For an actress with 76 film and television credits to her name, questions posed to Lori Petty during her question-and-answer session at Spa-Con 6.0 were varied.
As Petty took the stage, she noted a contingent of fans dressed in costumes that referenced the 1992 film "A League of Their Own," in which she played Kit Keller.
"I think there's now three generations of 'League of Their Own' kids, like dressed up as Kit and Dottie, and it's just awesome," she said. "Just to know, I tell this to people a lot, what kind of job do you have where you walk down the street and someone's just (smiling at you)? Well, that's a nice job to have to make people smile. I did that."
Lori Petty, center, answers a question posed by Josh Grisham, left, of Nerd Informants, while Tim Church, also of Nerd Informants, looks on during a question and answer session for Petty at Spa-Con 6.0. - Photo by James Leigh of The Sentinel-RecordEarly in her career, Petty had a strong run of hit films.
"I had a really fun, you know, run of movies, just like back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back," she said. "And I kind of thought like, 'Oh, wow, so this is my life now. This is awesome.' ... You don't always just get great movies back-to-back-to-back, so I was really lucky."
While filming "A League of Their Own," Tom Hanks, who plays the team's manager, gave her some advice.
"He said, 'I'm just trying to tell you it's not always like this,'" she recalled. "He goes, 'You're gonna think back to this and go, 'Wow. Remember when we did that? Because you know, it's not always magic.' And, you know, that was magic, and so it was really, really, really cool."
Petty recalled being frustrated when she heard "Tank Girl" had been rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America.
"Here's the thing: they rated that that movie R for no reason other than it was a fabulous woman and being fabulous and running s - - - ," she said. "You know? Because there was no nudity in that movie. There's no violence besides like cartoon blowing up stuff. It's not gory."
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She said those involved in the film expected it to be rated PG-13, so teens could watch it.
"So people bought tickets to 'Tommy Boy' and went to 'Tank Girl,'" she said with a laugh. "'Tommy Boy' is a smash hit. ... The teenagers couldn't go to 'Tank Girl.'"
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When asked if she was related to the late Tom Petty, the actress laughed and said no, but she recounted a story about how the late rocker had paid for her limousine service once. Her accountant called her asking about the fact that he had not gotten any bills from the limo service.
"So he calls the limousine company, and they said, 'Oh, her dad paid,' and he goes, 'No, he didn't,'" she said. "They're like, 'Yeah, Tom Petty,' and my accountant's like, 'No, that's not her dad.' So my dumb accountant sent Tom Petty like $500."
Petty recalled that when they were filming "Point Break" she got to kiss both Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves the same day. When asked who was the better kisser, she replied, "It's like comparing, you know, Cristal champagne and a ride on a rocket ship."
Petty wrapped up the session with some advice.
"Don't give up," she said. "You know what? The only way you lose is if you don't try and if you quit. Don't quit, don't quit. Don't. Just don't give up. Wake up in the morning. You know your name, you're not in the hospital, you're doing good. And just say, 'Thank God,' and keep stepping."