NYCC Interview: Chloe Dykstra

By Teresa Jusino

If you go to comic conventions, you get used to seeing a lot of strange things:  strange costumes, weird drawings, odd conversations about aliens or superpowers or the minutiae of cult television shows.  You get so used to seeing the strange that the strange becomes normal.  Half-naked anime chicks?  Been there, done that.  Zombies?  Yeah, about 500 of them.  So, it was interesting that the thing that caught my attention my first day at New York Comic Con was this slight, pretty girl in her early twenties in normal, albeit trendy clothing, with a sandwich board-like sign around her neck.  The front read: My dad invented the light saber.  As she walked by, I saw that the back read: No, really.  I’m serious.  My inner New York Cynic said Yeah, right, and I moved on.  But I kept seeing her everywhere, and the more I saw her the more curious I became about the stupid sign!

Fate allowed us to be standing in the same line at the Starbucks in the Jacob Javitz Center, and as she was getting her latte and being photographed by drooling fanboys, I sipped my caramel macchiato and was finally able to ask, What’s the deal with the sign?

The 20-year-old’s name is Chloe Dykstra, and she’s the daughter of John Dykstra, who did the special effects for Star Wars, and Cass McCune, whose done several production jobs in Hollywood including being a production assistant on the original Battlestar Galactica. Pretty child of Hollywood parents, who is building an acting and modeling career in her own right? It would be easy to hate her under normal circumstances, but having geeky parents does have its privileges.  They’ve raised a daughter who’s a sweetheart – kind to hot, Hollywood types (particularly Neil Patrick Harris) and geeky fanboys alike.  And her dad did, indeed, invent the light saber.

TERESA JUSINO:  Now, both your parents are “in the business”, but they’re behind the scenes.  What was it like growing up with Hollywood parents who weren’t really “Hollywood parents?”  What about your childhood was surprisingly crazy?  What about it was surprisingly normal?  Any great stories you’d like to share?

CHLOE DYKSTRA: Since both of my parents are very creative people, they’re both pretty fascinating.  While they’ve both been through a lot, they have the mentality of 25 year olds, so it was kind of like living with roommates.  My mom’s first job before she got into TV was a tour manager, so instead of Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls, I grew up listening to Beck and Leonard Cohen.  The way my father and I bonded was through video games (Our favorite is Ocarina of Time), kind of an offshoot of what he does.  It was also pretty awesome being eleven and navigating my way through all these premieres and the Oscars.  I was a bit of an outcast in high school, so it was insane to get to meet all my favorite movie stars.  My dad even thanked me once while receiving an Oscar.  Plus, because of my father, I got to work on some of his movies.  Being directed by Sam Raimi on Spiderman II was totally and completely awesome.  Watch for the kid in the train sequence who had the inspired line, “Me too.”  I even had my own stunt double.  WTF, right?

TJ:  Now, you were attending New York Comic Con….and having visited your website and blogs, I see that you have a definite fascination with Neil Patrick Harris…what else do you geek out about?

CD: Haha, ahh, you’ve noticed my little infatuation with NPH.  God, what a hottie.  Have you seen him shirtless in How I Met Your Mother?  Flawless.

Mr. Harris aside, I’m a huge internet nerd and could easily recognize every single internet meme you throw at me.  I read a lot of webcomics like Penny Arcade and XKCD.  I’m a member of the Something Awful forums.  I had a brief stint with WoW, but got tired of trying to level up.  I’m also a huge fan of Joss Whedon’s Firefly series (and Dr. Horrible of course).  Oh, and I love the paranormal; I’ve got all the Ghost Hunters series on DVD.

TJ:  Do you go to conventions a lot?  It seems that fanboys were drooling all over you, not only because you’re a very attractive girl, but because of your proximity to the Star Wars franchise!  What does that feel like?  Is that something you’re actively cultivating, or is it a “necessary evil” for you?  Is it fun?

CD: Haha, thanks.  I’m pretty sure it’s in the nature of fanboys to drool continuously anyway.  To be honest, the New York Comic Con was my very first geek convention, but for sure it won’t be my last.  The sign was actually a last minute idea thought up by my friend Tara and I.  We thought it would be hilarious, so we ran out to the nearest craft store and put it together.  I didn’t realize it would attract so much attention.  One guy actually asked me if light sabers really existed.  Like, in real life.  But, really, I don’t really identify myself as “the daughter of visual effects wizard John Dykstra”…unless it’s going to get me some sort of discount.

TJ:  What do you do when you’re not geeking out?

CD: Funny enough, I don’t think there’s a time when I’m not geeking out.  Most nights, you can find me at home curled up on the couch with my dog, Diego, and my laptop.  Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you can hear me belting out showtunes.  And I adore pranking people, sometimes en masse with the Los Angeles urban pranking group GuerilLA.  I think the only non-geeky thing about me is my love of writing and directing short films, but I think that could be considered pretty geeky too.

TJ:  I see that you’re an actress.  What kind of roles do you dream of playing?  What current TV show would you love to be on, or what creative team/actors would you love to work with?

CD: Ooh, don’t get me started.  I would kill to work on a great webisode like The Guild.  One of my current dream roles would be a character on Mad Men, I’ve always had a thing for fifties-era roles.  For film, I absolutely adore the Judd Apatow crew (Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, etc).  I actually got close to getting the lead girl role in Superbad but I guess Emma Stone has bigger boobs than me or something.  And of course, I’d probably give up my Subaru to work with Joss Whedon.

TJ:  If you could have any superpower, what would it be?  And if you could get with any superhero, whose tights would you jump into?

CD: I’m not sure.  I’d probably say flying, but of course that’s pretty cliché.  If not flying, definitely teleportation.  The idea of being able to go anywhere in the world with a snap of the fingers is probably the most delicious concept I can think of.

Oh, and can we do supervillains?  Because I’d love to spend laundry day with Dr. Horrible, if you know what I mean.  He could experiment with my Wonderflonium.   I’d let him shoot me with his freeze ray any day.

Just to clarify, I am saying I would have sex with him.

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TERESA JUSINO was born on the same day that Skylab fell. Coincidence? She doesn’t think so.  As a writer, her work has appeared in Elmont Life newspaper, and on the sadly defunct website, CentralBooking.com. She has recently become a comic reviewer for PopMatters.com, and is currently at work on several fiction projects, including a collection of short stories and a comic. As a geek, Teresa loves Star Trek, Lost, comics, and anything Joss Whedon ever touched. She has a fangirl *squee-ing* crush on Brian K. Vaughan, which beat up her Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man crush in a fight proving once again that writing skill trumps gadget skill even when that gadget skill is attached to bulging biceps.  Teresa is also an aspiring fangbanger.  Visit her in The Red Room.

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