The leaves are falling from the trees, rain is falling from the skies and FACTS is ready for its Fall Edition of 2022. It will be held this weekend (22-23 October 2022) in Flanders Expo in Ghent, Belgium. Unfortunately, Carola is not able to come to this edition, but Liv is going for one day. In the week(s) leading up to the con, we always try to keep you updated about the movie & TV guests that will be attending and tell you more about their background. And this time is no exception! The guest list is amazing, so without further ado: let's talk about the guests of FACTS Fall Edition 2022!

"We may stand, if only on one leg, or at least be left still upon our knees" 

This is one of my favorite Pippin Took quotes from the "The Lord of the Rings" franchise.

If you have read the books of watched the movies, you probably love Merry and Pippin. I have always loved these characters and this weekend I hope to meet yet another 'hobbit'. I already met two out of the four from the fellowship: Elijah Wood (Frodo) and Sean Astin (Samwise). And now Billy Boyd (Pippin) is coming to Ghent for FACTS convention. So, let's get to know the actor a bit better...

At age 17, Boyd decided to leave school and he got work in a book-binding shop. He worked there for six years, the first four years as an apprentice and the last two years as a works man. All this time, he didn't think about acting anymore and played in a band. At one point his girlfriend at that time asked him if he was happy doing what he did and Billy realized that he wasn't and that he wanted to act. He quit his job and applied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Originally, he had planned to go to the US for a year and when he got back, he would apply for college. But when he called the College to inform about it, they said they were still auditioning for the current year. Billy auditioned and went to the States with his girlfriend. After about two months his sister called and told him there was a letter from the college. Billy had to cut his holiday short, because he had been accepted for that year. He got a couple of jobs to finance his studies. In his last year at college, they brought in a director from a theatre, for the students to audition for (so they could get used to that). Billy made quite the impression and got picked up for two plays. Billy graduated in 1995 and left two weeks before the ceremony to work for the theatre. In the years that followed Billy got his equity card and made a name for himself in theatre. In 1996 he landed his first TV role as Jamie Holmes, in three episodes of the police drama "Taggart" and he started combining screen work and stage work.

At one point, Billy's agent called him to tell him about an audition for "The Lord of the Rings" and Billy went to London to audition. The tape was sent to Peter Jackson and he was interested enough to come to Scotland and meet Billy for a personal audition. Not long after that his agent called to tell him that he got the role of Pippin and in 2001 Billy became a star, when "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" hit the cinemas and became a huge success. Billy reprised his role in the two sequels "The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers" (2002) and "The Lord of The Rings: Return of the King" (2003). Besides playing the role of Peregrin Took, Billy also wrote the melody for and sang the song "The Edge of the Night" for "Return of The King" (Later on the song was used for the trailer of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies"). Also in 2003, he played the role of Barrett Bonden in "Master and Commander: The Far Side of The World". In 2004, Billy was the voice of Glen/Glenda in the "Child's Play" sequel "Seed of Chucky". Over the years Billy kept on combining screenwork, stage work and musical activities.

In 2005, Boyd appeared in the romantic comedy "On a Clear Day" as Mark and in 2006 he plays the role of Malky in the sport biopic "The Flying Scotsman". In 2008, Boyd stars alongside Gregor Fisher in the comedy series "Empty". He plays the role of Tony in all 6 episodes. Over the last decade Boyd has appeared in numerous projects and he remains to be a household name in the world of movie and TV. Among these projects are: "Glenn, the Flying Robot" (2010), "Moby Dick" (2011), "The Witches of Oz" (2011), "MacBeth" (2014), "Outlander" (2019-2020), "Walking with Herb" (2021) and lots more. As already mentioned, Billy is also a gifted musician and he fronts the band 'Beecake'. 

The next guest is mostly known for her role in "The 100". Over 7 seasons, her character grew out to be a fierce leader ... her husband in real life (Bob Morey) was also in "The 100" and was a guest at FACTS Fall Edition 2021. We are of course talking about Australian actress Eliza Taylor (or Eliza Jane Morley)!

Eliza Jane Taylor-Cotter was born on 24 October 1989 in Melbourne, Australia. She has two sisters and a brother. Eliza's parents divorced when she was young, but she kept in touch with her father (who owned multiple bars in Melbourne). Eliza's mother is an author and graphic designer. Her stepfather was a standup comedian and a big influence in her choice to pursue an acting career. When she was a child, Eliza wanted to become a marine biologist, but eventually her love for theatre and her dream to become an actress took over.

In her early teens, Eliza started acting professionally. In 2003, she played two lead roles in TV shows. Eliza played the role of Sarah Redding in 26 episodes of "Pirate Islands" and she also played the role of Rosie Cartwright in 26 episodes of "The Sleepover Club". From 2003 until 2007, Eliza played the role of Janae Timmins in the Queen of Australian soap operas "Neighbours". Late 2007, Eliza made her way to the United Kingdom to perform in theatre and pantomime. During her time in the UK, she also played in some TV shows and movies, like: "All Saints" (2009), "The Laundromat" (2010) and the horror movie "The 6 Plots". After her time in the UK, Eliza decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue a career in Hollywood. After about a month of auditioning, her credit card was stolen and she was ready to pack her bags and move back to Australia when she got a phone call. The producers of a new show called "The 100", saw a tape of one of her auditions for a movie and they were very interested. So, in 2014 she got her big break, when she got the lead role of Clarke Griffin in the post-apocalyptic drama "The 100", which became a huge success. And the rest as they say is history. In 2019, Eliza married her "The 100" co-star Bob Morley and in 2022 they became the parents of a son. 

Once upon a time, there was a show about a fictional town called Storybrooke, where the world of fairytales and the real world collide. This next guest is one of the fan favorites of the show and he played the role of Captain Hook. We already met him at Dutch Comic Con Spring Edition 2022 and his name is Colin O'Donoghue.

Colin Arthur O'Donoghue was born on January 26, 1981 in Drogheda (Ireland) to Con & Mary O'Donoghue.  As a child Colin was passionate about music. He is a cousin of the Irish folk singer Harry O'Donoghue. During his early life Colin and his brother (Allen), practiced playing the guitar and singing together for hours on end. Colin attended Dundalk Grammar School and later he enrolled the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin. He stayed in school for two years at the school and acted in several plays during that time. At the age of 16, O'Donoghue dropped out and moved to Paris (France) for a month, because he wanted to learn how to speak French. During the early years of his acting career, Colin combined stage and screen work. In 2003, he won the award for Best New Talent at the Irish Film and Television Awards, for the role of Norman Quested in the TV movie "Home for Christmas" (2002). This got him in touch with talent managers in the UK. Over the years he kept on appearing in TV shows and short films, like: "Call Girl" (as Brendan), "Love is the Drug" (as Peter), "Proof" (as Jamie) and "The Clinic" (as Connor Elliot). Besides this Colin still had a passion for music and he was one of the founding members of the Irish band 'The Enemies'. Colin played guitar and did backing vocals (he had to leave the band in 2013, because he could not combine it with his acting career anymore).

In 2009, Colin landed his first big role when he played Duke Philip of Bavaria in the popular TV show "The Tudors". Colin was ready for Hollywood and in 2010 he decided to try his luck over there. This decision paid off because in 2011 he got the chance to play opposite Anthony Hopkins in the movie "The Rite". Colin played the role of the young priest Michael Kovak and this gained him some recognition in Hollywood. Offers started coming in and in 2012, he shot to fame when he landed the role of Killian Jones/Captain Hook in the immensely popular ABC TV show "Once Upon a Time". In no time Colin grew out to one of the fan favorites and even now the show has ended he still is very popular amongst the OUAT fans.  Over the last decade Colin has been playing in both movies and TV shows, like: "The Dust Storm" (2016), "What Still Remains" (2018) and "Trollhunters" (2018). In 2020 Colin starred in the Nat Geo show "The Right Stuff" as Lt. Gordon Cooper. More recently he reprised his role as the voice of Douxie in "Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans". Colin married his longtime girlfriend Helen. The two have been together since they were 18 years old and they have two children (a son and a daughter).

Strike First. Strike Hard. No Mercy. Those are the three rules of a particular dojo somewhere in the valley. If you are from the 80s (like we are) and you watched "Karate Kid", you were probably not very fond of that dojo and you probably did not like Johnny Lawrence. A few years ago, a whole new generation got to know Johnny Lawrence, Daniel LaRusso and Kreese. "Cobra Kai" what course their lives have taken 30 years later...it quickly grew out to be one of the most successful shows on Netflix and we love it. One of the new faces in the show is Xolo Maridueña who plays the role of Miguel Diaz. Thirty years after he lost his fight against Daniel, Johnny lives in a small apartment, drinks more than is good for him and works odd jobs. Daniel is the successful owner of a car business and there are billboards of him and his shop all over the valley, which drives Johnny to drink even more. When the teenage kid next door to Johnny gets bullied by a group, Johnny uses karate to scare them off. This teenage kid is Miguel and he wants Johnny to train him. Johnny reluctantly agrees and re-opens the Cobra Kai dojo. This gets the attention of Daniel and it rekindles the old rivalry between the two.... with all of its consequences. Who is the guy behind the character of Miguel Diaz? Why do you ask? Well Xolo is coming to Ghent for FACTS!

Romário Xolo Maridueña was born on the 9th of June 2001 in Los Angeles, California (U.S.). He was born and raised in an upper-middle-class family in Los Angeles and has four sisters. Xolo graduated with honors at Cathedral High School in Los Angeles and then joined the Young Actors Space in Sherman Oaks California. His first professional job was a modelling job for the Sears catalogue. Xolo started acting professionally at the age of 10 and because of his natural talent he quickly got picked up by an agent. In no time offers came rolling in and in 2012 he got multiple roles. One of them was a starring role in the TV show "Parenthood".  Xolo played the role of Victor Graham in 51 episodes from 2012 until 2015. In 2016 and 2017, there were some small roles in TV shows and TV Movies. In 2018, Xolo got his breakthrough role as Miguel Diaz in "Cobra Kai". The series is still running and just finished the fifth season. In the meantime, Xolo continues to broaden his horizon and does a lot of voicework. 2023 is promising to become a fantastic year for Xolo as he puts on the suit of the first Hispanic superhero in the world of DC (or Marvel that is). Xolo will play the role of Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle in the upcoming

HBO Max superhero movie "Blue Beetle". 

Yes, you read it right! Xolo Maridueña will also do a duo photo op and that means there will be another "Cobra Kai" guest in Ghent, this upcoming weekend. He plays the role of one of the most lovable characters in the show. I am talking about Demitri and the man behind the character is Gianni Decenzo!

Gianni Decenzo was born on October 27th, 2001 in Los Angeles, California (U.S.). Gianni's parents own and run a respite agency. This is an agency that provides short term relief for caregivers of people with developmental difficulties. (like autism). Gianni has an older brother named Anthony, who is on the spectrum and deals with severe OCD. Gianni was raised in an artistic and creative family. His parents have always been into the arts (they even met in an acting class). At 8 years of age, Gianni asked his mother when he would be on TV and he said he wanted to become an actor. His mother immediately took action and made some headshots of Gianni in the backyard. She sent these out to talent managers and soon secured one. Gianni attended a local elementary school, but when the offers started coming in, he could not combine acting with school anymore. This was why he switched to homeschooling.

During the early part of his career, Gianni did a lot of self promoting by taking unpaid roles in student films, to boost his resume and his chances of getting better gigs. His first paid gig was a role in an insurance commercial. This led to better representation an bigger roles soon followed. Gianni made his acting debut in the short film "The Lucky One" in 2011. In the years that followed Gianni, had some guest roles in TV show and short films. From 2015 to 2016, Gianni is one of the cast members for "100 Things To Do Before High School". In 2018, all the hard work finally pays off, when Gianni lands the role of Demitri Alexopoulos in "Cobra Kai". From 2019-2020 he plays the role of Caleb Willinger in 6 episodes of "Coop and Cami Ask The World". All in all, Gianni's star is rising fast and we certainly haven't seen the last of him yet.

The sixth and last movie and TV guest, brings a little bit of magic to Flanders Expo. He is mostly known for his role as Dean Thomas in all 8 of the "Harry Potter" movies, but more recently he also gained a lot of recognition with his role as Wes Gibbins in "How to Get Away With Murder". We are talking about Alfred 'Alfie' and he will be in Flanders Expo this weekend.

Alfred Lewis Enoch was born on December 2nd, 1988 in Westminster, London, England to William Russell and his second wife, the Brazilian born Etheline Margareth Lewis. Alfred holds a dual citizenship (British and Brazilian). His father William Russell (Enoch) is also an actor and mostly known for his role as the first male companion of the Doctor in "Doctor Who" from 1963 to 1965. Alfred spent the first years of his life in France with his parents and when they got back to England, Alfred attended Westminster School, a historic public school in London. 

His first steps in acting were on the stage (like so many other actors and actresses) and it was on stage at the Shakespeare Globe, that he caught the eye of the Potter people. Earlier on he decided not to go to an open audition for the movie that was being held at his school. When the makers contacted him it wasn't long before Alfred was cast for the role of Gryffindor student Dean Thomas for the first of 8 "Harry Potter" movies. Alfred played the role in 7 of the 8  movies, being "Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone" (2001), "Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets" (2002), "Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban" (2003), "Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire" (2005), "Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix" (2006), "Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince (2009) and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 2" (2011). After the "Harry Potter" era, Alfred returned to stagework and did some plays throughout London. From 2014 until 2018, Alfred becomes a series regular on the ABC drama series "How To Get Away With Murder". He plays the role of Wes Gibbins in 50 episodes of the show. In 2018, Alfred takes on the role of Aeneas in BBC's "Troy: Fall of a City". In 2019, he plays Corporal Jamie McCain in 4 episodes of "Trust Me". More recently in 2021, Alfred took on the role of Harry Wotton in the modern day movie version of the Oscar Wilde novel  "The Picture of Dorian Gray". He also plays the role of Raych Foss in 6 episodes of "Foundation".