My Best Day Ever with Taron Egerton at ACE Comic Con Midwest

When there are 86,400 seconds in one day, 30-40 seconds doesn't seem very significant. But that didn't matter when I met Taron Egerton at ACE Comic Con Midwest on October 13, 2019.

If you didn't already know, Taron Egerton is my favorite actor. If you don't know who he is, you should and you will (whether you keep reading my blog post or you hear his name come Oscar and awards season). Egerton is a British actor best known for portraying the characters of Eggsy Unwin in the Kingsman movie franchise and Elton John in Rocketman, which was released earlier this year.



I first watched him in Kingsman: The Secret Service in 2015 and was instantly a fan. It took me a while ― I think nearly a year! ― for him to become my favorite, though. But literally the second I heard him in the Sing trailer in 2016, I was sold. I was amazed that the same guy who played street kid turned super spy Eggsy Unwin sang these soulful songs as Johnny in Sing. I basically fell in love with his voice and closely followed his career from then on.

So when I saw a Facebook ad on July 29 for ACE Comic Con Midwest saying Taron Egerton would be there in October, I was so excited and knew I had to go meet him. It's funny because I remember at the time I recently mentioned wishing that someone I wanted to meet would come to a comic con in the Chicago area, and it was going to happen!

Even though it was months away, I was stoked it would be in October, because my birthday is October 8. So I immediately knew that's what I wanted for my birthday: to meet and see Taron Egerton.

After missing out on all the initial (Sunday) VIPs and autographs because they sold out, my brother bought me a photo op with Taron while my sister bought me the required general admission to get into the actual convention.

Artists, costumes, and excitement at ACE

I was very excited not only to meet my favorite actor but to attend my first comic con. Also, I'd seen lots of other Taron fans' photos with him at the convention the day before, and it hyped me up for mine. At the same time, though, I was a bit nervous and anxious. After all, I am a shy, socially anxious introvert who was going to meet her favorite actor. But I really was more excited than anything heading into the convention hall, especially after seeing how happy everyone else had been from meeting him that weekend.

My sister and I got to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center around noon, about two hours before my photo op line opened, so we had time to walk around and check out everything the con had to offer. There were so many awesome artists there! We wish we had time to really take a look at all of the fantastic pieces artists were selling, but there were simply too many.

I knew there was one artist in particular I needed to see because she had Taron Egerton stuff. (Shoutout to the Taron fans on Twitter for sharing it because I might have missed it otherwise.) After quick browses at a few tables, I found Erin Lefler's table (aka @butternut_gouache on Instagram, Twitter, and Etsy) and saw her wonderful artwork of Taron as Eggsy, Johnny from Sing, and Elton John.

I spent a few minutes browsing through all of her prints and finally decided on what to get. There was no way I was leaving this comic con without some sort of Taron art. I bought a pin of Eggsy in the famous orange velvet tuxedo jacket (my favorite Eggsy outfit!) and a print that had Eggsy in the same jacket as well as Johnny from Sing.


Following that, we walked around a bit more and then found out I could already line up for my photo op. So I stood in line for a little while. I honestly don't know how long, but it really didn't feel like a long, long time (yes, I am totally trying to make a "Rocket Man" reference). There were a lot of people in line for Taron's photo op, but it allowed us to see a ton of cool cosplay of Taron's roles. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos because it would have been at a terrible angle.

One woman was wearing a fabulous version of the orange devil jumpsuit Elton wears at the beginning of Rocketman. She made it strapless and had smaller wings (which is totally understandable) so it was more like a women's jumpsuit with flared legs. I also saw someone cosplaying the big peacock Elton outfit from the "Pinball Wizard" scene and when he says "People don't pay to see Reginald Dwight. They pay to see Elton John!" but as a dress. It was super sparkly and full of feathers and definitely did it justice.

Many people created "Tiny Dancer" jacket replicas, which is so fun because it's actually something you could reasonably wear outside of cosplaying. I saw a few Eggsys, either the plaid training jumpsuit Eggsy wears when he has to pick up JB because he won't move or the famous orange velvet jacket. Last, but not least, this isn't actually a Taron character cosplay, but it's totally still worth mentioning. One guy cosplayed as a Ghostbuster and his proton pack was actually a speaker, and he played the Rocketman soundtrack in the photo op line! It was awesome!

Photo op panic!

While I was in line with my sister, we both wondered when I was going to start to really get nervous and panic, because we knew it was bound to happen. It wasn't until maybe five minutes before I got to the front of the line that I began to panic, which is much later than I thought.

I was at the front of one line/row for my photo op group, and once I saw how close I was to actually moving into the big line where people were putting their stuff away to prepare for their photo ops, that's when I felt the panic. My heart started racing out of nowhere. Literally. One second I was totally fine, and the next I turned to my sister and said "Okay. Now I'm starting to panic."


But that didn't last very long, because before I knew it, it was turn for my photo op! I wrote a card for Taron earlier that day, knowing that I likely wouldn't have the time to tell him everything I wanted to, and it's a good thing I did. I was worried I'd forget to give him the card, so I made a mental note to give it to him before doing anything else in the photo op.

So when it was my turn, I walked up to him, said hello, and told him I got him a card. He said, "Thank you! I'll have to read that later." and gave it to someone to hold for him. That made me smile a bit because I never expected him to read it right then and there. Then I moved closer to him to prepare for the actual photo when my sister walked across the room in front of Taron after saying"She didn't want me in the picture, but I just wanted to say hi." So Taron said a quick hello to my sister before she left the room (possibly confused but showing no indication of thinking it was weird or I was selfish for not wanting her in the picture 😄).

Then we posed for my photo op ― everything was happening so fast I didn't even have time to ask him if we could hug for my photo, but it's totally fine and I'm definitely pleased with my photo ― and with a flash (literally), it was over. Taron took his arm from around me and then thanked me and called me darling and I died right there. Just kidding. Obviously. But he definitely said "Thank you, darling" after our picture and I somehow did not swoon so hard I fainted.


And that's what happened when I met Taron. When I left the photo op room and reunited with my sister, I mentioned how everything happened so fast I didn't have time to panic. Then we walked over to the table full of printers to go find my picture. My sister found my picture, and that's the first time I saw it. Obviously I didn't know what Taron was doing in the picture since I was looking at the camera and not him, and I just couldn't help but smile when I saw it.

Taron's one of those people I can't help but smile at when I see them smile, so of course him smiling in a picture with me would make me smile. I already planned on buying another copy because I knew I'd want another, so I bought another copy as well as a sleeve to keep my precious photos safe in. I tried getting my digital download right after that, but it hadn't uploaded yet. So I just waited until everything was over to try the digital download again.

Talking thighs and tubs

Taron's panel was the final event of the entire convention, but it was scheduled for 4:30, which gave us about two hours until it was to begin. However, we knew there was no way it was going to start on time because there were too many people left in Taron's photo op line for that. Plus, Chris Hemsworth's 3:00 panel didn't start on time, pushing everything back.

We took mental notes of a few artists' tables we knew we wanted to return to and buy gifts. So we bought some awesome art and walked around until I noticed people were lined up for Taron's panel. I wanted to get as good a seat as possible, so I wanted to line up as soon as possible.

I'm not sure what time it was when we got in line for Taron's panel, but once again it didn't feel like we were waiting too long. Once that line starting moving and people were allowed to sit in front of the main stage, people were rushing to get the best seats. We didn't get to sit in the front section, but we still had pretty good seats as we were at the front of the back half.



A few minutes later Taron came out, and it was so loud and amazing to be among so many other people who love him and were cheering for him. I won't discuss the panel in detail and everything he talked about since it is on YouTube, but it was so cool to witness in person. I'd seen his previous ACE panels on YouTube, but there's always something special about witnessing things live and in person.

As always, he made me laugh and smile, whether it was him totally messing with us and hitting the microphone on his thighs (#thickthighssavelives #IYKYK 😂 ― I can't believe the panel legitimately began with him talking about his thighs), him sing-thinking ("Uhhhhhhhhhh"), or realizing how it sounded when he told the entire audience to go home and dunk their heads into a tub full of water, the panel demonstrated why I am a fan of him not only as an actor but as a person.


Laughing truly is one of my favorite things, so it's always a pleasure when someone can make me laugh as easily and as often as Taron does. He's also not afraid to embarrass or poke fun at himself, which I find admirable. Then there's just his demeanor that comes across as very casual and down-to-earth. He's mentioned multiple times how he knows how fortunate he is to be an actor and that it can go away like that. In the panel, he discussed his recurring dream that his entire acting career was just a dream, so Taron really tries to cherish his job. I may not be explaining this too well, simply because I can't seem to find the words, but Taron simply never seems to remind us that he's just a talented guy who grew up in rural Wales and got lucky.

A picture's worth  ̶a̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶u̶s̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶d̶s̶  infinite smiles

If you told me four or five years ago when I first watched Kingsman that the guy playing Eggsy would become my favorite actor, then I would meet him and that day would be the best day ever even though I wasn't even personally with him for a minute, I probably wouldn't have believed you ― especially because I met one of my all-time favorite gymnasts, Kyla Ross, in 2016, and what could beat that? Something completely unrelated to gymnastics?!

But when I look back on all these very special memories of me meeting people I love, admire, and adore ― whether it was Shawn Johnson in 2014, Kyla in 2016, or Broadway royalty in 2018 ― meeting Taron is incomparable. No other moment has made me smile so easily and instantly just by thinking about it or looking at a picture of it.

And while it's totally easy for me to smile just by looking at his handsome face, it's more than that. I never expected him and his work to have such an impact on or be so important to me.

The summer of 2017 was one of the most difficult periods of my life and was one of the only times where I truly felt alone. But I randomly decided to try to watch all the TV shows and movies he'd been in up until that point, and that really helped me not feel so alone even if I was watching by myself.

So when I go to work and see my computer wallpaper or lock screen, when I open my laptop and see the wallpaper or lock screen, when I use my phone and see the lock screen or wallpaper, when I go into my room and look at my desk ― yes, my picture with Taron is literally everywhere! I have no shame! ― I smile and remember the best day ever.

And it's good that I put it literally everywhere because then it will be easy to access when I'm having a bad day and need some cheering up. After all, shouldn't the best day ever make you happier just by thinking about it?
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