Chicago Comic Con: J. August Richards Panel
Maya Dinerstein ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Staff
Hosted by Dr. Rebecca Housel, the Pup Culture ProfessorTM, J. August Richards entered a moderately filled panel room to the calls of “Hail Hydra!” as encouraged by Dr. Housel. Richards is most known for his acting as Gunn on Angel and recently as Deathlock on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
After briefly going over his recent work, the floor was opened up to the audience for a Q&A. Richards is not the only Angel cast member in attendance: James Marsters and David Boreanaz are both also attending, a fan pointed out, and suggested that there should be a reunion or panel of some sort. Richards heartily agreed, sending out a tweet to Wizard World:
Richards also answered questions about his workout routine (the hardest thing to do was jump down to one knee-that didn’t touch the ground-while holding a woman in his arms on SHIELD), and continued on about how he saw many similarities between Mike Peterson/Deathlock and Gunn. According to Richards, both characters were the same in that they were family oriented and motivated, Gunn for his sister and Mike for his son. He quavered at the mention of Deathlock as a ‘villain’ preferring to say that the character was being manipulated.
“As a kid, I wanted to be Luke Skywalker, but I was only ever Lando. Or, if my friends were being generous, Chewie.”
Richards went on to say that is was an honor to be able to to be a model for anyone, regardless of race or gender.
J. August Richards currently appears as Mike Peterson/Deathlock in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC, season 2 of which premieres on September 23rd.