Arrogant People In Their Field of Work

Sadly there will always be people like this, whether you are a musician or a pastry chef. However, I was really upset to learn that one of my friends who I met in the last play the college performed, who was really excited to be going to a convention, got to meet one of her favorite favorite voice actors and he ended up being a complete jerk.

This just makes me sad. I've read stories online about this voice actor either being mean or being completely nice and for her sake I was hoping it was the latter. Sadly when my friend was in line for an autograph she told him how she loved his work, only listed 2 shows he was in (her favorites), and he went on a tangent about how those were shows he did a few years ago and that she should know him from his other work and not just said shows. The guy in line behind her apparently brought his brother (who didn't know who he was) and this went down; "It's NOT ACCEPTABLE to go to a panel when you don't even know who I am. It's disrespectful to the fans who know my name and couldn't get a seat and it's disrespectful to me as well." Um arrogant much? I'm guessing this kid will not be watching any of the shows you voice in now dude. I realize that he was probably a little offended because the kid didn't know who he was but you have to realize that maybe these people are just now getting into animation or anime and don't necessarily know everything about the characters and who voice them yet.

But really, being mean to your fans is not cool considering they are more than likely the reason you are at the convention and continue to get work in the first place. Alright, so this guy is pretty good at what he does and has voiced a ton of great characters in popular shows but he is not the best and needs to realize that. Sure, everyone is bound to have a bad day but being mean to your fans or the people who made it possible for you to come to the convention center is not cool and I really hope he realizes this is not acceptable behavior. The fans are already nervous enough meeting someone who's work they really enjoy and to have this person be arrogant and mean to the people who admired him for so long just sickens me.

I also learned that he has a tendency to be flirty with some of the girls at the conventions he goes to. I have no idea if that rumor is true or not but because I have no first hand experience with this I'm going to assume that it is false. I would actually like to meet him one day just to see if some of these stories about him being a jerk are true. I am really hoping that they aren't but with some of the stories I've heard about him, including what my friend told me, I'm not so sure. 

However, I have to give the man a little credit, some of his fans do tend to be a bit fangirlish and that can make anyone mad after awhile, however they are still supporting your career and although they may come off as a bit high strung, that's no excuse to flip out on them. Sure, we all have bad days but it would be wise to channel that into something positive rather than "OMG YOU ARE ANNOYING AND DON'T KNOW WHO I AM! GO HOME LITTLE MISSY I HAVE NO TIME FOR THIS! RAWR!!" 

Now I have met only a few voice actors in the past;
Tony Oliver- I took an adventures in voice acting class with him in Chicago when I was just starting to get into voice over, and I have to admit that I wasn't very good. He was a super, super nice guy though and definitely knows a lot when it comes to voice over. He had a ton of kickass stories too and was willing to help everyone out and give pointers which was very much appreciated! Overall he was just a cool guy and I was really happy that I had a chance to meet him.

Olivia D'Abo- Ok, so I didn't really meet her, but my friend went to Motor City Comic Con last year and he had her call me up and say hi and sign an autograph for me. Super sweet lady. My friend said that she was really excited to be there and that she was 'happy' to know that her voice work is as well received as her screen work. 

Tiffany Grant- Neat lady and very talented. I didn't get to go to her panel but I was able to talk to her in the conventions' hallway for a few minutes and she gave me a few pointers on voice acting which I really enjoyed so I gave her a hug. Lol! Professionalism!!!

Michelle Ruff- I cannot say enough wonderfully wonderful things about her. First and foremost she has and will probably always be my favorite voice actress. I went to Lansing just to see her panel and afterwards I was able to get an autograph and picture with her. (Well not really a picture considering the girl in front of me who was supposed to take it had it on VIDEO. GRR. One day a picture will happen though!) And she was just the most awesome, nicest, coolest, person I have ever met and I am still really grateful for the experience. 

So based on my meeting voice actors experience, it seems to me that 99.9% of them are not evil fan hating jerks. So I'm not going to let one guys jerkocity ruin the reputation of the career and no matter what you read online, if you get a chance try to meet the people you really want to no matter what anyone says, more than likely they will be swell people to meet and if they aren't then you can at least inform others that may like the person as well  that they tend to have bad day mood swings so be cautious when awaiting the meet and greet.