BlizzCon 2009: WoW.com interviews Felicia Day, continued

That's the last money question that I have. You work with all of these actors, the first season it was like you were kind of the face of the show, and you were talking to everybody, and the other actors have kind of come up. And this BlizzCon I think is one of the first ones where people are really diving in and saying this person is my favorite, I really want to talk to Robin, I really want to talk to Jeff. You wrote the stuff, you even talked on the panel as well about how the actors are kind of taking over your characters. How has that been, in terms of how your actors are becoming the characters you're writing about?

As of the third season, I've written them hundreds of pages, at this point. So they've as actors really helped me define, it's kind of a metamorphosis. Every TV show, if you watch a pilot, a lot of characters change a lot, from the time they do that first pilot. For this one, the actors though, they bring so much to the table, Jeff and Sandeep do a lot of improv, and ad-lib a lot, they're adding a lot of ideas with their characters. At the same time, honestly, I've been pushing them forward as far as press and stuff and meeting fans and stuff, because I'm out there on the Internet a lot, I get sick of myself, honestly, I'm sure some of your readers are like, "I hate this girl."

[Laughs] No! They do have trolling tendencies.

Which is cool, they will, but that's cool, everybody doesn't have to love me. [laughs]

But the actors have kind of stepped it up and the characters have kind of taken ownership of themselves. You don't have to talk about what is Zaboo like, what is Vork like.

They really know their characters.

And even Robin and Amy like yesterday at the panel, Amy was totally into it, talking about what her character was like and things like that. So I think that's a sign of how far they've individually come as a series.

And some of it is seeing how fans respond to them in support. I sit behind a computer for twelve hours a day most of the year, and these conventions are -- when I walk around, nobody recognizes me in my daily life, I'm not somebody, so it's really when we come to the conventions that we really hear it.

I don't think that's true, I think someone has recognized you.

I really am not recognized, I promise you. Very occasionally. But as far as, you know, thinking that I have to comb my hair every time I go out of the house, thank goodness I don't have to do that. But it's nice, and they really enjoy getting feedback from people who really enjoy following the characters, and that helps too.

At the same time, you're working on this comic with Dark Horse. I've never written a web series or a comic book, but it's kind of going backwards, in that when you write a comic book, I assume you're playing all the parts in that you're saying what they would do and how they would do it. Do you find that's kind of weird to take over the parts that you're kind of in the process of giving away right now?

No, because when I'm writing a scene, there's nothing better than having a scene where all of them are talking. They're very clear characters, it's easy to write their dialog. The main problem I have is coming up with stories. But the character dialog, I could have them talk for 45 minutes, I could write 45 pages of just them at a restaurant, probably, because they're so clearly defined. Same thing with the comic book, I've just started dipping my toe into that universe, but as far as looking at other comic strips, you have to be a director, a DP, and a writer at the same time, you're very specific about how the panels are described, and the storytelling is even more abbreviated than web video. We do storytelling with a pace much faster than regular TV, because people will get bored very easily, and a comic book is even more abbreviated form. So it's interesting how much I can fit in there, and I really want to tell stories that we don't see in the show. We'll see inside the game, it's going to be showing in the game. It'll be cool. Personally, I've always wanted to live in a fantasy world.

Who doesn't, really?

And it'll be fun to have the characters in a fantasy world.

We talked about this already, but you haven't announced an artist yet?

No. I'm actually going to be working on this after I do one more convention. We'll be at DragonCon, and then I'm going to go underground for a couple of weeks, a month, and try to get this comic book done, and I'm really excited about doing it, but it requires a much different way of thinking.

The last thing I have, this might be kind of deep, but I've kind of noticed that at this convention for the first time that you're more fulfilling the role of role model. The first few seasons you were kind of selling the show and pushing it, and now you've gotten quite a bit of success. And not only in terms of creative people -- I know creative people personally who are really excited about what you've done, and they see it as the groundswell thing, as an "I can do my own idea" kind of thing -- but even at the panel yesterday, girl gamers. I was trying to think who else they could look up to as, like, a woman that is proud of being a gamer. And I thought that was kind of interesting that this convention was the first place that I really have seen that take off. Has it changed over time?

Yeah, it's changed a lot over the past six months, especially with Twitter. I think that kind of personal connection, it feels a lot more personal, and I feel like I treat it as more of a, like, insight into how I'm doing stuff and why I do things. I don't know...

Is there pressure, I guess? Seems like there would be pressure, but it's an awesome thing, a lot of pride there.

I'm very proud of myself, I only did this show because I was rejected so much in Hollywood, and I continue to be rejected in Hollywood, and that's totally cool, it's not, like, my bit. If I do some cool movies and TV shows occasionally, that's totally fun for me, but I know that I'm never going to fit in there the way I would at a gaming convention like this, meeting people more. And I know that's what I like doing, and I would be doing it if I weren't doing this. And so when I see so many women coming up to me and are like, "hey, thank you for being a geek girl," I mean I know it's totally Oprah, but I'm really proud of it. And I hope that other girls are gaming with me -- there are a lot of hot girls here at BlizzCon.

Yeah, you said that yesterday, and I've seen. But I just mean I've been a gamer for a long time, I love the culture as well, and I can't think of another woman that was really strong and like hey, I game all the time, what are you going to do about it?

Nobody should have to apologize for what they love, at the end of the day. I did this music video because it was a spoof on how geeky women are introduced. And the one thing that's hurt my feelings -- not my feelings, but I've seen people percieve it as I'm doing it seriously, like I want to be some kind of sex kitten. Believe me, that was hours of acting work in front of a mirror trying to make that character, because it's not organic to me.

It's organic to me, it comes right out.

[Laughs] Yeah, I want to see you in a corset, Mike.

We'll work it out, maybe next BlizzCon. But like I said, I think that it's a combination of the success that you've had -- and maybe people don't get it, but there's a lot of people who do get it, and who are really like, there aren't many figures like you in the community in the past. Casual gaming is taking off, and all the heroes for gamers in the past few years are old guys who are game designers -- we've never had role models like you in here.

Thank you. If I can make a 12-year-old girl not bleach blond her hair and wear a push-up bra, and instead, wear her glasses and maybe start a D&D group, or maybe start a guild, that's way better.

And I don't mean it as a compliment -- I'm stating it as fact. Because 20 years from now, what is it going to be like? When you're the norm, what's that going to be like?

It'll be fun. It'll be a better place to live. It'll be more honest. And part of it is, like, there's a perception in the culture that you have to be perfect-looking and you can't be out of the box, and you have to be rich and famous. Famous isn't that fun -- if you're ascribing for money and fame, you're not going to be happy. I know a lot of famous people, and it's not because they're famous that they're happy, it's because they have friends and they're doing something they love that they're happy. And I know it's completely another Oprah moment, but you're going there.

There you go. Hey man, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, how about that? That's an awesome game, right!?

I know, dude! Dude, I played the Worgen! Awesomesauce!

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