Lovers of the original “Scream” movies, the TV series “Smallville” and the video game “Halo” will be thrilled with the first celebrity announcement for the FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention.
Several stars from those programs were among the nine names announced Friday, booked to appear at the convention, set for Sept. 21-23 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake City.
The convention is among the largest events of its kind in the nation, drawing around 125,000 fans of science fiction, fantasy, horror and other genres at its height, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘Scream’
Four members of the cast of the original “Scream,” the slasher movie that mocked horror cliches while repurposing them, are scheduled to appear at the convention:
• Neve Campbell, who played Sidney Prescott, a young woman who survived all attempts at being killed through five installments of the series. (Campbell skipped this month’s “Scream VI,” when she said producers wouldn’t pay her what she felt she was worth to the franchise.)
• Jamie Kennedy, who played film geek Randy Meeks, who survived the first movie, died in the second, and appeared via video in the third.
• Matthew Lillard, who played Stu Macher in the first film. Lillard has also starred in “SLC Punk” and “The Descendants.”
• And Skeet Ulrich, who played Billy Loomis — the original Ghostface in the first film, and appeared in this year’s installment. Ulrich also played Brian David Mitchell, who kidnapped Elizabeth Smart, in the 2017 TV movie “I Am Elizabeth Smart.”
‘Smallville’
Three stars of the series “Smallville” — which told of Clark Kent’s teen and college years, leading up to his arrival as Superman — are on the FanX roster. They are:
• Tom Welling, who played Clark Kent. He currently has a recurring role in “The Winchesters,” a prequel to “Supernatural.”
• Michael Rosenbaum, who played Clark’s friend-turned-enemy, Lex Luthor. Rosenbaum also starred in the made-in-Utah drama “Poolhall Junkies,” and the second and third chapters of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise.
• Kristen Kreuk, who played Lana Lang, the girl next door who dated Clark and later married and divorced Lex. She also starred on the CW series “Beauty and the Beast.”
‘Halo’
Two more names, both voice actors associated with the “Halo” video games, were announced for FanX:
• Steve Downes, best known for providing the voice of “Halo’s” main character, Master Chief.
• Jen Taylor, who provides the voice of Master Chief’s A.I., Cortana. She also has provided the voice of Princess Peach and other characters in Nintendo’s “Mario” franchise.
Tickets and passes for FanX are on sale at fanxsaltlake.com. More celebrities will be announced between now and September.
