Saints be praised! Supanova welcomes the talents of Sean Patrick Flanery, perhaps best-known for his role of gun-toting Boston vigilante Connor MacManus in cult film 'The Boondock Saints'.
“I'm always looking forward to meeting people from different areas and hearing what they think about the work you've done,” Sean says when asked what he looks forward to most about conventions.
“Some people don't like doing conventions; I happen to absolutely love it, and the best example I can give you is: when you do theatre, if it's something emotional the audience responds immediately and it's a reciprocal current of energy. When you do film, you have no idea how it was received unless you meet people that saw your work.”
Sean will have plenty of people to meet when he attends the Supanova conventions in Brisbane and Adelaide this November, and he says thrives on hearing how his work and the characters he plays affects fans. “Part of my sustenance for my soul is getting that feedback, I truly love it,” he says.
“When I go to these events, some of the people want to tell you they're a fan of your jiu-jitsu, some of them want to tell you they're a fan of the book that you wrote, some of them tell you a movie.
“Call me a vain motherf...er, but I actually love hearing that the work I've put my heart and my soul into moved people. I know that makes me sound incredibly egotistical, but I love getting the feedback, I really do.”
Since 1988, Sean has appeared in more than 50 films and television series. From a young Indiana Jones to ascended Ancient Orlin ('Stargate SG-1') and his latest role as Ty Garrett in 'The Bay' (for which Sean won a Daytime Emmy earlier in May, congrats), it's Connor MacManus that convention fans want to meet Sean for more than any other character he's played.
“To be honest, if you have a career and you have even one film that's seen by that many people, it's so flattering,” he says of the film's legacy.
“It's never lost on me at all. I make a joke: I say I've made a career out of films that nobody sees and in large part that's true, but on the odd occasion you get a film like '[The] Boondock Saints' and for whatever reason people latched onto it and it spoke to people, so that's probably what people know me most for.”
Connor MacManus may have made Sean a cult icon, but he says playing a role like Jeremy 'Powder' Reed in Victor Salva's 1995 drama 'Powder' is the reason he became an actor in the first pace.
“When you pack up your car from Texas and drive out to LA to try to be an actor, it's really in hopes that one day you'll get a role like 'Powder',” he says.
“Luckily enough I had that opportunity, but that's really what you're shooting for as an artist. Now don't get me wrong, 'Boondock Saints' was fun to do because I was making a movie with one of my best friends – and [Norman Reedus] was a best friend before we even got cast in 'Boondock'.
“But artistically, when you're doing a character that's more significantly removed from who you are on a daily basis, that's where the art comes into play.”
