Yesterday, October 24, Nelsan Ellis attended the MCM Expo (London Movie Comic Media Expo 16) in London. He signed autographs at the True Blood booth, took pics with fans and answered their questions during the True Blood panel.

Tinchy, the owner of the True Blood Facebook page UK Truebies, traveled to London to check out the event. This is her story.

This morning I woke up and got ready for the Excel London convention…since I had early entry tickets it was important to get there before the regular entry ticket holders arrived. As I travelled down to Excel (near Canary Wharf: www.londonexpo.com) I knew I was in the right place, as I got closer to the Excel center more & more people were dressed in their cosplay outfits (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosplay) It was amazing seeing all of the time work and dedication that was put into the cosplay outfits… One thing I can say about going to the Expo that never changes I went last year as well) is the fact that for at least part of the journey you will get stepped on, accidentally hit by a costume, or be uncomfortably close to someone-I recommend good walking shoes and if you will dress up make sure it’s something you are able to walk around in. Young or old the fanboys and fangirls were out there in force. Leaving the train was like walking into a fantasy land…as you walk up to the main entrance as far as the eye could see was people in costume from the simple to the elaborate. To better blend in I decided to wear my Merlottes t-shirt, so I ducked into a bathroom to quickly change. Walking down the large halls of the Excel center all you could see what groups of people either in line, sitting or talking over bento noodles and the like. Throughout the crowd were people with sign saying “Free Hugs” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Hugs) I even received hugs from people who knew where my shirt came from.

Nelsan Ellis and Tinchy from UK Truebies

As I walked around the Expo to locate Nelsan Ellis I released I walked right by his booth. Nelsan is such a nice and humble man and seemed shocked at the fact that there were people who waited in line for his autograph. As I came closer to the table I took out my True Blood (HBO) calendar, my picture of Lafayette and my True Blood T-shirt. He looks up at me and says “Wow! You have the T-shirt and everything….” I thought it was cute how he seemed unaware of this status and of the TB Calendar. After taking pictures with me and the other fans he then walked away but was nice enough to let me record a sound bite of him saying hello. Since I had a few hours before he spoke (He was the one man TB panel) I decided to walk around; people were buying masks, toys, fake weapons and trading cards. I saw so many interesting costumes there were Ghostbusters, vampires, Where’s Waldo and all sorts… The vendors selling costumes were also a sight to see and some of them even dressed up. I spent an hour walking around taking pictures of the costumes and sights.

Nelsan Ellis at the True Blood Panel

As Nelsan came on the stage we all started to clap and then we were allowed to ask questions: I was able to ask the first question which was how do you like playing a role that is so different from how you are as a person his reply was that Lafayette does the things he wish he could do sometimes (almost like an alter ego-I think) but cannot. He also cursed a little during this but apologized…
When asked who he would like to work with again he replied Runtina because he has developed a close relationship with her.
Another fan also asked him if True Blood is really that controversial in the states and he replied that in certain parts of Shreveport the TB cast are not allowed due to the nature of TB.

The funny part of the Q & A session was when a fan asked him to say his catch phrase “Fo sizzle my nizzle” and Nelsan said that ‘s not my catch phrase “mine iz Hooka, Hooka” in Lafayette’s voice.
It was amazing to see him pull on the “mask” of Lafayette and to see the personalization he put into the character by researching the character by going to bars and thinking of the right way to dress (the scarf idea comes from a relative). He also collaborates with the dressing team on TB.
When asked about a possible romantic relationship between Lafayette and Eric he said that he would not mind it but stated who knows what AB has in store.
He has read a few of the Sookie Stackhouse novels but stated that he is glad that he was allowed to continue in Season 2 (Originally he signed up for Season 1 with the knowledge that he would die at the end).
He was very open and honest about playing a role such as the one he plays and had answers for all of our questions with a smile. Overall I am glad I went to the convention and hope that he and more TB cast members return next year.

Nelsan was so kind to give a shout out to the Truebies.

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