PMC 3: Ron Rogge

Ron Rogge was an utter delight. He is charismatic and so funny. He also remembers lots of stuff about Lightspeed. He might not know stuff before or know stuff after, but he is like a big fan too. He has an interesting story as to how he became Captain Mitchell, which I got from the 'Unsung Heroes' panel on Friday and the 'A Legacy of Power' on Sunday. He was also at the 18 and over 'After Dark' panel on Friday and Scott Page-Pagter 18 and over Audio panel on Sunday. He participated on a lot of the panels and was very welcoming. He came to hug Scott Page-Pagter in the 'Producing Power Rangers' panel as well.

Getting the role of Captain Mitchell

He is friends with Iris Hampton, casting director of Power Rangers back then and he was also in casting. He acted here and there but this ultimately was his first big role. She told him about the auditioned, he just got a few lines and thought the role would be small. The day of the audition (or second time, I don't remember well), he forgot about it and then remembered and hurried up. The role of Captain Mitchell was meant to be an older man in his 50's, he was in his 30's at the time. So he dyed his hair a bit grey. He auditioned and later got a callback and he thought he had to audition more but ultimately it was between two, him and a British guy in his 50's. Because the British guy had to go on a vacation he had previously had planned, the role went to Ron. 

When Ron went for makeup, they gave him sideburns and mustache with grey. He was wondering why he was getting so much attention if the role was for one episode or something. He then found out it was a major role, which surprised him. He didn't even know Pink Ranger was his daughter, which he later lamented (because she was hot). He is also responsible for hooking Alyson up with James Marsters (Spike of Buffy the Vampire Slayer)--which I like that info. 

"My Cast Sucks"

In the Over 18 'After Dark' panel on Friday, when the rest of the cast there (Walter Jones, Jason Narvy, Paul Schrier, Catherine Sutherland, Daniel Southworth, Tony Oliver and Jason Faunt) talking about raunchy stories, gossip, rumors and whatnot, he would just say, "My cast sucks." That was just a crowd pleaser. Since I had already gotten to know him at the "Unsung Heroes" panel, I was not surprised by his behavior. But other fans that were at the Over 18 and didn't see him before were surprised and impressed. 

Halloween Caves

He owns a Haunted House in California and one of the park uses caves from Wild Force. The staff were going to get rid of the Org's headquarters and throw it away and Ron asked for them. They said sure and ultimately they are at his haunted house park. He said if he knew fans would like it, he would have scheduled a field trip. Everyone liked this.

Ms. Fairweather

When asked where his character would be now at the 'Unsung Heroes,' he said "send Joel on a mission and have Ms. Faitweather to himself." At the 'After Dark' panel, he said a raunchier version of that. Everyone cheered. When they played her voice in the Audio panel on Sunday, he said it was her and there were many cheers.

Communication with Lightspeed Cast

He says he still in communication with a lot of them. He was at the recent wedding of Sasha Williams (Kelsey). Michael Chaturantabut (Chad) is working hard, hasn't seen him in a while. He still in communication with Alison Macinnis (Dana), Sean CW Johnson (Carter), Monica Louwerens (Fairweather) and Keith Robinson (Joel). He hasn't spoken to Rhett Fisher in a while, much like a father and son he alluded to. A fan wanted to send a message to Sean to come to a PMC so he recorded a message for him on his phone.