Hercules star swoops into Perth
t was more than 15 years ago that actor Kevin Sorbo threw in his sword after portraying one of the most famous Hercules incarnations of all time.
But the legacy of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys lives on, with hordes ofWA fans expected to flock to the Oz Comic-Con pop culture expo at thePerth Convention and Exhibition Centre this weekend to get a glimpse of the 90s heart-throb.
Despite being one of the biggest names to spearhead Oz Comic-Con’s line-up, which includes his Hercules co-starMichael Hurst ,Billie Piper , Game of Thrones hunkFinn Jones and The Walking Dead'sSonequa Martin-Green , Sorbo wasn’t sure what kind of welcome he’d get during his first visit to Perth.
“I don’t know what its going to be like in Australia because it’s been a while since I’ve been back,” Sorbo, who arrives inPerth today accompanied by his 13-year-old sonBraedon Cooper , said by phone from Los Angeles yesterday en route to the airport.
“It’ll be curious to see because a lot of my movies probably don’t make it down there, so a lot of people aren’t aware that I’ve shot all these different movies.”
Nonetheless, the 56-year-old will have a busy few days ahead, including plans to visitPerth Zoo on Monday.
“We get a special behind the scenes tour so they’ve got a few things set up for us while we’re there,” he says.
While Hercules: The Legendary Journeys continues to captivate audiences with reruns around the world, Sorbo lamented that his profile wasn’t quite big enough to land him a cameo inDwayne Johnson ’s 2014 action fantasy flick The Legend of Hercules.
“I was a little bummed out. We approached the studio when they were doing Hercules with Dwayne Johnson last year and I said ‘Guys, age me up, make me Zeus or put a cameo in there’. But they just said ‘No not interested’,” he said.
But Sorbo takes heart in knowing his portrayal of the Greek god has gone down as one of the most memorable, at least according to his fans.
“The fans really rallied around me when there was a poll for ‘Who’s your favourite Hercules’,” he laughs. “They went as far back asSteve Reeves andArnold Schwarzenegger , and I was 87 per cent of the votes, so I thought that was pretty cool.”
For more information on Oz Comic-Con go to www.ozcomiccon.com.
