The food here is really delicious – Guardians of the Galaxy star Michael Rooker about Kazakhstan
Is this your first visit to Kazakhstan? What are your overall impressions?
This is my first visit to Kazakhstan. It is a very lovely country. I think the architecture is kind of groundbreaking, some of these buildings are just phenomenal, in my opinion. I'm liking it a lot. I don't know much about the [Kazakhstani] traditions. But I know the people themselves are just quite open and we are having a very lovely time hanging out here and talking, going to different restaurants, meeting the people, and the chefs. I basically do selfie with anybody, so we have a lot of fun doing that. Honestly, the food is too good, really delicious, I have been eating a lot. The hospitality has been so great with the promoters of our show. Sometimes we eat some local food that I have never had before.
How did you end up becoming a special guest of the Comiс Con Astana 2023?
The event for me, it literally just happened. 3 weeks ago I didn't know about this event. They put it together really quickly and I was already in Northern Ireland. So, we were talking about it and they made a decision that they would love me to come. So, I was really open. It was an easy decision for me. And I’ve never been here before. I’ve never been travelling through Central Asia at all. So, it was quite an interesting journey. I’ve been enjoying it.
Why is this event important to you and the comics industry in general?
These pop culture conventions bring together people from all walks of life, moms, dads, children, everyone. I don't know a lot of people that don't like comic books, fantasy film. We all like that kind of stuff. It has been very nice that we get a whole group of individuals that enjoy that kind of work. It’s been a lot of fun to have this new kind of thing. It is a great opportunity for people to get dressed up and become a whole fantasy character.
Some people have never read comics, that is true. But this is not all about just comics. This is more like pop culture, fantasy movies, film, gaming. There are a lot of different things going on at this convention. Stan Lee started it with comic books, but it quickly evolved into film, fantasy film, live stage and cosplaying.
What are your impressions of the Comic Con Astana and Kazakhstani audience?
So far so good. I’ve just got in the building today. It was quite exciting and the energy was boiling over, the little kids and adult people. Because my career has spanned since 1982, I've been working as an actor. I got out of my school in 1982 and I've been doing theater and film, TV and gaming. My career spanned over 30-40 years. So, I had the opportunity to witness and experience different things becoming popular and then disappearing. Another type of movie will become popular and disappear. It’s been fun for me. Even these events have been changing over the years.
What do you think about the level of development of comics and film in Kazakhstan?
The numbers of the people coming to this event speak for themselves. It is very popular. Here are the local people and people from all over Kazakhstan coming to this event and other countries too, I think. So it's very obvious that this event is extremely beneficial for Kazakhstan, for Astana, and then it spreads all over the continent.
Comic Cons are very popular all over the world. Every country would probably benefit by having these types of events. It is a part of our culture overall. Here all people come together as a family. It is a very big family event. People have their whole family with them. There are young teenagers with their friends from school. And, then there are people that have never been to this convention before in their life, they are trying to see what it is like and experience the fun.
By Danira Iskakova
