If anyone here has been to comic conventions or fan expos and got to meet the celebrity guests that attended, I’m curious to hear your stories on who you felt wasn’t giving the best meet & greet experience and why you felt that way.
For example, pretty a whole decade ago I was attending a comic con where Famke Janssen was attending and the energy she gave felt like she didn’t really want to be there. Not that she was rude or anything, but it just didn’t feel like she was that interested in connecting with her fans.
Often I don’t usually take these kinds of things personal, because you have to remember that these celebrities are still people and are probably exhausted. But if they’re going to attend events like this, it’s always best to have your fans meeting you end on a positive note and make the experience meeting you worth it in a satisfying and pleasant manner.
Posted by phantom_avenger
46 Comments
Have yet to do a comic con meet and greet as the big one in my city (Glasgow) announces big names then closer to the con they all mysteriously drop out and pop up at London or Liverpool’s big comic cons.
A few people I know from my local con that have went to the big ones have said Kayvan Novak (Nandor from What We Do In The Shadows) was lovely. There’s a group who dress up as the Ghostbusters for Scottish cons and collect donations for the Glasgow childrens hospital, and they sang the praises of one of the original movie’s actors who name escapes me, he loved their movie accurate props and costumes.
We had giancarlo esposito come into the restaurant once with his wife and child. He was the only guest, so we just tried to pretend we didnt know him. Poorly probably.
He came into the kitchen for a photo after.
Nice guy. Very polite.
Least favorite is a dutch singer you wont know lol.
I met Adam Baldwin (Firefly) well over a decade ago and he was so great and generous and thoughtful.
During that time period I met a lot of actors at Comic cons as part of the school paper, and he is the only one that really stands out now, good or bad.
I do remember meeting Alan Thicke who only really seemed to care about selling his son Robin’s CD’s (this was back before Robin was in any way mainstream).
I’ve only been to one, and didn’t have a bad experience thankfully.
Jason Lee was fucking awesome to meet though, super cool dude & seemed super excited to chat Dogma + my name is Earl and the Incredibles.
Am I taking crazy pills doesnt this post ask “what is your least favorite guest”
I’ve only worked behind the scenes (PR side in the UK) but John Barrowman is a fucking dick, and was to his guests as well at this particular event. That guy is so far up his own ass it’s not even funny.
Linda Blair. My sister and I queued for ages, she didn’t acknowledge us and her team were rude. I wish I’d chosen someone else.
best: i met sebastian stan several times before/around the time of the winter soldier and he was consistently kind and gracious and enthusiastic about meeting everyone. charlie cox was the same way and at one convention he was way overbooked and rebooked his flight to make sure everyone who had paid for an autograph or photo would get them. krysten ritter recognized i had been at a book signing of hers and took a selfie with me for free (she asked “do you want a selfie”, i told her i didn’t have the money for that and she responded “shhh, get over here!”). rob paulsen is consistently very funny and kind, seth green grabbed my phone so i could get a picture with him and bryan cranston.
worst: anthony mackie. and i didn’t meet katie cassidy but during the arrow panel she was on her phone the entire time (i just know she was mad that arrow is the one thing she did that ended up taking off).
Worked as a vendor at a few UK cons so interacted with a few – David Prowse, Tom Baker, Dan Slott, and Craig Charles were all an absolute delight.
Gareth David-Lloyd was an arsehole. Served John Barrowman at an old job and he pulled a ‘Don’t you know who I am?’ stunt and the older gay man who worked with us straight up said ‘No, and I don’t care’.
Does it count if Norman Reedus wore the same outfit to comic con he wore the night before when he mercilessly hit on me and tried to recruit me for an orgy only to yell at me when I asked for a photo?
Wasn’t at a con, but through various twists of fate, I have held the door open for Famke Jansen(and her tiny dog) in three different countries. Never once said Thankyou.
I’ve done maybe a dozen meet & greet/photo ops at comic conventions. Almost everyone was kind, or at least cordial.
The only two who were openly unenthused were Adam West, and William Shatner. It’s not like they were being pissy, but they were both clearly waiting for it to get over with, and didn’t seem to care much about how their fans perceived them.
I don’t even blame them really, because I’m sure they’d both been doing Con tours for 30+ years already.
Burt Ward was also there for the Adam West photo op, and his enthusiasm was enough to make up for West’s apparent lack of interest though. Burt seemed like a great guy, who actually enjoyed meeting fans.
Sean Gunn. Wife is a massive Gilmore Girls fan, and bro was just…kind of aloof to the point where my wife was disappointed after meeting him. Wouldn’t say it a bad experience, though, I just got the impression GG didn’t mean as much to him.
Conversely, we also met Scott Patterson and that was a wonderful experience.
Amy Jo Johnson. I’m sure doing meet and greets is exhausting but we waited in a long line to see her and her signature was not cheap, she seemed very inconvenienced and didn’t even greet us. Just signed and waved us away.
David Yost on the other hand was so kind and had a genuine conversation with us. My favorite power ranger meet to date.
I worked with Famke Janssen once. She is an incredibly shy and reserved person. I imagine cons are really overwhelming for her.
Shannon Purser. Was excited to meet her.
Paid for a photo and autograph. She had an attitude and rolled her eyes. You could tell she was fake too when she responded.
Yaya Han and Kelly Hu were really sweet.
It wasn’t comic con, it was a country music expo in 2005… Miranda Lambert was dreadfully awful. She was barely famous at that point and I was the first person in the vip greet line, she refused to speak to me or take photos and complained to her security the entire time that she hates signing stuff. Like okay bish, then don’t be here
Cary Elwes is probably the nicest celebrity I’ve met. He was sitting by himself after all the photo ops were done at a comicon. I waved and said hi. He came over and talked to us and asked if we wanted a photo with him. I said I dont have any money and he said don’t worry about it, and that he loves meeting people. He is so chill and down to earth.
One of the worst was probably Patrick Stewart. Both my brother and I paid to take photos with him. We were not allowed to talk to him, shake his hand, or overall get too close to him… just walk behind him (he was sitting down) and smile. It was like 100$ and it was 2 seconds.
It wasn’t ComicCon but it was a meet and greet set up by a couple local public schools. Julie Andrews was a rude ass who showed up two hours late. It was for a book she co-wrote with her daughter about a dog that solves a murder. it was very bad, but I had read it for my middle school newspaper and was supposed to write about the “interview” me and like 6 other kids won through our libraries.
She didn’t answer ANY questions from us, just cruised in (again, after leaving us in a classroom for 2 hours), took a single picture, then headed for the auditorium to wave, sign like 59 books, plug the Princess Diaries 2, and then dipped after 20 minutes.
Left a bad taste in my mouth because I had done SO MUCH to prepare for that interview. 😤 13 year old me held that grudge for a while, I wouldn’t watch any of her movies lol
i know you asked for worst/least favorite but in a world where there’s negativity, i will share an uplifting anecdote!
My sister met Steve Burns (AKA Steve from Blues Clues) and he was genuinely the kindest human being ever. My sister has cerebral palsy and severe autism, is nonverbal and a wheelchair user, and most people don’t know how to interact with an adult like her.
one of her favorite shows to watch is Blues Clues and my dad and I bought the most basic package, no photo or autograph just a quick conversation with Steve. we figured even if it was like 1 minute it would make my sister jazzed!!
Steve was so kind, and kneeled down to her level to speak with her, and even though my sister did not speak with her words, he held a conversation with her. he maintained eye contact and treated my sister as an adult which is something people very rarely do. it really warmed my heart and reaffirmed that he truly is a childhood icon
I only had an a bad experience with meeting Lou Ferringo. He was so mean I mumbled “Mark Ruffalo was a better Hulk” under my breath.
But otherwise all my experience meeting actors at Cons have been positive. Nothing is topping meeting Carrie Fisher at NYCC in 2016. She was so amazing.
i don’t go to cons but have met many celebs and the rudest off the top of my head were jennie garth and anna kendrick
Were you there when Harrison Ford was at H panel for Ender’s Game? Man did he hate the Star Wars question.
Not my own, but my wife and her friend went to a Con to see a panel of Brendan Fraser. I think this was right before The Whale pushed him into “oh he’s so back!” territory, but was still beloved on the internet.
Dude seemed super nice despite everything. He just got out of a major back surgery and according to my wife you could see the pain on his face constantly and he’d wince when he moved. He was a bit coldly “yeah I don’t know man, it was a job 20 years ago, I don’t remember” to some of the questions, but nothing too bad. He stood there and took pics with everyone, and I assume suffered physically through the whole thing.
I don’t blame him for being a bit off, back pain is no joke especially recovering from surgery. He still did his best and treated everyone kindly.
Zachary Levi. I met him accidentally. My younger brother is super into comic cons, Marvel, etc and he was a big fan of the show *Chuck*, so he wanted to go. I kind of went more so as moral support (I think the last Marvel movie I ever watched was Toby McGuire in Spiderman when it came out back in 2002 when I was 7) and he was off doing his thing, mingling, taking pictures in his costume, trading youtube links. I’m more introverted so I was standing off to the side, trying not to be in anyone’s way. And I hear “wow, really?” and I turn to look, and it’s him standing there looking at me in such an overly annoyed way, I thought he was joking, because I was just standing there?. And he goes “trying to get an autograph?” and again since I thought he was kidding, I chuckled. He sighs and goes “I don’t do this stuff for free. Like, c’mon, y’know?” And walks off with three other guys following him. I know one was a security guard, and i don’t know who the other ones were. Then later, when my brother came back over, he looked so disappointed because he *did* want his autograph and only when he got in line for it, he found out it was *99 dollars*.
My friend dragged me to go meet Dante from grandmas boy and it was the worst and most awkward interaction
Am I allowed to share a positive experience? 😬
I met Ethan Embry recently and oh gosh was he sweet. The dude was so happy to meet everyone and genuinely wanted to get to know you. I brought my Empire Records tape to sign and he took a moment to check it out. He really appreciated the throwback and gave me a big hug. And he complimented my makeup 🙂
Feel free to delete if only negative experiences are allowed
The Firefly actors and the rebooted Battlestar Galactica actors are all gems.
My wife took me to an autograph signing with Ric Flair. She was wearing one of his t-shirts. Without sounding crass, my wife is busty. Flair was signing t-shirts, cards, everything.
He looked at her, looked at me, and said laughingly “I’ll sign the back.” He was an absolute gentleman and seemed really happy to be there visiting with fans.
Cherry on top – he spent a decent amount on each signature. Completely legible and with an added “WOOO 16x.”
Went to another one with Jake the Snake Roberts. Again, couldn’t have been nicer, seemed really excited to visit with fans, and he looked so healthy. It was fun to see him in such a good place after seeing how low he got a few years back.
This one still breaks my heart cause I am a die hard Hellboy, Pacific Rim and Sons of Anarchy guy but Ron Pearman sucked both times I met him man. First comic con was mad busy and he was just quick and just made no conversation with anyone. I was like okay whatever it happens.
Saw him again this year at a con in DC. Brought a hellboy DVD to sign and he was 2 hours late to his signing table. Smelled like booze. Immediately said he was still a bit drunk. There were only like 25 of us in line and I was third. By the time he got to me, he had already complained (all to his buddy that was with him, none to anyone in line) that Alan Tudyk got the voice role of clayface and it should have been him cause hes the OG voice actor, and then says he is the most disenfranchised actor in holy wood cause his work is never appreciated. I gave him the DVD to sign, and he literally not once looked up or said absolutely anything to me. Not even what I wanted written or my name. Just sucked.
But Adam Savage was also at this con and he was an absolute fucking Mensch. Literally the dude you see in videos times 10. One of the kindest people I’ve ever met
Kate Mulgrew and LeVar Burton were disappointing for me. Burton seemed annoyed and like he didn’t want to be there. Mulgrew was talking to another person when she waved me up to sign what I had and barely acknowledged me. This was two different cons, a year apart.
Unfortunately they were two I was really looking forward to seeing. But that’s how it goes. I’ve had good experiences with others, and I heard good things about both Mulgrew and Burton, so I probably just caught them at bad times. Still disappointing though.
Meet and greet with Mark Hoppus and travis barker of blink 182. Travis was having some drum tech issues and was pissed at some poor tech dude so he was very quiet but wasn’t a dick to us. Mark was awesome and was very polite.
Noel Gugliemi, who’s been typecast as “Latino gang member / cop / dude named Hector” for decades. He played “Hector” in the Fast and Furious and like a dozen other movies.
Gugliemi was nice enough, but he charged like $20 for a selfie.
Amusingly, the worst “celebrity” I’ve personally encountered was a Mr. Spock impersonator. He’s just some dude who looked vaguely like Leonard Nemoy, but he had handlers treating him like he was actually a big deal.
Not cons, but I sat next to Dave Brubeck on a transcontinental flight and had a sidewalk conversation with Fred Rogers and they were both the kindest souls…
I had thanksgiving dinner with Richard Kiel (the guy who played Jaws in the James Bond movies) when I was a kid and he was such a sweet dude! My grandpa had done some electrical work on his house for him and he had mentioned that his family couldn’t make it to thanksgiving that year so my grandpa invited him to ours. He brought his jaws teeth that were mounted on shears and he let us bite apples and corn on the cob with it! He also sat at the kids table with us which was a short table but the dude was like over 7ft tall so his knees were up to his shoulders lol Super sweet guy!
My grandma on my other side of family was neighbors with Krist Novoselic (the bassist of nirvana) and he was a great dude too! I was a teenager when I met him and I remember him being super passionate about politics and had a great time talking about Volkswagens with him. I knew who he was but was honestly too nervous to talk about nirvana with him.
Kim Coates and Tommy Flanagan of SOA at Edinburgh CC. Charming, funny and spoke with them for 20 mins when the CC was in its last hour. My friend and I helped create a tour of Scotland itinerary (Kim and his wife were staying in Scotland for a week so they could do some sightseeing and doing the NC500) for him which he loved and spoke to Kim’s wife on Facetime. JCVD’s aftershave was amazing. Hayden Christensen was very very handsome and very humble.
I met Richard Madden at a con probably the summer before the red wedding dropped, he was so nice, even made a point of apologizing about the scheduling issue that almost had us miss him (and lose our photo $)
The same con, Carrie Fisher was also taking photo with fans, but was eating p aunt butter off a spoon the whole time, was markedly rude to everyone, and refused to get out of her chair. We saw some of the photo fans didn’t come to pick up, and it was just sad.
The next year I went, I met Todd Haberkorn and showed off our fairy tail tattoos! Such a great guy!
When I went to a comic expo local to me I was going to get a photo with Wil Wheaton since he is Weasley crusher man! But he was done getting photos for the day but the people for the event already took our ticket and scanned it and ripped it up, it took us demanding for a photo as well as the line of people behind us that they moved whoever was next to another area since there was still a crowd of people trying to get a photo with him, when we got in there he looked so pissed and displeased with the situation but me and my family were just so excited to meet him, it sucks since earlier in the day I got him to sign a copy of ready player one since he did the narration on audible and he did a 6 slashed out which was dope as hell but like idk it was weird
Well I mean mines also Famke Jansessen and it was my first con and first time meeting a celeb I was a huge fan of. Let’s just say my now husband had to do a lot of work to convince me to ever go again. And thank you to James Marsters for proving him right and being delightful to meet
I met Famke walking her dog Licorice on the streets of NYC late one night. She was as sweet as could be.
Not at a con, but Fisher Stevens is really nice. So was Brittany Murphy.
The Klingons at a con I took my friend’s little sister to were super cool. We went because she was obsessed with Buffy, but I honestly don’t remember seeing any of them.
Alan Ruck was very sweet, but the girl who played the female terminator seemed aggressively bored.
I’ve met Brendan Fraser three times now and every single time he’s been the nicest person on the planet. My mom is in a wheelchair but can walk with assistance and he paused the photo sessions to help my mom walk back to her wheelchair.
Barry Bostwick is also amazing and so funny.
I went to a panel with William Shatner. He refused to answer Star Trek questions and rambled about how trees listen to us.
Felicia Day at Dragon Con. She showed up late, complained about fans asking her co-stars for autographs and pics, and insulted the two people after me. She was miserable. I remember deleting the pic I took with her and never finished the last season of The Guild. I’ve yet to watch anything she’s been in since.
On the plus side, all of her Guild co-stars were absolutely wonderful.
ETA: James Randi also attended that year, and he was absolutely incredible. Despite his advanced age and recent cancer diagnosis, he stayed long after the panel, taking photos, answering questions, and signing books.
Jon Bernthal at the Walker Stalker Con in like 2013/14. I was 14 and super stoked to meet people from the walking dead cast. Every single person was super kind and took time to speak personally with me. Jon Bernthal was the only person I met that I didn’t like the interaction. He seemed stoned and it was just a picture snap and goodbye. He was also actively in a conversation with a friend or something while people were meeting him. Everyone else made it personal, but with him it was just a transaction. Wasn’t outwardly rude or anything, just wasn’t personable.
I don’t go to Cons or fan expos much but I took my son to meet Christian Slater one year because he was really into Mr. Robot. I like Slater’s stuff and loved True Romance but I wasn’t a super fan. But he was very lovely and engaging. He shared great stories during the Q&A, was very upbeat and gracious with audience questions. We were in line after to get a pic with him and this woman ahead of us was so sleazy lol just totally hot and bothered ”omg he’s so hot—his butt looks great”. He hears this and looks over AT ME, and I want to die of embarrassment because he thinks I’m the hornbag lol then it’s our turn, I’m still so anxious and then everyone starts laughing as I’m standing there posing for the pic. I look over and my kid is “rabbit earring” Christian Slater. Thankfully he took it well, laughed and we got a second pic but walking away I was like “kid, he could have freaked out at us and declined a pic”… kid just chuckles and isn’t bothered. Then we walked into the market hall and freaken Carrie Fisher was walking around the vendor booths and stops to talk to us. It was one of her last appearances before her passing and it was honestly a little magical.
Not a con but I met John Waters at a concert and he signed my dad’s urn. Said it wasnt even close to the weirdest thing he’s signed, apparently that was a bloody tampon. He was super busy but very sweet and funny as hell.