The guests of Heroes Dutch Comic Con Summer 2024 - Part one

In a few weeks, Dutch Comic con celebrates 10 years of Heroes Universe with not two but three days of Dutch Comic Con. On Friday June 21st, the weekend will be kicked of with a preview night and you can read all about the special movie- and TV guests for this evening in our article from last week. In this second article, we are talking about some of the guests for the rest of the weekend and next week we will close off our article trilogy with an article about the remaining part of the guestlist. 

Misha Collins was born Dmitri Tippens Krushnic on 20 August, 1974 in Boston, Massachusetts as the second son of Rebecca Tippens and Richard Edward Krushnic. Ever since he was a young boy, people used to call him by his nickname Misha. His mother was an avid fan of all things Russia. In later interviews Misha says she would call him and his big brother Sasha her little Russian boys. They ate a lot of Borsch (Russian soup) and there were Matryoshka dolls around the house, which is strange because Misha's Eastern European roots go back more than 150 years. SO why the love for Russian things? In interviews, Misha calls his mother a hippie, who wanted to bring communism back to the United States. While Misha's mother was in college, she visited Russia and dated a boy named Mitja (his real name was Dmitri). Much to Richard's dismay, she named their second son after him. So Misha was born Dmitri Tippens Krushnic, but he changed his name to Misha Collins before he started acting professionally.He chose the name Misha, because everyone was calling him by his nickname anyway. The name Collins came from his maternal great grandmother.

Misha's mother acted in community theatre and she was a professional storyteller, while his father worked at a 7-Eleven (convenience store). Misha's parents split up when he was only 3 or 4 years old. His mother took him and his older brother Sasha and moved across the state to get away from him. Every other weekend the boys would take a three hour long bus ride to visit their father. At some point Misha's father re-married and got two more daughters (Misha's half-sisters). The first time Misha was on stage, when he was 4 years old in a play with his mother in the lead role. The family did not have a lot of money and when Misha was 5 years old, his mother taught him how to steal groceries in the supermarket to get by. They often led a nomadic life and sometimes they were homeless. They slept in their car or in a tent in the woods. There were also times that they did not have a car and they used to hitchhike or jump aboard trains. Nowadays Misha describes his childhood as adventurous, but also lacking the sense of security other children had. Misha grew up surrounded by danger, especially at times they were homeless.

Misha went to Greenfield Center School (elementary school) in Greenfield, Massachusetts. After that, he went to high school at Northfield Mount Hermon School in Gil, Massachusetts. While in high school, Misha used to pretend that he was a Russian exchange student. He would do things like: go into a pizza restaurant and pretend that he never had pizza before. Then they would invite him in the kitchen and show him how to make an American pizza. Also in high school, Misha met his future wife Victoria Vantoch (married in 2001 and divorced in 2022). He graduated high school in 1992. In the following year(s), Misha worked a variety of jobs. While growing up, Misha's family never owned a TV, but he loved listening to the radio. After his graduation he landed an internship at NPR (National Public Radio). Misha was also an intern at the White House (during the Clinton administration). Besides this Misha was a carpenter, he worked in construction and he even earned an EMT certificate. Misha went on to study Social Theory at the University of Chicago. He earned a B. A. with honors. After graduation, he moved to Washington D.C. with his partner Victoria and started a software company.

Misha decided to take an acting class and a career change was at hand. One of his first roles was in "Liberty Heights" (1999). Also in 1999, he had a one episode role (as Eric Bragg)  in "Charmed" and a minor role as Tony in "Girl, Interrupted". Not long after this, Misha moved to Los ANgeles. From 2000 until 2008, he made a name for himself with (minor) roles in movies and TV shows, like: "NYPD Blue" (2000, Blake DeWitt), "Seven Days" (2001, Sergei Chubais), "Par 6" (2002, Al Hegelman), "24" (2002, Alexis Drazen), "Finding Home" (2003, Dave), "E.R." (2005, Bret) and "Monk" ( 2006, Michael Karpov). Because of his relation to Russia and having visited the country, he was often asked to play Russian characters. In 2008, Misha joined the cast of "Supernatural" for the fourth season of the show. He was cast as the angel Castiel, but showrunner Eric Kripke had him audition as a demon. This way he could keep the coming of the angels a secret. Eventually Misha played the role of Castiel for 12 seasons until 2020. During his time on "Supernatural", he also played some other roles on movies and TV shows, like: "Over Her Dead Body" (2008, Brian), "Nip/Tuck" (2009, Manny Skerritt), "Stonehenge Apocalypse" (2010, Jacob), "Divine: The Series" (2011, Father Christopher), "Timeless" (2017, Eliot Ness), "The Hillywood Show (2015-2018, various roles), "The Angel of Vine" (2018-2019, as Adler Harrison). Over the last years, Misha kept on going strong on the acting front. In 2021, he played Dylan in "Encounter". From 2021 until 2023 he played Jeremy Bradshaw in 11 episodes of "Bridgewater". In 2023, he played Harvey Dent in 13 episodes of "Gotham Knights". Most recently, Misha reprised his role as Jeremy Bradshaw in " Consumed".

The next guest we are talking about, is rapidly becoming a household name in movie and TV business. You may know him from his role as Buggy in "One Piece" or from his role as Deke Shaw in Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."... his name is Jeff Ward and he is coming to Heroes Dutch Comic Con!

Jeff Ward was born on  December 30, 1986 in Washington D.C. (United States). His love for the acting craft, originated from his love for movies. Young Jeff  got a VCR from his grandmother, with colored stickers on the buttons (because he could not read the buttons yet). Jeff watched a lot of movies on this VCR and some of them, he would watch over and over again. Among these movies were: "E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial" (1982), "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986),  "Batman" (1989) and "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" (1991) . It was "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" that got little Jeff in a lot of trouble. He used the word dickhead and he was only 5 years old. When he told his parents that he heard it in the movie, they took away his copy of it.

Jeff got his first professional acting job when he was 14 years old. He played the role of Jem in a production of "How to Kill a Mockingbird" at the Ford Theatre in Washington. While Jeff was rehearsing for the play in New York City, something terrible happened. It was september 11, 2001 and America was under attack. Because of these horrible events, the run of the play was cut short and Jeff ended up not acting for a while. When he was 16 years old, Jeff played the role of Romeo in a production of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". The play was set in an outdoor theatre with a view on the mountains. It was during his time here, that Jeff realised that he wanted to make his life about acting.  He studied acting at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts and he's also an alumnus at the Stella Adler School of Acting. Over the first years of his career, Jeff played some minor roles in TV shows and movies. In 2016, Jeff received critical acclaim, when he takes on the role of  Charles Manson in "Manson's Lost Girls". For his role as the serial killer, Jeff did a lot of research and during it he read some creepy anecdotes about Manson's childhood and these stories really sent chills down his spine. He invested a lot in the role of Manson and while he was making the movie he thought a lot about something he learned at Drama School, which was that if you are going to play Hitler, you have to think that you're a hero.  Which meant that Jeff had to realise that Manson did not think he was evil, he thought he was a saviour.

In 2017, Jeff played the role of Marcus in "The Boy Downstairs" and in that same year he  starred as Seth Marlowe in the horror anthology series: "Channel Zero: The No-End House". Also in 2017, Jeff lands the role of Deke Shaw in Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.". Initially he wasn't supposed to be on the show for more than one episode, but Deke grew out to be a series regular. Originally he was cast as Virgil (who was supposed to be in two scenes in the first episode of the 5th season). When Jeff entered the room where the table read took place, he saw there were a lot of people in the room and among them were also some people from Marvel. This encouraged him to do an extra good job. He read his scenes as Virgil and walked back to his where his car was parked. When he checked his phone, he saw he had a voicemail from the showrunner.She asked Jeff to come back inside and read again. Apparently the rest of the cast was so impressed by his read as Virgil, that they convinced their bosses to let him read for Deke. They just could not stand to lose him after only one episode (Virgil died in the first episode). Of course, Jeff came back to read and later that day he got the call that he was cast as Deke. What was supposed to be a job for 1 day turned out to be a 3 year adventure.Eventually Jeff played the role of Deke in 45 episodes from 2017 until 2020. In 2021, he got the role of Roy Hardaway in 8 episodes of "Brand New Cherry Flavor". In 2023, Netflix came with a live-action series based on the anime animated series "One Piece" (which is based on the Japanese manga series with the same name). Jeff was cast for the role of Buggy the Clown and we just love him in this role! 

Finn Jones was born Terence Jones on March 24, 1988 in London, England (United Kingdom). He changed his name to Finn to avoid confusion with Monty Python's Terry Jones.

Finn spent the first (two) years of his life in foster care, until he (and his sister) were adopted. Finn's adoptive father is a former police man gone private detective and his adoptive mother worked in child care. While his adoptive family wasn't really in the entertainment business, Finn knew he wanted to become an actor from quite a young age. In interviews, he talks about an event that occured in his early childhood. Although he can't say for sure if it is a real memory or a vivid dream, it made a big impression on little Finn and it would change the course of his life. While he was sitting in a stroller, his mother was talking to a friend. When Finn looked up to his mother, he noticed a cloud with the shape of a pirate ship drifting by in the sky. He told his mother about the ship in the sky and his mother looked at him as if he was crazy. She turned to her friend and said: "This kid is going to be some actor one day". Finn kept this in his head and he feels like his life has gravitated towards becoming an actor ever since. At first young Finn did not know what an actor was and he thought it was something like an acrobat in a circus. He liked the thought of being an actor (acrobat), but when he found out what an actor really was, he liked it even more. This was what he wanted to be. During his childhood and early teens, Finn had always felt like an outsider. He went to Hayes School in Bromley (secondary school), but he never belonged to any of the social groups there. During lunchtime, he would wander the school grounds and listen to his music (much like in his first scene in "Iron Fist"). During his last years on Hayes (sixth form), Finn was studying English literature, photography, media, drama and film. He was also acting in school plays and when he was on stage, he didn't feel like an outsider anymore. Acting was something he really enjoyed and it felt like this was what he was supposed to do in life. Finn decided he wanted to go to Drama school. ALthough all of his teacher tried to talk him out of it (they thought going to college was the better choice), Finn was stubborn and chose his own path. He started a three year long course at Arts Educational School (ArtsEd) in London.

Jones later stated that he owed a lot to his time on ArtsEd. The courses are really focusing on the TV and movie side of the acting business, instead of on the stage and theatre work (like most drama schools). Nowadays, the movie and TV side of the business is were the jobs and the money are found. Finn graduated in 2009 and he immediately picked up an agent. It was not more than a couple of weeks after his graduation, that he landed his first professional acting job on "Hollyoaks Later"  (spin-off for "Hollyoaks"). He recalls that it was a crazy time. "Hollyoaks" was a major soap opera in the UK at that time. Finn just came out of school and suddenly had to travel to Liverpool to film it. At first he played the role of Jamie in 5 episodes of the "Hollyoaks" spin-off "Hollyoaks Later" (2009) and in 2010, he reprised the role of Jamie in 9 episodes of the original "Hollyoaks". His next job was the role of Santiago Jones in "The Sarah Jane Adventures" (also in 2010), which serves as a spin-off for "Doctor Who" (Finn describes it as a "Doctor Who" for kids). Finn played the role of Santiago in 2 special episodes of the show (also starring Matt Smith as The Doctor). He later stated that he never watched "Doctor Who", before he got this role and he didn't even know what a TARDIS was. When he got the part, he started watching and now he is very proud to have been a part of one of the UK's biggest franchises. 

Finn's next big job turned out to be on an at least equally huge franchise. In the weeks between his graduation and his first job on "Hollyoaks Later", Finn did an audition for the role of Jon Snow in a new show based on the books of George R.R. Martin. The audition went well and he even got a callback for it. This also went well, but he did not hear anything about again ... until his last day on the set of "The Sarah Jane Adventures". He said he was in his trailer, thinking about what was next for him. He did not have a new job yet. That same day his agent called him and told him he had an audition for him for the next day in London. Finn was in Wales at that moment, so it was quite a trip. His agent told him it was an audition for "Game of Thrones" and Finn was happy to travel to London to audition for the role of Loras. He did the audition and travelled back to Wales a bit disappointed, because he did not think he did very well on it. He was kind of beating himself up and did not think he would get a recall. A week later, however, his agent called him to tell him he did get a callback for the role. Finn decided to prepare himself for the audition and did some research on the character and found out that Loras is in a relationship with Renly (something he did not know at the first audition). He went to the audition an nailed it. A week later he got the call that he landed the role of Loras Tyrell on "Game of Thrones". Finn ended up playing the role on 21 episodes from 2011 until 2016. 

During his time on "Game of Thrones", Finn also had some other roles, like: Teddy in "Wrong Turn 5" (2012), Martin in "The Last Showing" (2014) and Julian Bell in 3 episodes of "Life in Squares" . Most actors would fall in a little black hole after a role on such a huge show, but not Finn. He stepped out of the Westeros Universe into the Marvel Universe. From 2017 until 2018, he played the role of Danny Rand/Iron Fist in two seasons of "Iron Fist". He also played the role in 8 episodes of Marvel's "The Defenders" and in 1 episode "Luke Cage". Unfortunately the show got cancelled after two seasons. In 2021, he played the role of Samuel Bowles in 10 episodes of "Dickinson" about the life of young poet Emily Dickinson. Also in 2021, he played Brian in the movie "Awake". In 2022, he played the role of Marty in 6 episodes of "Swimming with Sharks" (based on the movie with the same name from 1994). Also in 2022, he played Robert Burrows in "The Visitor".