Nicholas Brendon, best known for playing Xander Harris (Buffy), and Kelly Donovan, best known for playing Nicholas’ Buffy stunt double, are two pretty men that do a great comedy duo. They give off the vibe of two people with a solid friendship who work well together. Clearly, their relationship started at the womb; all the same, not everyone could work or tour with their brother. And, not everyone forms a perfect Abbot and Costello-worthy routine. Whenever they hit their Vaudeville-worthy tete-a-tetes we, the audience, preferred to watch rather than interrupt and ask questions.
I won’t lie. When they jumped on stage, I started fantasizing about a twin sandwich. I said this before, but it bears repeating. They are two very pretty men; but, they’re very different. Sure, they share the same face; but, you figure out pretty quickly who is who. With the chic haircut and trendy sneakers, Kelly is hipster cool, while Nick rocks loose hair and an awesome tattoo on his inner right bicep. Sure, they share the same sense of humor, but Nick’s slightly more gregarious. Because half their audience stood outside the building waiting for entrance, the morning session started a quarter-full. And, they amused themselves by interviewing each other. In some ways it almost felt like a frat house as I learned Nick didn’t experience “penetration” until he turned 20. When I stood to ask the first question, Nicholas asked me if I planned on leaving. Their rapid-fire wit marks them as the guys you hope to impress with intelligence and witty humor. Although I didn’t do that, I fired off a couple questions at Nick about the Buffy film drama and his Private Practice guest starring role.
In December 2010, E! On-Line interviewed Nick concerning the Buffy re-boot without the original cast. Obviously, he was not a fan. I asked Nick if he’d do the film if it included Joss Whedon and the original ’90s cast. He responded the way you’d think …. with honesty and humor: “Of course! But, they’re not doing that.” Later I asked him how he connected with Lee McHenry, Charlotte’s attacker in Private Practice. An actor once told me playing hideous roles requires finding the character’s humanity. Clearly, Brendon believes the same. Although he played Henry like an innocent child, he admitted filming the actual assault for six hours from several angles was exhausting … mentally and otherwise. When asked how he prepared for the assault, he said he called Kelly over. I totally forgot that he played the romantic lead in Golden Christmas, because I wanted to ask what it felt like to switch from playing the geek to the romantic hunk.
I loved watching Brendon and Donovan interact; but, I almost felt Donovan would’ve worked better on another panel. After all, Kelly did a walk-on role on City Guys and stunt work for Alias. It would’ve been nice if he had a smaller venue with other sci-fi behind-the-scenes people to talk about stunt work and set design. Then again, the twins are the hotness and it’d deprive the audience of their tete-a-tetes, which included Brendon’s mild surprise when I asked Donovon about his City Guys stint. And, they basically had a conversation that only brothers could have. Below find my paraphrased re-enactment. Basically, they are the scooby gang brought to life in twin form:
Brendon: You were on City Guys? … When did that happen?
Donovon (pauses): … When I thought I wanted to be an actor.
Brendon: What type of show is City Guys?
Donovon (patiently describes NBC’s Saturday morning teen sitcoms)
Honestly, they were hilarious together. Did you know Joss originally wrote the part of Captain Reynolds (Firefly) for Brendon? Unfortunately, he found himself tied up with Buffy so “Nathan came along and took it.” Nick also confesses he doesn’t watch a lot of TV (but don’t most actors say that?) Although he initially stated he didn’t share similarities with Xander, he later admitted he didn’t date much in high school (which lead to describing his “first time” at age 20). He’s evidently attempting to quit smoking. While Donovon appeared cool and collected from their walk over from the hotel, Brendon mopped his face in the air conditioned room joking about Philadelphia’s heat (compared to California) while quipping that he’s trying to “quit smoking kids.”
Because most of the questions focused on Brendon, below find excerpts of his responses to fan questions. As you can tell, his wicked sense of humor definitely comes across:
Overall, these wonder twins never have to activate. They’re awesome all the time.
Clacked by An Nicholson 
on Jul 10, 2011 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
