Comic Con Holland Spring 2025 - Guest spotlights

Peter Frederick Weller, born on June 24, 1947 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin (U.S.) as son of Dorothy Jean and Frederick Bradford Weller. Peter's father Frederick worked as a helicopter pilot and career army officer, which meant Peter grew up in a military family. The family moved around the U.S. and overseas; the family lived in Germany for a while in the 60s. From a young age Peter expressed a love for music and performing. Besides being an accomplished trumpet player, Peter also took part in school productions. Because of the regular relocations, there isn't any specific information to be found about his primary education. What we do know is that in the early 60s, while living in Germany, Peter attended Heidelberg High School (operated by the U.S. Military as a DoDDS - school). Subsequently the family moved to San Antonio, Texas (U.S.), were Peter completed his high school education at Alamo Heights High School (he graduated in 1965). After High School, Peter enrolled at the University of Texas, where he studied music. He played in the school band, the renowned One O'Clock Lab Band. While music was one of his passions, it was soon overshadowed by his passion for acting. This led to transfer to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) in New York City, where he laid a strong base with classical training and further honed his acting skills. He graduated in 1972 and within two weeks he made his professional stage debut in the play "Sticks and Bones".

During the early years of his career, Peter combined stage and screen work. His early screen work includes appearances in movies and series, like: "The Man Without a Country" (1973, as Lt. Fellows), "Lou Grant" (1977, as Donald Stryker), "Butch and Sundance: The Early Years" (1979, as Joe LeFors), "Just Tell Me What You Want" (1980, as Steven Routledge), "Shoot the Moon" (1982, as Frank Henderson), "Kentucky Woman" (1983, as Deke Cullover), "Of Unknown Origin" (1983, as Bart Hughes) and "Two Kinds of Love" (1983, as Joe Farley). In 1984, Peter's breakthrough came with his role as Buckaroo Banzai in the sci-fi cult classic "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension". With this role and his charismatic performance, Peter made a name for himself in Hollywood.  Between 1984 and 1986, he played in the drama movie "First Born" (1984). Peter played the role of Sam, a manipulative and abusive man. While he wasn't a big star yet, Peter was well respected in the business. 

At one point in the mid 80s, Peter made an audition tape for Paul Verhoeven's new movie "Robocop". Initially, Verhoeven wasn't very impressed after watching Peter's tape and rejected him for the role. He didn't think Peter had the bodily presence to carry the movie. Other names that were singing around were Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rutger Hauer. Peter, however, was determined to get the role. He knew that physical presence only, wasn't enough to portray the vulnerability of Murphy and decided to use his background in mime (he studied under Moni Yakim) in the audition room. He decided not only to read the lines, but also showed how he would embody the robot, with a subtle hint of humanity. He demonstrated robotic movements that were almost balletic and with this he won the producers over. His new approach also began to win Verhoeven over. Peter's intensity and determination eventually sealed the deal.  Apparently he showed up to meetings in character and remained focused all the way through. After landing the role another challenge came on his path: the suit. It was very hot and claustrophobic and took multiple hours to put on. Besides this it also limited his movements in such a way that his rehearsed mime movements had to be re-worked. Through his determination, Peter finally mastered the suit and the rest is history. 

Eventually Peter's performance as Alex Murphy, a police officer resurrected as a cyborg law enforcer, became iconic. He reprised the role in "Robocop 2" in 1990. Throughout the 90s, Weller played in a lot of movies and series like: "Naked Lunch" (1991, as Bill Lee), "The Substitute Wife" (1994, as Martin Hightower), "The New Age" (1994, as Peter Witner), "Mighty Aphrodite" (1995, as Jerry Bender), "Screamers" (1995, as Joe Hendricksson) and more. By the late 90s, he had already achieved fame as an actor, but Peter was still passionate about history, art and music. He enrolled in Syracuse University's Master of Arts Program in Roman and Renaissance Art in Florence, Italy. He completed the degree in 2001 and describes it as the hardest thing he has ever done. It wasn't the end of his educational journey, however, because in 2014 Peter earned a PhD in Italian Renaissance Art History at UCLA.

Evelyn Renee O'Connor was born on February 15th, 1971 in Houston, Texas (U.S.) as the second child of Walter and Sandra O'Connor. Renee has an older brother named Chris. Her father Walter was a finance manager. Sandra and Walter divorced when Renee was still a child. Her mother later remarried Eddie Wilson, who was a notable figure in the Austin music scene. They co-owned and operated Threadgills ( a renowned restaurant and music venue). Now let's get back to Renee's childhood. Raised in the Houston suburb of Katy (Texas) by her mother, Renee showed an early interest in the performing arts. When she was 8 years old, Renee portrayed a caterpillar in a neighborhood production called "Theater on Wheels". Renee crafted her own costume for the role and that is the moment she was bitten by the acting bug.

Her screen debut came with the starring role of Nancy Nichols in a segment of Disney Channel's "Mickey Mouse Club" called "Teen Angel". This led to a steady stream of roles, like: "The Adventures of Huck Finn" and "Changes". In 1994, Renee played the role of Deianeira in the TV movie "Hercules and the Lost Kingdom". The movie was produced by Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi and Renee made a big impression on both of them. They began developing a spin-off series called "Xena The Warrior Princess" and they were looking for someone to play Gabrielle (Xena's sidekick). They asked Renee to audition and she impressed again with her acting, but also with her physicality and charm. Renee turned out to be a perfect fit for the role and her on screen chemistry with Lucy Lawless (Xena) grew out to be one of the most iconic elements of the show. Renee didn't only take on the role, but also the physical demands of the role. She did a lot of her own stunts and did extensive weapons- and martial arts training. She played the role that shot her into fame, in 134 episodes from 1995 until 2001. She also played Gabrielle in other projects within the franchise, such as movies and games.