Along with an update on the second edition of Adapt Evolve Become: The Genderqueer Fandom of NBC's Hannibal, I bring an update of catching up with Hugh at RDC in London at the weekend.
After a huge amount of interest in the first edition after my above post, I opened submissions for a second edition which became available last week:
You can find more info over at @transhanniday
For the first time ever, I had a gold ticket for RDC and so had the chance to talk to Hugh at the meet and greet on Friday night. I think we were actually one of the final tables, and he was our final guest.
We had discussed beforehand if anyone at the table had anything they wanted to ask, as I had a question. So we kicked off with a question about filming King Arthur in Ireland.
My interaction went something like this (my short term memory is very bad - booLongCovidboo - so I can't remember it all word for word).
Me: I met you at Boston last year
Hugh: I remember
Me: I gave you a book
Hugh: I remember
Me: I have a t-shirt I wanted to wear for our photo but feel more comfortable running it past you to make sure you're comfortable. It says "Trans Masc Will Graham Fan Club".
Hugh: Mask?
Me: Masc as in Trans Masculine
Hugh (very quickly): Oh I see, got it.
He then spotted the badge on my lanyard with the same slogan and he pointed to it and said: Like that, which I confirmed.
Hugh: That's absolutely fine, it's definitely not the weirdest request I've ever had.
Me: Well it does have a penis on it... I'M JOKING!!
Chuckles all round XD
That was the question I wanted to ask and the vibe was good. He continued and thanked me for taking the time to explain things in Boston, to give him a more "granular" understanding of something he hadn't really been exposed to. In turn, I then apologised and said I felt a little bad after just in case it made him feel uncomfortable as I know it could make some cis people uncomfortable seeing their gender identity portrayed differently to their own experience (essentially dysphoria). He thanked me for being concerned/appreciated the thought but said it was absolutely fine.
I told him that as the first edition had been so popular and more people wanted to contribute, that there is now a second edition just published and that I had a copy to gift him the next day and one to sign to auction for trans charities. He was very positive about and despite being tapped on the shoulder by his minder a couple of times to say his time was up, he stayed and was very engaged and dismissed my apologies that I was holding him up or taking up too much time. It was really nice to know that he was so engaged with the discussion.
Ending on a light note I then told him that if he looked out over the audience during the panel, at least 90% of the men in the room would be trans, and several of them had changed their legal name to Will. He was really positive about it.
We said our goodbyes and I thanked him again and he was really gracious and then it was time for our table to leave.
Later in the evening I was catching up with @thisismydesignhannibal and others on her table, which was next to ours and she started telling me that they had a similar discussion too. Someone mentioned trans Will at their table and he said again how he appreciated having been told about it and given a better understanding of it all. I said I thought it was great that he had that conversation after being at our table, but I was corrected - he was at their table just before ours and had that conversation completely independently :3
Autographs moved quite fast and we weren't allowed to give gifts at the table. But when I got to the front, I put the book down for Hugh to sign and he said, "Ah this is the book", I said again that I would auction the signed one for charity. Then showed him the bag with a book for him and said that I did bring one for him but that I think I have to give it to the con staff, his minder instantly said he would take and did so, which was nice!
I thanked Hugh again for being so open to these conversations and he smiled and he thanked me again lol.
Hugh had a solo panel and the lovely Solomon - who has a piece called "(Trans)formation in Hannibal" in the 2nd edition - asked if Hugh was expecting the connection and the way in which the trans community resonate with Will's character?
First he answered very cheekily that on day one he turned to the crew and said, this is going to be a big hit with the trans community in the future! After a chuckle he admitted he didn't have that sort of foresight, but that the show had taken on a life of its own beyond what it was and that while you hope it will resonate with people, you can't predict how. He was surprised by the connection but had been educated (mostly not against his will) and appreciated that.
After having relayed the Boston trip on here last year, and also discussing the chat at the meet and greet with friends, it was really wonderful to hear him address it more publicly. I was thrilled someone got up and asked (that wasn't me pestering him again lol), and Soloman's question was so good and the answer really lovely!
I wore my t-shirt as promised! And when I walked up for my turn he immediately gave me a big smile as I pointed at the t-shirt. We snapped it quickly so I will say I don't look too great, lol, because at the last moment I closed my mouth and it looks like I'm smirking or something lol. But I was so happy to get such a great smile from Hugh.
A little side mention... After the autographs on Saturday, Spicy grabbed me to talk about Hugh and asked if I knew The Left Hand of Darkness - which is not only one of my favourite books but also one Hugh had mentioned reading in an old article. Knowing he liked the book was why I felt comfortable to speak to him about it all in the first place. So we had a fab discussion about the various different aspects of identity in the book, but especially gender and how it was ahead of its time.
When I saw Spicy again the next day, they shared that they had talked more with Hugh about The Left Hand of Darkness, and he said that although it was ahead of its time, it might be written differently now - Le Guin might have considered pronouns differently.
And, yes, it's a low bar, but isn't it always nice to have cis men correctly using pronouns in a sentence?
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