Guest post by Mark Avo
What can be said about Manu Bennett attending the first annual Salt Lake Comic Con is that the people of Utah met a charming, outgoing man of the people. His personality with the fans was electric and his physic and accent didn’t hurt either. Rumors turned to reality when many people saw him walking the convention’s exhibition hall. He would hold baby’s and lightly wrestle with the youngsters. He kissed many a female fan on the cheek calling the darling and making them swoon.
Past the personal interactions with fans, his panel gave us some insight to what makes this actor tick. He was unarmed by smiles and 20 second conversations when he was onstage. He talked about the tragic passing of his mother and brother when he was only 14 years old. The accident they were involved in put Manu in a coma and tore his heart and confidence from his chest. It wasn’t all tragedy; he made a childhood enemy into a lifelong friend when that friend was the first person to talk to Manu when he came out of his coma. He would use that experience to fuel the emotion he brought to the screen during Spartacus. That emotion, so raw and powerful, made Manu a fan favorite and launched his career to new heights. He was cast as the primary antagonist Azog, in Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit, an Unexpected Journey”. He would work that job during the final days of filming “Spartacus: War of the Damned” in what Manu called, “A heavy work schedule”.
He made the audience in his, the final celebrity panel at the Con, laugh and cry. He also gave everyone some possible spoilers for his future projects despite telling one audience member, “You want a ‘Spoiler Alert don’t ya kid?’ You think just because you’re cute I’m going tell you?” According to Manu he has signed a five year contract with Arrow. He told the audience that his character on Arrow, Slade Wilson, will start the season on the island but that, “Deathstroke is not going to stay on that island.” He also mentioned something to get the fans excited about for Arrow season 2 because his co-star from Spartacus, Cynthia Addai-Robinson who played Naevia, is going to guest star in a future episode. The final spoiler he may have unintentionally given away, is that his character Azog in the upcoming film, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”, will have a son that plays a large part in the white orc’s screen time.
Salt Lake City was excited by the “Champion of Capua” and chants of, “Crixus, Crixus”, quickly turned to “Manu!” as he graciously left the stage. He certainly left with more fans than he arrived with. That wasn’t because of his talent on the screen. It was because of, as Manu put it, “The people energy”. He built a bridge between himself and every member of that auditorium. His personal story touched the crowd and as the final celebrity guest, he left Utah with plenty of anticipation for next year.