Celebrity jerks?
- Thread starter Frosteon
- Start date
KrangPrime
Master Member
Mark Hamil was something like $100, but a few minutes talking comics was worth it.
Riceball
Master Member
Creation "cons" are really nothing more than a chance to get an autograph and/or photo with your favorite celebrity, there's really little more to them than that. Sure, they'll have their celebs go up on stage to talk, but that's only for a little while and right after they're done speaking they're signing or doing their photo ops, in between guests speaking there's nothing, no other panels to speak of, and often a really poor excuse for a dealers room that only sells Creation stuff like t-shirts, and (of course) photos to get autographed. One of the last ones I attended the Stargate group I was a part of had a fan table set up with all sorts of props and costumes to look at and we were a huge hit that everybody flocked to in between guest appearances.
Maybe all the celebs have been nice lately!
But yeah, they're stupid expensive. Megacon used to be $35 for the whole weekend. Now it's $110. That's only $15 less than DragonCon, and Dragon is way bigger and better and a day longer!
rebelyell
Active Member
We don't even go to Megacon anymore. It's gotten far too expensive, kids are no longer free, the crowds are unbearable, autograph prices have gotten insane, and the guest list is too filled with cosplayers that we could care less about. It's a shame because we use to make it an annual event but we just don't care anymore.
Pikezer1337
Active Member
Not a jerk but my girlfriend and I met Gal Gadot last year and we were dressed up as Batman and Wonder Woman. I've done plenty of photo ops so I was expected the hi, take a photo, bye kind of thing. But the line was taking forever and I wasn't sure why. Turns out she was taking about 2 minutes with each person. She talked to my girlfriend and I for a few minutes and asked about our costumes and everything. Definitely nicest celebrity I've met.
JediMichael
Master Member
I thought Megacon was handled much bettre this year. Went on Sunday. There seemed much more room that other years. The worst was 2014. That year was just insane and there was WAY too many people to enjoy it very much. I've never had the money to really go and meet any of the celebrities. Although I did meet Ben Burt at Celebration V (I think it was), he was nice.
firesprite
Master Member
I simultaneously love and cringe at this story. I love that she was so sweet and into meeting the fans, but as someone who has worked as a handler for celebrities, I cringe because I'm well aware that they have schedules to adhere to that were likely decimated by the time she took at photo ops.
Pikezer1337
Active Member
Oh I can totally understand that. This was her first and only convention so her people may not have been aware of what the norm is. Either way you'll get people upset because it was a really quick photo op or they'll be upset because the line took forever. Was certainly worth it to me. Here is a photo of us.
firesprite
Master Member
You guys look amazing! I really am glad that she was amazing and that you had such a great experience.
jarroth
Sr Member
looked through old pictures again this weekend and had a huge grin remembering this one.
summer of 2000 i worked as camp counselor in the usa. as weekend transport i bought an old honda cb750 bike. was crappy but ran and was cheap. camp was over and i decided to roadtrip back towards NY NY on the bike. ran perfectly till i got to NY. clutch failed and i was pushing the bike trough the city. a guy said that there was a bikeshop two streets ahead. went there and got to Indian Larry's place. never heard of him till that point. asked if they could fix it or f i could use their workshop to do it myself. i was constantly made a fool of for buying japanese crap. got asked how i ended up in the USA told them all what i did for job for few months in row. Larry send of one of his workers to get replacement parts and he himself fixed the bike. he never charged me a dime for anything. "you payed well enough by looking after them special needs kids" was his excuse. he wouldnt even take ten dollar compensation.
few years later i seen him again at the discovey channel "biker build off"
last christmass i went to London with my daughter to do some shopping and little sightseeing. as present i wanted to buy her a new guitar. went into a music shop where she looked at a few guitars. she picked up a statocaster and asked salesman if she could play it a bit. she started playing "Sultans of swing"
was looking at her and listening to her playing when a man came standing next to me saying: "nice tune, sounds familiar" i looked at him and looked Mark Knopfler straight into his face. chatted a bit and he just smiled at my daughter still playing the strat. Mark said to me "buy that strat, she can make it sing" and he turned around and off he went. couldnt do anything else than blowing my budget on the guitar. worth every penny.
summer of 2000 i worked as camp counselor in the usa. as weekend transport i bought an old honda cb750 bike. was crappy but ran and was cheap. camp was over and i decided to roadtrip back towards NY NY on the bike. ran perfectly till i got to NY. clutch failed and i was pushing the bike trough the city. a guy said that there was a bikeshop two streets ahead. went there and got to Indian Larry's place. never heard of him till that point. asked if they could fix it or f i could use their workshop to do it myself. i was constantly made a fool of for buying japanese crap. got asked how i ended up in the USA told them all what i did for job for few months in row. Larry send of one of his workers to get replacement parts and he himself fixed the bike. he never charged me a dime for anything. "you payed well enough by looking after them special needs kids" was his excuse. he wouldnt even take ten dollar compensation.
few years later i seen him again at the discovey channel "biker build off"
last christmass i went to London with my daughter to do some shopping and little sightseeing. as present i wanted to buy her a new guitar. went into a music shop where she looked at a few guitars. she picked up a statocaster and asked salesman if she could play it a bit. she started playing "Sultans of swing"
was looking at her and listening to her playing when a man came standing next to me saying: "nice tune, sounds familiar" i looked at him and looked Mark Knopfler straight into his face. chatted a bit and he just smiled at my daughter still playing the strat. Mark said to me "buy that strat, she can make it sing" and he turned around and off he went. couldnt do anything else than blowing my budget on the guitar. worth every penny.
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KrangPrime
Master Member
one of the better run cons was a one and done near the cherry hill area sometime around 2004 or so. it had the entire cast of next gen minus stewart and wheaton. plus one or two ds9 people.
I wish I had the guts to meet terry farrel. i'd marry her in an instant ;o)
But it was one of the nicer, more relaxed smaller cons i've ever been too, with an amazing lineup. and it was un crowded enough, that if you had something to talk about, you could talk to the guests for a while without being bothered by anyone. i remember marina sirtis being excited about some tv show and going up and over to talk to brent about it. I remember spiner had a reputation of being a bit of a jerk, but was pleasantly surprised to find he was rather nice. the guests also walked the dealer rooms without being bothered by people, and i remember frakes coming out of his talk and asking his yes men if he was any good on stage
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startrek
New Member
Steadicam Op
New Member
In my time, I've known some real jerks, some real cool folks, and some real cool folks who once in a while were real jerks.
I learned to watch for patterns. One talent turns into a Grade A, World Class Lowlife on the set, because it's how he puts on his character. On the way out, he'll stand there holding the door open until someone else finally takes over. He once left some pretty obnoxious appliances and makeup on for over an hour after work because someone's kid was coming into town for joint custody and always got there too late to visit the set, and told me he'd pay my normal rate to shoot the meeting and visit (of course, I hung around and shot it on video, no charge).
Then there's the one who is only nice when performing. Just Craft Service, just a gaffer, just a kid? Get the hell out of the way. Someone IMPORTANT'S kid? Character stays on after the stick goes up, and he's everybody's friend. He's only always-nice to people who make him look good. But he knew that one particular radio handset from Props wasn't right for the time, so he spent an hour calling around until he found the right one at a surplus store and told them he'd pay $100 if they got it there before the scene with the radio was shot (they barely made it). When done, he gave it to the prop provider, with a lecture on what years THAT mic was used.
The problem is that a lot of these folks get run over by their own publicity wagons.
A few names I'm willing to toss out there:
Great guy? Tom Selleck. Ultra-pro, do anything to make it right for the viewers but kept away from people he didn't know? Jack Lord. Pro on-cam but monster off (turned out he had a brain tumor)? Michael O'Hare. Goes out of the way for one fan when it only matters to that fan? Robert Picardo. Liked to actually TALK with fans? Richard Hatch. Classiest lady in the industry? Nichelle Nichols. Special Nice Guy Award? Felix Silva. Then there's the fanatic atheist who NEVER publicly disrespects religion: J Michael Straczynski. World-class *******? Joss Whedon.
I learned to watch for patterns. One talent turns into a Grade A, World Class Lowlife on the set, because it's how he puts on his character. On the way out, he'll stand there holding the door open until someone else finally takes over. He once left some pretty obnoxious appliances and makeup on for over an hour after work because someone's kid was coming into town for joint custody and always got there too late to visit the set, and told me he'd pay my normal rate to shoot the meeting and visit (of course, I hung around and shot it on video, no charge).
Then there's the one who is only nice when performing. Just Craft Service, just a gaffer, just a kid? Get the hell out of the way. Someone IMPORTANT'S kid? Character stays on after the stick goes up, and he's everybody's friend. He's only always-nice to people who make him look good. But he knew that one particular radio handset from Props wasn't right for the time, so he spent an hour calling around until he found the right one at a surplus store and told them he'd pay $100 if they got it there before the scene with the radio was shot (they barely made it). When done, he gave it to the prop provider, with a lecture on what years THAT mic was used.
The problem is that a lot of these folks get run over by their own publicity wagons.
A few names I'm willing to toss out there:
Great guy? Tom Selleck. Ultra-pro, do anything to make it right for the viewers but kept away from people he didn't know? Jack Lord. Pro on-cam but monster off (turned out he had a brain tumor)? Michael O'Hare. Goes out of the way for one fan when it only matters to that fan? Robert Picardo. Liked to actually TALK with fans? Richard Hatch. Classiest lady in the industry? Nichelle Nichols. Special Nice Guy Award? Felix Silva. Then there's the fanatic atheist who NEVER publicly disrespects religion: J Michael Straczynski. World-class *******? Joss Whedon.
Endless Wonder
Sr Member
Oddly, this doesn't surprise me. As much as I love the man's work, I have always gotten the vibe from his interviews and such that he's pretty full of himself and probably not super pleasant to work with if you're not in his circle.
Solo4114
Master Member
I thought JMS explained that he suffered from severe mental health issues -- not due to a brain tumor, but due to psychological problems? I mean, either way, his off-set behavior probably wasn't just due to him being a *******, but I thought it was mental health rather than brain tumor.
I don't recall the name of it, but I thought it was something where he was imaging that people or groups were out to get him. JMS said that he fought through it to come back and film the last final episodes, which were two of the best IMO.
Steadicam Op
New Member
Some of us believe that O'Hare's mental issues had a physical basis, as they increased over time. Whatever the story, it's too bad.
Yes, Whedon is full of himself. Someone should flush and we'll see what's left of him afterward.
Yes, Whedon is full of himself. Someone should flush and we'll see what's left of him afterward.
Steadicam Op
New Member
I have always admired JMS for the way he closed that loop in on itself so seamlessly. Remember, it was a 5-year arc, storyboarded before WB had even come on board -- the root for that loop was laid down before the pilot was scripted, when JMS expected Sinclair to be there until the end, and SEEN in the pilot and many places in Season 1. But there is no one place that you can point to as being where the story shifted -- those last Sinclair episodes needed Sheridan as the anchor and Delenn already being "hatched" for Sinclair's transformation to make sense, and Sinclair's transformation explains a key point in the pilot . . .
BTW, I forgot to mention someone else who only shows a little of his talent at a time: Wayne Alexander. Look at his various roles in B5 (especially Lorien), then watch "Spaced Invaders" WITHOUT looking up to find his role there. You won't believe who he is when you see his name in the end titles.
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