It’s that time of year again when fans of comics, movies, gaming, television, and more gather in San Diego for Comic-Con. The convention officially kicks off tomorrow, and there will be plenty of exciting things to see throughout the weekend. One event you won’t want to miss is the 10th Annual Her Universe Fashion Show. The event is being hosted by Her Universe founder Ashley Eckstein, who is best known for voicing Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Eckstein is teaming up with Michael James Scott, who is currently starring as the Genie in Broadway’sย Aladdin. The duo is hosting the fashion show, and they have a very special connection. They’ve been friends since high school, and they’re excited about collaborating once again at SDCC. ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with Scott and Eckstein, who spoke about working together.
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“Well, I got involved by the incredible Ashley Eckstein, who happens to be a very dear friend of mine of many years,” Scott shared. “We go back to high school days, so when this came up last year, she was like, ‘I know this may sound crazy … but I would love for you to be my co-host for the show. Would you do that?’ … So I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and then I came upon this insanely incredible, brilliant world of fandom and Her Universe, fashion fierceness, and it just blew my mind on so many levels. But by way of Ms. Eckstein, which is a very fabulous way to come into this”
“Oh my gosh. Well, yes, Michael James Scott is literally my ultimate hype friend and I am his ultimate hype friend,” Eckstein shared. “We are some of each other’s biggest fans, and I only pause there because I know our husbands and our families are also the biggest fans, but we just love each other so much and we support each other so much … I met Michael my freshman year of high school and we grew up together in many ways and shared the same dream. And so now to be sharing a stage together again all these years later, having made so many of our dreams come true, it really is a surreal moment. And we have each other’s backs. We support each other, we lift each other up. And so literally, he’s just the best co-host to share the stage with.”
“So we start by throwing our dreams out on the table of ‘What do we want to do? How do we want to do it?’” she continued. “And what I love is that we really challenge each other when the other person says, ‘I don’t know if that’s possible,’ or maybe ‘We don’t have time for that.’ The other person is like, ‘No, we’re going to do that. We’re going to go for it.’”
“And then also to help us this year, Michael is married to an Emmy award-winning director, Jeremy [Merrifield]. So Jeremy came on board this year as our director for the show. And so it’s been incredible. I’ve literally been working very closely with both of them to just build a show that is worthy of ten years. So we’ve been on the phone daily, constantly, and we’ve been rehearsing. And I have to say that Jeremy especially has pushed us to create the show of our dreams, and we’re doing that. And I can confidently say that we are raising the bar so much, we’re going to wildly exceed people’s expectations.”
You can watch our interviews with Scott and Eckstein at the top of the page. The Her Universe Fashion Show is presented by Mattel, and it takes place at San Diego Comic-Con on July 25th at 6 PM PT in the Harbor Ballroom at the Manchester Grand Hyatt. Stay tuned for more from our interviews with Scott and Eckstein.ย
