Calgary Expo 2026: Arcane cast talks fatherhood, fans, and more
By Hannah Caparino, May 21 2026—
The BMO Centre received visitors from Piltover and the Undercity as stars from Netflix’s Arcane series attended Calgary Expo 2026. Attending the event were voice actors Jason Spisak, JB Blanc and Mick Wingert. The voice actors spoke with the Gauntlet about Arcane’s success, fan interactions, fatherhood and more.
Each actor had been inducted into the League of Legends fandom through their respective roles in the show. Spisak, known for playing Silco, and Wingert who plays Heimerdinger each talk about how they were welcomed into the community.
“It’s been lovely to be part of the fandom. It’s just a really big family of people who are so grateful that you’re part of a thing that they love.” said Spisak,
“I play Heimerdinger in the show, but the actor who plays him in the game is Dennis Cullens Johnson,” said Wingert, “And I found that there’s just love across the board for both of us as stewards of this character and I felt like I’ve been adopted by the fandom, into the universe, and it’s been wonderful.”
For Blanc, he is a returning voice in the League of Legends franchise. After portraying Brom in the video games, his voice talent was used to voice the paternal figure, Vander. The element that made Blanc the perfect choice to play both characters was his big and strong voice being underscored with a deep warmth both characters carried. When interacting with each of the fans, he emphasized the love and support received from longtime League of Legends fans and fans of the show alike.
“It’s been an enormous success. It’s enormous emotional contact with the fans, and fantastic to be part of the franchise. It’s really good, so I found that the fandom absolutely adores these characters.” said Blanc.
The emotional resonance of the show not only impacted viewers, but impacted the lives of the voice actors. What Arcane offered to the actors was the ability to look introspectively about how they themselves are fathers and mentors, similarly to how their characters are parental or mentor-like to younger characters.
“The theme of fatherhood, I think that strikes both our characters [Vander and Silco] so hard. I’m a single dad, he’s [Spisak] been a single dad. It really touches the soul, and we both have daughters.” explained Blanc, “They wrote those relationships so sensitively […] But for me, it’s that feeling of fatherhood and wanting the best for your kids, and wanting to arm them for the world.”
Spisak added onto Blanc’s sentiment, as he explored how fans felt the depth of his familial relationship to Jinx through the script and their performance.
“Silco being an adopted father to Jinx,” said Spisak, “And that meaning something to so many people who have found the idea of found family in their lives to mean something to them […] it’s sort of a piece of your life getting represented on screen faithfully and beautifully, and honoured in such a lovely way.”
Compared to the other two Wingert’s character, Heimerdinger is a teacher. The similarities between the teaching relationship and the parental relationship is how teachers and students learn from each other, and grow. This was most clearly demonstrated in Wingert’s comment about Heimerdinger’s relationship with Echo in the second season.
“I think for me, one of the things that’s resonating these days is the concept of not leaving people behind. […] It’s not enough to give people what they need to survive, you need to give them what they need to live. And that’s one of those messages that for me as a person, is really resonating in my life right now as we find ourselves in the state that we are.” said Wingert.
With the growing prominence of animated series and movies, the power of voice acting knows no bounds. Where imagination and artistry drives these projects that are beloved by many.
Through voice acting each uses their voice as a vessel for the script. Each actor is tasked with needing to use their own imagination to create a believable character from the ground up. Voice acting allows them to embody the character in all of their elements and deliver a performance that is iconic.
“You have no costumes, no props, no sets. It’s you in a little black box in Los Angeles.” said Blanc.
Wingert added,
“I went to Los Angeles to specifically be a voice actor. […] It’s just that because you have nothing to lean on, you get to create all the imagery in your imagination and that is incredibly freeing.” said Wingert, “All those things have to live upstairs in the head or they won’t translate through the microphone at all.”
Spisak spoke in a similar vein to Blanc and Wingert.
“It is quite liberating I find, being someone who’s being asked to create characters with solely my voice. It’s a gift because there’s no limit to what I can create.” said Spisak.
Calgary Expo is not only an opportunity for fans to meet their favourite stars but it allows for voice actors to meet them and share their stories.
“I love the fans here in Calgary, they are rabid for their fandoms and I’ve had some of the best people come up and meet me at my table. It’s been a joy.” stated Spisak.
“I’ve had an amazing time. The fans here are incredible, and it’s just really well set up, really well run. We feel very well looked after.” said Blanc.
Wingert complemented the others.
“There’s something so genuine, down to earth and vulnerable about them [the fans] when they come up to our table.” said Wingert, “It touches all of us, that we just have this connection, and it’s so grounded and lovely. There’s nothing like Canada.”
For more information on Calgary Expo, click here.