Book Con 2015: Felicia Day Discusses “You’re Never Weird On the Internet (Almost)”

Belinda Huang ’17/ Emertainment Monthly Books Editor

The audience was laughing and spirits were high as Felicia Day talked about her upcoming memoir, You’re Never Weird On the Internet (Almost), growing up weird, and the trials of being an actor at today’s Book Con panel. Felicia Day is most well known for her acting on shows like Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Eureka, and in Joss Whedon’s online musical, Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog. She is also the founder of Geek and Sundry, as well as being the creator of the web series The Guild. Day’s panel was moderated by Jill Pantozzi, Editor in Chief of The Mary Sue, an online magazine covering the intersection of pop culture and feminism.

Pantozzi and Day spoke easily about the book and their personal lives, leading to many audience laughs. The panel kicked off with a few rapid fire questions for Felicia Day, including her opinion on Jon Stewart leaving The Daily Show (sad), undercuts (regrettable), and Day’s excitement about season two of Agent Carter.

As discussion turned towards the book, Day mentioned her upbringing as imbuing her with a sense of her own weirdness and differences, saying that her mother raised her to have “geisha” skills — ballet, violin, math, acting — and her trying to make a career out of them, having been home schooled and then attending college at fifteen.

Pantozzi also asked about the darker side of the book, in which Felicia talked about her struggle with depression and anxiety, especially in relation to acting, which lead to her becoming a warlock on World of Warcraft and playing for nine hours a day. When Pantozzi asked why she included these sections, Day said she wanted to make sure people could have discussions about these topics. She said that her favorite part of fan interactions was when people said that her work had changed something in their lives or prompted them to create their own work — writing about her own depression, therefore, was part of opening that space for other people to talk about their issues.

The conversation then turned to her work behind the scenes of media, especially the six years she spent on The Guild. Day described the film making process as the most collaborative work she’s done, saying that she “wouldn’t trade it for anything.” Her love of new media and technology is rooted in finding community, she said. Growing up weird in Missouri, the internet was a way to express herself instead of trying to be the same as everyone else. Day emphasized the importance of embracing personal differences as strengths, and staying true to one’s character instead of trying to be like everyone else.

The audience’s questions were mainly about her success playing Charlie Bradbury on Supernatural, which she was happy to credit to the writing of Robbie Thompson. When asked what she was working on, Felicia mentioned something she was writing, although she hadn’t decided whether it would be for web or TV. After one last hilarious anecdote involving a hot priest in Rome and her phone case, the panel was over, leaving the audience laughing out the door.

You’re Never Weird On the Internet (Almost) will be released by Touchstone on August 11th, 2015.