over the years Rebecca has become a familiar face at comic cons all over Europe and this will be our fifth time to see her. We can only tell you that she is a hoot. Her panels are so entertaining, because with Rebecca what you see is what you get, she has no filter and blurts out everything that comes to mind! She is awesome! Let us tell you some more about the most wicked of them all: Rebecca Mader.

Rebecca Leigh Mader was born on April 24th 1977 in Cambridge, England (United Kingdom). Rebecca is very open about the fact that she was being bullied on and off from the young age of 4 until she was 14 or 15 years old. She says it really ruined her time in school, but it did shape her to who she is today. She also says she still gets triggered by people treating her wrong and she is still working on getting past the bullying. She left school when she was 18 years old, because she could not afford to go to a university. Rebecca started working in a supermarket and without her knowing, her grandmother entered her in a beauty contest. Rebecca came in second, but she was offered a modeling job. She traveled the world modeling, but being a model was never really her dream...Ever since she was a young girl, Rebecca wanted to become an actress and she saw modeling as a way to get her into the entertainment business. During her time as a model, Rebecca dreamed of going to the Big Apple (New York), but unfortunately her agency told her that her portfolio wasn't strong enough to take that step. Rebecca listened to her agents at first, but it did not take her long to come to the decision to just do it. She packed her things and left for New York (with only £250 in her pocket) to chase the American Dream! For Rebecca that dream was crystal clear: she wanted to become an actress.

When she got to New York, Rebecca did a lot of modeling jobs for big brands (like L'Oréal, Wella and Colgate). These paid the bills and gave Rebecca the opportunity to keep chasing acting roles. Her modeling agency had a small acting department and Rebecca started auditioning. In 2003, she got her first break and stepped into the world of soap operas. She played Morgan Gordan in "All My Children", Margaret Cochran in "One Life to Live" and also appeared in "The Guiding Light". In the years that followed, Rebecca had some guest appearances in multiple TV shows. In 2006, Rebecca got a role as a series regular in the TV show "Justice". With this in her pocket, she could officially stop modeling and she was (in her own words) thrilled! Also in 2006, she had a supporting role (as Jocelyn), opposite Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep, in "The Devil Wears Prada". Unfortunately, "Justice" was canceled after only one season and Rebecca went back to auditioning. In 2008, she landed the role of Dr. Charlotte Lewis in the popular TV series "Lost". At that time "Lost" was one of the biggest shows on TV, so she knew this job was a big deal. Rebecca later stated that she really needed this role", because at that point in her career she almost wasn't able to make ends meet anymore, so getting the role was a "drop-to-the-knees, burst-into-tears" moment. She stayed on the show until 2010. In 2012 Rebecca got a recurring role on "No Ordinary Family"  (as Victoria Morrow) and in 2013 she played in other shows like: "Fringe" (as Jessica Holt) and "Work It" (as Grace Hudson). Rebecca also made her stage debut in "The Third Date" at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. In December 2013 it was confirmed that Rebecca was going to play the role of Zelena in "Once Upon a Time", which she sees as one of the most fun roles she ever played. And what fun we have, watching her play it. Zelena is the character, you love to hate. Since 2016, Rebecca is happily married to Marcus Kayne. They have a son named Milo and a daughter named Bailey. Most recently Rebecca played the role of Faye Stone in "Fire Country".

The last guest we are talking about in this first article is still very young, but he already has almost two decades of experience in the acting business. He is mostly known for his roles in "Game of Thrones" and "1917", but he started out on stage. He has already shown that he is versatile as an actor and his name is Dean-Charles Chapman! Let us tell you some more about this very talented British actor...

Dean-Charles Chapman was born on 7 September 1997 in Romford, England (United Kingdom) and he grew up in London. From a very young age it was obvious that Dean-Charles wanted to become an actor and it all started when he was only 8 years old. In 2005, Chapman was cast for the role of 'small boy' in the West End theatre production of "Billy Elliot: The Musical".

 From the role of small boy, he got promoted to play Michael (Billy's best friend) and he eventually ended up playing Billy Elliot himself. He starred in the musical from 2005 until 2011 and ended up as the longest serving Billy and the second longest serving cast member. Fun Fact: During his time on "Billy Elliot", Chapman worked together with a young Tom Holland (who grew out to become Marvel's Spider-Man) End of Fun Fact. Not long after he left West End (in 2012), he made the switch to screen acting and he was cast on the CBBC comedy series "The Revolting World of Stanley Brown" as the titular character. Unfortunately, the series only lasted 1 season. In 2013, Chapman played the role of Richard Grey in the mini series "The White Queen" and he also got the chance to play Martyn Lannister in two episodes of the at that time already iconic series "Game of Thrones". In 2014, Chapman made his feature film debut alongside Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth in "Before I Go To Sleep". Dean-Charles played the role of Adam, the son of Nicole Kidman's character.

Also in 2014, Chapman returns to Westeros ("Game of Thrones"). In the fourth season of the show, he replaced Callum Warry as Tommen Baratheon. He stayed on as Tommen for 16 episodes (season 4,5 and 6) of the show (from 2014 until 2016). 2018 is a busy year for Chapman with roles in two movies and a series. He played the role of Castor in the series "Into The Badlands", he played the role of Danny MacCauley in the Liam Neeson movie "The Commuter" and he topped the year of with the supporting role as Matt in the movie "Blinded By The Light". In 2019, Chapman was cast as one of the two lead actors in Sam Mendes' WWI movie "1917". The movie was praised by critics and won numerous prizes (3 Academy Awards, 2 Golden Globes and many more). It revolves around two soldiers assigned to race against time and deliver a message to a battalion of 1600 men to stop them from walking into a trap. One of the soldiers is Lance Corporal Blade (played by Chapman) and his brother is part of that battalion. I loved his role in this movie and it is very obvious that we haven't seen the last of him yet!