The Movie- and TV guests of FACTS Spring 2024 - P1

Whoop Whoop! This upcoming weekend (April 6-7) it's time for one of our favorite comic cons again. We are going to the Spring Edition of FACTS 2024 and we are going for the weekend! 

It all began in Cafe 't Tonneke 32 years ago (with 40 visitors) and this weekend more than 45000 visitors will make their way to Flanders Expo, to enjoy everything that has to do with movie, television, anime, cosplay, merchandise, comics and much more. As always FACTS has an amazing list of movie- and television guests that will be joining the fun this upcoming weekend! In this first article we will tell you all about three of these amazing guests...

It's a bird, it's a plane...no it's Lois Lane. Or maybe you know her from Wisteria Lane?  We are so excited about the fact that Teri Hatcher is coming to FACTS this weekend!

Teri Lynn Hatcher was born on 8 December 1964 in Palo Alto, California (United States). She is the only child of Esther and Owen Walker Hatcher. Teri's mother (Esther) was a computer programmer and worked for Lockheed Martin, while her father (Owen) was a nuclear physicist and electrical engineer. From a young age, Teri took ballet lessons at the San Juan School of Dance in Palo Alto. She was still young when the family moved to Sunnyvale (California). While growing up here, Teri loved to dance and go fishing with her father. She attended Mango Junior High School, followed by Fremont High School, where she was captain of The Featherettes. This was a sort of cheerleader dance group with big headdresses.  In 1982, Teri graduated high school and enrolled at the De Anza College in Cupertino, where she studied mathematics and engineering. She also studied acting at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. In 1984, Teri was a NFL cheerleader for the San Francisco 49'ers.

In 1985/1986, Teri joined the cast of the iconic show "The Love Boat". She played Amy (one of the mermaid show dancers) in 19 episodes of the show. Her role mainly consisted of dancing and singing with the Mermaids, but she also had some lines. Among Teri's early roles was also the role of Penny Parker in 6 episodes of "MacGyver"(from 1986 until 1989). In 1986 and 1987, she stepped into the world of the soap opera with her role as Angelica Stimac Clegg in 5 episodes of "Capitol". In 1987, Teri played the role of Laura Matthews in 13 episodes of the comedy series "Karen's Song".  Unfortunately the show got cancelled. Over the next years, she played some minor (1 episode) roles in shows like: "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1988, as Chief G.B. Robinson) and "L.A. Law" (1989, as Traci Shoe). In 1989, Teri made her motion picture debut in "The Big Picture" (playing the role of Gretchen) with Kevin Bacon. Also in 1989, she had a small role (as Kiki) in the action movie "Tango & Cash", starring Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russel.

The year 1991 was a busy one for Hatcher with roles in movies and series like: "The Brotherhood" (as Teresa Gennaro), "Soapdish" (as, Ariel Maloney), "Sunday Dinner" (as T.T. Fagori) and "Dead in the Water" (as Laura Stewart). Teri's definitive breakthrough came in 1993, when she landed the role of Lois Lane in the ABC show "Lois&Clark: The New Adventures of Superman".  Dean Cain played the role of Superman/ Clark Kent. She played the role for 87 episodes (from 1993 until 1997). Also in 1993, Hatcher made a very memorable guest appearance as Sidra Holland in "Seinfeld" (she reprised the role in two later episodes). In the episode Teri played Jerry's love interest, which is funny casting because Jerry is an enormous fan of Superman. In the episode Teri delivers the iconic line: "And by the way, they're real and they're spectacular!". Anyone who watched "Seinfeld" knows this line.  In 1996, Teri took on the starring role of Becky Foxx in the black comedy "2 Days in the Valley".

In 1997, Teri steps into the world of 007 with her role as Bond-girl Paris Carver in "Tomorrow Never Dies". When they started filming for this, Teri was three months pregnant. Apparently, she beat Monica Bellucci for the role of Paris. Over the following years, Teri played roles in "Fever" (1999, as Charlotte Parker), "Running Mates" (2000, as Shawna)  and "Spy Kids" (2001, as Miss Gradenko. In 2004, her career got a new boost when she landed the role of the clumsy Susan Mayer in "Desperate Housewives". The show grew out to be a huge success and got showered with awards, just like its lead actresses.  By 2006, Teri was one of the best paid actresses in television. Eventually she would play the iconic role for 180 episodes over 8 seasons from 2004 until 2012. In 2009, Teri voiced some characters in the critically acclaimed animation movie "Coraline". In 2013 and 2014, she voiced Dottie in the Pixar movies "Planes" and "Planes: Fire and Rescue". In 2016 and 2017, she played the role of Charlotte in the sitcom "The Odd Couple" starring the late Matthew Perry. Also in 2017, Teri returned to the DC  Universe for the third time (in 2010 she played Ella Lane in an episode of "Smallville"), with her role as Rhea is 8 episodes of "Supergirl". Over the last years, Teri is still going strong, appearing in some Christmas movies (among other things). Besides being a versatile actress, Teri is also a writer and in 2006 she wrote the book: 'Burnt Toast: And Other Philosophies of Life'. Teri also loves to cook and she appeared on several cooking shows.

McKenna Grace was born on 25 June 2006 in Grapevine, Texas (United States) as the only child of Ross Burge (an orthopedic surgeon) and Crystal Grace (a medical sales representative). McKenna was born with a talent for entertaining and from the age of 3, she started competing in beauty pageants. In 2009, she won the title 'Little Miss Texas'. She also started in gymnastics, ballet, cheerleading and (tap) dancing. It was at the age of 4, that McKenna started showing an interest in acting. Her great-grandmother gave her a DVD collection of Shirley Temple movies and the young girl got instantly captivated. From that moment on, she knew she wanted to become an actress and she persuaded her mom to sign her up for an acting class in Dallas. Her teacher at that class noticed McKenna's talent and advised the family to travel to Los Angeles, to have a go at auditions for movies and TV. Not long after that McKenna landed her first roles and the family moved to Los Angeles.

Grace made her acting debut as Jasmine Bernstein in the Disney XD series "Crash and Bernstein", a role she played for 15 episodes (from 2012 until 2014). In 2013, she made her feature film debut as Hannah Palmer in the post apocalyptic drama "Goodbye World".  In 2013, McKenna entered the world of soap opera with the role of Faith Newman in "The Young and The Restless" (from 2013 until 2015). In 2015, McKenna appears as Young Caroline in "The Vampire Diaries". Critics called this one of the best flashback castings ever, saying she even cried like adult Caroline (played by Candice King).  In 2016, McKenna plays the role of Izzy in the comedy drama "Mr. Church" (starring Eddie Murphy). She also voiced Ella Bird in "The Angry Birds Movie" and played the role of Daisy in "Independence Day: Resurgence". It's also in 2016 that McKenna lands the role of Penny Kirkman in the Netflix show "Designated Survivor", starring Kiefer Sutherland. Eventually she would play the role for 21 episodes from 2016 until 2019). In 2017, McKenna turns 11 and it's also the year of her worldwide breakthrough. She lands the role of child prodigy Mary in the movie "Gifted". McKenna was greatly praised for her acting and her chemistry with co-star Chris Evans. Director Mark Webb suggested that she would prepare for the role, by watching movies, like: "In America", "Paper Moon", "Good Will Hunting", "Kramer vs Kramer" and "I am Sam". McKenna did so and invested a lot of time in the character of Mary.  She found out that the two of them had a lot in common. McKenna also loves math (be it not on a college level) and she also has a passion for the piano and for singing. McKenna told the press that she had an instant connection with co-star Chris Evans. They used to hang out and sing songs of  The Presidents of the U.S.A. Her love for singing also helped her memorize the mathematical equations. She and her mom turned the sequences into a song, with a catchy tune. McKenna mentioned in interviews that ever since "Gifted", Captain America is her favorite hero (I wonder why that is?).

Also in 2017, McKenna takes on the role of young Tonya Harding in the movie "I, Tonya". For this role she had to learn how to ice skate, so it was physically demanding. In 2018, she gets a role in "The Bad Seed", which is a remake of the 1956 horror drama with the same name. McKenna portrays the murderous young girl Emma Grossman. In interviews she said, she always wanted to play a horror villain and so she prepared herself thoroughly for this role. She watched the 1956 version of the movie and focused on the mannerisms of Rhoda (which was the name of the Emma character in the earlier movie). McKenna also contacted Patty McCormack, who played Rhoda in the 1956 versions. Again, she received critical acclaim for the role. Also in 2018, she started playing the (recurring)  role of Paige Swanson in "Young Sheldon and she starred in the Netflix horror series "The Haunting of Hill House". McKenna played the role of Young Theo in 10 episodes and dyed her her dark brown for it. In 2019, she plays the role of misfit Christmas Flint in "Troop Zero". She plays a younger version of a starring character again, when she plays young Carol in "Captain Marvel" and returns to horror as Judy Warren in "Annabelle Comes Home".

This next guest got his world turned upside down, with an appearance of 42 minutes in total in season 4 of "Stranger Things". Within these 42 minutes, the character of Eddie (and with him Joseph Quinn) grew out to be one of the most beloved characters of the show. So turn up the volume of your walkmans and rock on, because the Master of Puppets is coming to FACTS this Saturday!

Joseph Quinn was born on 26 January 1993 or 1994 in London, England (U.K.). It isn't sure when exactly Joseph was born and there isn't much information to be found about his early life either. We do know that he grew up in South London and that he has two sisters and a brother. In interviews, Joseph mentions that he has been acting since he was a baby. He already did a school play, while he was still  in nursery school (at the age of 2-3). Joseph attended the prestigious Emanuel Private School from 2007 until 2012, on a drama scholarship. Subsequently Joseph got into the iconic London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), where he graduated in 2015. 

Right after graduation, Joseph was cast in the starring role of Arthur Havisham in the BBC One series "Dickensian". He played the role of Arthur for 19 episodes from 2015 until 2016. The year 2017 is a big one for Quinn, as he lands some great roles: he appeared as Koner (a Stark soldier) in the 7th season of the HBO show "Game of Thrones" and he also gets the role of Leonard Bast in "Howards End" (based on the novel of the same name written by E.M. Forster. Joseph says he was very happy to land this role, because in his opinion "Howards End" is one of the most influential pieces in British literature, He also mentioned that he did not watch the 1992 movie, because he did not want to be influenced by the actors from the movie, he wanted to have his own take on playing Leonard. He did read the book in preparation of the role. He also did a lot of research about the history and the different classes of that time. He read the books that his character read and listened to the music his character listened to. 

In 2017, Quinn also played the role of Ralph in 2 episodes of the show "Time Wasters". Joseph also did a lot of theatre over the years and he says that the feeling of community is one of the most rewarding aspects of acting (and stage acting in particular). In 2018, he got another role in a period piece with the role of Enjolras in 3 episodes of the BBC adaptation of "Les Misérables". Also in 2018, he made his feature film debut in the horror war movie "Overlord" with the role of Grunauer. In 2019, he stars alongside Molly Windsor in the thriller movie "Make Up". He also played alongside acting icon Helen Mirren in "Catherine The Great". He played the role of Tsarevich Pavel (Paul I from Russia). In 2020, Quinn landed the role of Billy Knight in 4 episodes of "C.B. Strike" (a.k.a. "Strike"). Although Joseph had made a name for himself in British cinema and TV by then, his international breakthrough came with his role as Eddie Munson in season 4 of "Stranger Things".

Eddie became a huge fan favorite and his Master of Puppets scene became one of the most iconic scenes of the season. Joseph's star rose to fame and the man has a bright future ahead of him. In 2024, he will star in two major blockbusters and his name is linked to a lot more to come. In June of this year, Joseph will star as Eric in "A Quiet Place: Day One" and in November he will star as co-emperor Caracalla in "Gladiator 2" (directed by Ridley Scott himself). Quinn is also set to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as he is said to play the role of Johnny Storm/The Human Torch in the 2025 Marvel movie "The Fantastic Four".

 

Joseph Quinn will be a guest at FACTS 2024 on Saturday only!

 

Prices:

Photo op: €110

Autograph: €100 (a ticket is mandatory)

 

Times:

Photo ops Saturday:

1. 11:00-12:00 (Photo Booth 1 - Hall 4)

2. 12:15-13:15 (Photo Booth 1 - Hall 4)

3. 16:00-17:00 (Photo Booth 2 - Hall 4)

 

Q&A:  15:15-15:45