FanX Flashback: Patrick Renna panel highlights (FanX19)

With FanX 2022 quickly approaching - one month from today, in fact! - I thought this would be an appropriate time to dust off some of the audio I recorded from previous conventions. One of my favorite celebrity guests from the past few years was Patrick Renna, best known for his iconic role of Ham Porter in the classic sports movie "The Sandlot."

I had the chance to chat with Patrick, one-on-one, at his booth. He was friendly, kind and very funny - as one might come to expect from his social media posts (he's a must-follow on Instagram). I even got him to sign a baseball for me. The ball is proudly displayed in a glass case in my office to this day.

Later in the convention, a friend, my then-fiancée and I got a chance to get a photo op with Patrick.

I also sat in on Patrick's spotlight panel, where he discussed his career and answered questions from fans. The following transcription gives a small taste of what he talked about for the better part of an hour.

Question: If “The Sandlot” was filmed in the summertime, why weren’t the actors dripping in sweat every second of the movie?

Renna: I mean, I think we are. We’re dirty and, you know, we were running around, so… Normally, when you film a movie and you’re running around, they spray you with water – pretend sweat – but we had none of that in this movie. We were all just actually sweating – we don’t need it. No, no… Except – fun fact – I forget the city that we filmed the pool scene in. Was it Ogden? [Audience acknowledges] Ok, I was right. Ogden. Thank you. That was in the summer. It was the only day that wasn’t 100 degrees – it was like 50 degrees. I don’t know what happened, but you can see Squints shivering in the pool, and it was not from nerves – it was from just actually being frozen.

Question: Did you know how to play ball before this role?

Renna: I knew how to play baseball. I actually played Second Base a lot, but I had never really experienced [playing] catcher, which is not easy on the knees. I had grown up playing baseball, you know, being a good American – America’s pastime… Then, we also had a little training camp for about three weeks. We trained in L.A. – I mean, “training”… I’m making it sound like we pumped iron or something. We just played baseball on a baseball field, had fun, and then when we got out here, we filmed the first scene and then had another two-week break, where we just had a coach and we just played baseball and got to know each other, which I think was smart because, even more than baseball was [that] we really became best friends, just from hanging out for two months straight.

Question: Did they film the movie in chronological order?

Renna: They didn’t film it in chronological order. For some reason, they filmed one scene - the “Pickle” scene – when we were at school, just being at school. So that was the first scene they filmed, and then we took some time off and just got to know each other, but then they would jump around, film… They filmed in “blocks,” so … we would be at the Sandlot for a month and film all the shots at the Sandlot, then we were probably in Ogden for a week and filmed all the shots in Ogden. Where was Vincent Drug Store? Midvale. So then we were there and there was a couple different things there. I was 13, so I didn’t know the city names. I just remember what it looked like. I wasn’t driving, that’s for sure. Maybe I was, but not legally.

Question: After “The Sandlot,” you turned into “the kid in the sports movies.” Was that something you were looking for?

Renna: You can say it – the chubby kid in the sports movies. [Audience laughs] I don’t know that I… I am what is known as a “character actor,” so my job as an actor has always been to play different characters. While I look like Leonardo DiCaprio, I just don’t happen to get all the roles that he does. I don’t think that it’s ever been anything but what I do. I find it to be quite rewarding because you can always play someone new. I haven’t really ever played another role like Ham [Porter from “The Sandlot”]. That was a very specific role, where I was the protector of the Sandlot and, while I was the loudmouth, there was still something, I think, endearing about the character. There’s always been a different role. In “Son in Law,” it was different. In “The Big Green,” it was different. I find it to be kind of a preferable way to do it.

*****

If you've been on the fence about heading to FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention this September, it's not too late. Tickets are available and the FanX team is boasting that this event will have more celebrity guests than ever before.

Do you have a favorite Patrick Renna movie? Is there anyone you're looking forward to seeing next month? Let us know in the comments section below, on Twitter (here and here) or on Facebook.

Hope to see you at FanX 22!