Brains were the topic of the day at the iZombie panel in the Hyatt Centennial II-III at 4PM on Saturday. David Anders, Rose McIver, and Aly Michalka agreed that humor is what makes iZombie so enjoyable for the cast and fans alike. In fact, Anders began the panel by jogging across the back of the stage, waving and grinning, then vanished behind the curtain on the other side. Once properly seated onstage, he claimed that his character, Blaine, is a lighter villain. “He only kills children,” he joked. “And boyfriends.”
McIver talked about how she immerses herself into the personas of the people whose brains her character eats. “Liv has a million strands inside her, like all of us.” This versatile actor delves into those strands and teases out the ones that mesh with the personality of the victim. In that way, she’s able to portray Liv as remaining true to herself even while taking on aspects of another’s personality. The easiest persona to portray, she says, was the frat boy. Apparently, she’s had an inner frat boy inside her just longing to get out.
Michalka, when asked about her ability to bring out the core values of loyal friendship, said that she draws on her tight relationship with her sister. In iZombie, Peyton and Liv always have each other’s back. Anders, obviously trying to dig up some discontent between the two friends, asked if they’d ever auditioned against each other. When they protested, he said in a very Blaine way, “Daddy likes to mix it up.”
When an audience member dressed as Blaine, bleached hair at attention, asked a question, Anders seemed genuinely pleased that someone would portray him. He asked all the iZombie cosplayers in the crowd to stand up for recognition. When asked what made Blaine tick, Anders said it was the three Ps: “Paper-power, baby. And Peyton.” He gleefully admitted that people love to hate the characters he’s played. He believes it’s his abundance of smarm and charm.
McIver and Anders both agreed that the fake brains they have to eat on the show taste disgusting. Made of gelatin, the texture is as bad as the taste. Although there was that one time when they were mixed with a turkey-chili sauce…
With heartfelt thanks to the audience, the three panelists wished everyone could be as happy as the fans at Dragon Con.
