Meeting Rick Cosnett

June 25th and 26th Liv and I went to Arccon. Arccon is a fan convention  with guests from the series The Flash and Arrow. As you might have seen in our vlog, I was mostly looking forward to meet Rick Cosnett! I think he was awesome as Eddie Thawne in The Flash. Eddie was a police detective at the Central City Police Department (Joe's partner) and Iris' boyfriend. Eddie is a poster boy for "the good guy" and he is a very loveable character. Although he has a relationship with Iris and you're kinda rooting for Barry to get together with Iris, you also don't want Eddie to be hurt.  Besides playing Eddie in the Flash, Rick played the role of Elias Harper in Quantico, a crime/ drama series. You might also known him as Dr Wes Maxfield in the Vampire Diaries or Mal Hensall in Forensic Investigators. If you want to know more about Rick, or the movies/ series he played in: Check out the 'In the spotlight' we wrote about him. 

At the very beginning (When we just bought our tickets for Arccon) we already decided we wanted to go for an autograph & photo op with Rick. We ordered it online and we were very excited! Then the waiting untill Arccon began :). And it was a long wait. The last convention we attended was FACTS in April, so it was about time for a convention adrenaline rush ;). We had never been to a KLZ event before, so we didn't know what to expect and talking about that boosted our anticipation even more.(as  you can see in our ArcCon Countdown Vlog)

We had a 'Bow pass' (The cheapest one). Which meant that most of our activities (Autographs & photo ops) would be on sunday. So on saturday, we had the time to watch all the Q&A's! And I can tell you, over the weekend we saw A LOT of Q&A's of Rick. One with Shantel VanSanten, 3 just with Rick, one with Shantel VanSanten, Matt Ryan & Violett Beane (This was the full meetingroom) and a 'Flash' Q&A with Rick, Shantel & Violett. The first one was the one with Rick & Shantel. They were great! You could really see the chemistry beteen them (even though they didn't play in the Flash at the same time) They're an awesome duo! It was so much fun just to look at them. I'd say, writers of the Flash: Bring back Eddie & Patty and make them a couple :)!  They were absolutely great together. The Q&A started great with Rick doing a Zimbabwean dance and that was hilarious (watch the video below!) They talked about their sightseeing tour of Brussels, the day before and how much they loved the city. Rick also talked about how much he loved working on "The Flash" and how he felt "happy and safe" on set. He also talked about his love for the villains in comics and how he would love to see Eddie come back as a really evil arch nemisis to Barry.  If he could play any role in Arrow, he would choose Oliver or Felicity. Rick also talked about his student job as a glass collector in a night club and about how you have to find the fun in the little things in life and love the people you're with. We found out a lot about Rick in this first Q&A . He had another Q&A later in the day.

 Talking about that second day.. It's the day of our photo op and autograph. I was very excited! Heartrate going up! First up was another Q&A with Rick. He talked about how he had some drinks in the hotel bar and about how they were the last ones there. I guess he didn't get a lot of sleep, because he still  looked kind of tipsy. It was another great Q&A and he had the giggles during the whole thing. He talked about superstitions and about how he used to have to tap things three times before leaving. He also talked about "Naked and Afraid" and how he loves the show.And about what he would take to a deserted island (his list was very long and included another human being, a flint an a piano and Holly Hunter dressed in the outfit from "The Piano", lol). He also shared some of his "drunk stories". It was great and he had me laughing out loud during the whole thing. And then it was time for our photo op. We were queueing and ofcourse talking on and on. Liv was checking her vouchers for the photo ops and autographs and missed the one for Ricks autograph. So it kept us from stressing for the photo op for a while. At the moment I noticed it was missing I panicked. I was sweating like a pig and my heart rate was 180 bpm (at least). We looked everywhere for the ticket (Backpacks, pockets). And finally we found it! Yes it was in my backpack with my photo's and autographs. And then it was almost time!! The queue was going quite fast and Liv already entered the photo op room.  I had to wait for about a minute longer. There was a fan in the room and after my averted panick attack earlier I needed some cooling off so I was in heaven.Then I also entered the room. I admire the people who were before me: everyone seemed to know exactly what they wanted for the photo. I haven't seen this at any convention before (That so many people already put thought in a pose). I felt a bit unprepared and it stressed me out even more haha. I was just obsessively observing every move in the room while thinking of a pose, and what to say. Ofcourse I had a short circuit and I couldn't think of anything. My mind went blank and all I could think of was asking Rick to hold our Conmose card and he did! He asked about it, but I'm  not sure of the words I mumbled when he did, lol. Rick was superkind. It all went smoothly. I'm used to photo ops being quite quick, so I already wanted to walk away after the picture but Rick still talked to me :). Asked my name, and then answered 'I'm Rick'.  The only thing I could think was 'OMG I KNOW'. That moment was so cute, it still makes me laugh.  He's awesome and the photo op didn't felt rushed at all. He was interested in everyone and was willing to do all the poses. 

After the photo op it was time for another Q&A. Rick came on stage dancing and told about his dream to be on "Ellen" one day, so he could dance down the aisle. And he did his Zimbabwean dance with some guys and girls from the audience. It was hilarious.

For the autograph, I decided (for the first time) to ask him to sign the photo from the photo op. I've never done that before (I usually pick another picture), but I thought it would be a nice idea. And I really liked it. There was a specific time at Arccon to go for autographs. When it was time, Liv & I queued. At first, it was a general queue (Just for any autograph). Once inside the autograph room, you could queue per actor. Rick had the longest queue. We waited and looked around. And talked a bit with some other people. Then it was our turn! Heart rate up again! (Check out the picture here that shows my actual heart rate. Look at it go up and down lol. It's a screenshot of the results from my Garmin Vivosmart). 

I was feeling brave. So I decided to actually talk to Rick. I told him I was happy he came to Belgium and that this weekend was great. I also said that I loved his Q&A (I really do!). It was so nice. Rick was very kind and answered. He was glad to be at the con. And he asked Liv about Conmose. Yes he asked me about the card I gave him during the photo op. I thought about this earlier that day and ofcourse I planned on talking about it to him and ask him to take a look at the website. But when I walked up to his table I went into doofus/strangled cat mode again and I just made some sounds haha. I really need to get my act together in situations like these. 

The day ended with a Flash panel, which was the icing on the cake. Rick was in the panel with Shantel vanSanten  and Violet Beane and they just seemed so relaxed. They really interacted with the audience and seemed to have great fun, as did we. 

I had a great weekend and Rick was simply amazing. Because of this "The Vampire Diaries" and "Quantico"are high on my to watch list.  Rick kind of hinted on a possible return of Eddie in "The Flash" and I really hope this is true. I would love to see him back in this role again and I hope to see more of Rick in the future. I loved this guy!

Cheerio!