[continued from previous message]   
      
   tried to keep track of all that, we tried to create a different vampire.   
   Because the Ubervamp had never been introduced before. And Ryan has this   
   amazing martial arts background. I have studied over half a dozen different   
   martial arts, but I’m not really what I’d call a martial artist. Let me put   
   it this way – it’s like if you’ve taken ballet classes, that doesn’t   
   make   
   you a ballet dancer. But I understand the movements, I can execute them, I   
   studied Chinese kempo for a year or two when I was in my twenties, and that   
   was one of the ones I used probably the most, because Chinese kempo uses a   
   lot of spinning techniques. And they would come to me, and they’d go, “Can   
   you do a one-handed flip into a spinning hook kick?” And I’d be like,   
   “Um, I’ll   
   give it a shot.” [laughs] And I usually was able to do it. So yeah. I was   
   very lucky. But it was the role that probably pushed me to my physical   
   limits, because I was probably the oldest person in the cast at that point,   
   and I’m doing all this physical activity.   
      
   AX: Then the following year, you were in the final season of ANGEL as the   
   Nosferatu-looking elderly vampire, the Prince of Lies in the episode “Why We   
   Fight” …   
      
   TOY: Steve DeKnight and Drew Goddard wrote that episode, and the term   
   “Prince of Lies” was a character they came up with, I think, a couple of   
   seasons before that, and for whatever reason, they weren’t able to use it,   
   and in that season, they were, “Hey, can we use that name?” And [the   
   producers] were like, “Okay.” That was a funny episode, because again, they   
   were having trouble casting it, as so much of my career is. I believe I was   
   suggested by Rob Hall at Almost Human, again, who did the special effects   
   makeup. He said, “Guys, the days are ticking away, and I need to start doing   
   the design on this sculpt.” Because they’re actually sculpting on the   
   person’s   
   face that they’re going to use. He said, “I’ve got Camden Toy’s mold.   
   He’d   
   be perfect for this role.” The show runners at that time, Jeff Bell, and Ben   
   Edlund, were like, “Oh, we love Camden, he’s so creepy. But can he do   
   comedy?” Because the Prince of Lies is creepy, but he’s really the comic   
   relief for the episode. Their concern was, they’re going to get me in this   
   makeup, they’re going to get me on set, and I’m not going to fully   
   understand the role. When I heard that, I said “I’d be happy to come in and   
   read for it.” So again, I went in and read for it, and they were like, “Oh,   
   okay, I guess he does understand that, okay.” [laughs]   
      
   AX: You’ve done a lot of comedy on television and streaming video, and last   
   year, you were on SHAMELESS. Who did you play?   
      
   TOY: It’s part of the season where Frank [played by William H. Macy] is   
   being chased by criminals and they’re going to kill him, so he jumps in the   
   car with his ex, played by Sherilyn Fenn. They’re heading out to a commune.   
   She’s an old ex-hippie, and I play Pan, one of the commune characters. It’s   
   a really small role, but it was a really fun role. There’s a scene where   
   Frank is with Sherilyn Fenn, they go to her tent for the night, and then I   
   and this other guy around my age – two old guys, right? – I think he refers   
   to us later as “Ben and Jerry,” we’re sitting there, sipping tea, and   
   Frank’s   
   like, “These guys don’t live with you, do they?” And she was like,   
   “Oh, no,   
   Frank. They’re just here for the sex.” He’s like, “What?” She says,   
   “Well,   
   if you want to stay, you can, but you don’t have to.” [laughs] And then she   
   comes over and we start canoodling, and the other guy starts canoodling, and   
   it becomes this threesome, and the look on Bill Macy’s face is priceless,   
   because Frank’s just aghast [laughs].   
      
   Sherilyn Fenn was great to work with, she was so much fun. Bill Macy was   
   also a lot of fun. That’s a show that’s been going on for awhile. And shows   
   that have been going on for awhile, the regulars, usually during those long   
   waiting periods between takes, they’ll go off to their trailers. He never   
   did that. He would just sit down in the chairs beside us and go, “Hey,   
   how’s   
   it going?” He loves playing his ukulele. He’s got this beautiful wooden   
   handmade ukulele. I was like, “Wow, that’s so unusual.” He said,   
   “Here, you   
   want to try it?” He hands me this ukulele and I’m playing this ukulele   
   going, “Wow, this is beautiful.” So So that was, I thought, a really   
   generous and lovely thing.   
      
   AX: When did you start doing the BUFFY and ANGEL convention scene?   
      
   TOY: Oh, good Lord. I think it was shortly before I did the ANGEL episode,   
   so I guess some time in 2003. I didn’t even know about them until a friend   
   of my girlfriend was like, “Well, you know, there are conventions.” I was   
   like, “What?” [laughs] “Yeah, I can introduce you to this guy that books   
   them.” “Okay.” I really didn’t fully understand. Of course, at that   
   time,   
   there were plenty of BUFFY and ANGEL conventions. Now there are very few   
   that are purely [those shows]. WhedonCon, that’s an unusual convention –   
   it’s   
   purely Joss Whedon’s work. But when I first started doing it, there were a   
   number of them for a year. They were never huge conventions, they were never   
   like ComicCon, where there were hundreds of thousands of people. They were   
   very intimate, and everybody that was there was familiar with who you were   
   and what you did. So those were really fun conventions, particularly when I   
   first started doing it.   
      
   AX: You just appeared at the second annual WhedonCon, which is a convention   
   in the Los Angeles area dedicated to the works of Joss Whedon, including   
   BUFFY and ANGEL. It’s fan-run and not-for-profit, meaning that they give any   
   profits to charities. Did you have a good time there?   
      
   TOY: Yeah, I did. Of course, it was a first-year con last year, and   
   certainly first-year cons are not without their growing pains. But those   
   were minimal, I thought. I thought whatever problems that did come up, the   
   staff handled them extremely professionally, which is not always the case   
   when you have a convention run by fans. So I think it’s a well-run   
   convention. The fans are all there to have fun. It was incredible. I think   
   one of my most fun times was they did a whole Prom dance. I ended up putting   
   on my tux and tails and dancing with different people, and then a friend of   
   mine and I, you know how you hold your hands up and you create a tunnel for   
   people to go through. It was all really well-organized.   
      
   This year, they added something that I thought was really smart, these meet   
   and greets, and a game night, where several of us [were] with the fans,   
   playing games. There [was] also an English high tea, which I love. Not   
   enough people do that. Every time I go to England, I always make sure every   
   day I’m having cream tea. [laughs] I can’t help myself. And if you look at   
   the guest lineup, the fact that they got [ANGEL and FIREFLY   
   writer/director/producer] Tim Minear [who is now part of AMERICAN HORROR   
   STORY and FEUD] and [BUFFY and ANGEL and THE TICK writer/director/producer]   
   David Fury, lovely, wonderful people, but they don’t do conventions very   
   often, because honestly, writers/directors/producers, they just don’t do   
   conventions often. They’re not asked to, they’re often too busy to, so the   
   fact that they’re willing to put aside some time to come and spend time with   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)