okay so! after 12 years of being a TF fan i get the pleasure of meeting peter cullen, the legendary voice of optimus prime himself, at megacon a week from today on thursday may 16th. i'm really nervous because not only do i have Real Bad Anxiety and i'm afraid of making a fool of myself but also i haven't met a lot of celebrities, closest i've ever gotten is meeting an indie band at an anime convention a few times, and i was wondering if anyone who has met him could like share their experiences and it might help some? he seems really nice from watching videos of QnA panels but i haven't really heard any stories of fans meeting him at autograph sessions and i have no idea what to expect. so i guess the point of this thread is to post about your experiences meeting him (through autograph sessions or otherwise) and maybe share tips/advice for someone still really new to meeting Cool People(tm) at cons. thank you! also does anyone know if he usually accepts gifts because i wanted to draw something for him to sign and i think it'd be cool to give him a copy if he does dsklsdfjlk
Don't stress, he's a nice guy, and he's done enough conventions that he's used to the process. I'm sure he's accepted plenty of gifts over the years, especially art (I haven't seen him do so, but it has to have happened by now). Worst case scenario, he'd politely decline the gift, and you can either give the art to a young fan or someone who doesn't have something to sign or something. My experience with getting an autograph from him? It was nice, because of who he was, but in all honesty, it was pretty routine, if you've done autographs with celebrities before. Walked up, introduced myself, got an autograph, bit of personal small talk about his voiceover for discovery and transformers as an inspiration for kids to go into STEM, took a photo, said thank you, and then he was on to the next person. He was very nice through the whole thing. I say this about all these celebrity con interactions, but try not to elevate these guests to godhood. They're endlessly interesting, have done enthralling and inspirational work, but at the end of the day, they're human beings like the rest of us. Just be yourself and act with common courtesy and it'll all go fine.
I got to meet him last summer (I think) at the Fanboy Expo in...Georgia? Maybe? But wherever it was I had to wait a couple hours in line but when I got up to him, ho boy, I was nervous. It looked liked he could tell so made some little jokes and I got to tell him how I loved his work. He then signed my picture of Prime and when he wrote "Till All Are One" he did the voice!. And let me tell you, hearing it in person for the first time gave me chills, but in a good way.
I met him at Botcon 07'. He's a pretty great guy, and he sems pretty nice. I don't konw if it will help the op, but, he's just like you: he puts his pants on one leg at a time. Just try to relax, and have a good time meeting him.
I grew up with sports celebrities, as a little kid I got to sit with pro players on the bench during games. This gave me absolutely no fear of meeting people, but I understand it gives people massive anxiety. It really isn't a big deal, especially if you just act cool and understand he's a really nice guy and meets thousands of nervous people every year and still does this stuff. I had the opportunity to meet Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was coming around at a trade show. People in my booth were nervous wrecks. This was the Governator after all. You just have to play it cool. I said, "Mr, Schwarzenegger, fantastic to have you come by our booth and great to meet you. If you have some time later or want to come back we have some great products to show you." He said, "I'll be back." In the Terminator voice kind of jokingly and everyone laughed. If you act nervous or people all act like scared dogs, this creates tension regardless of the setting. While giving a gift is nice, most celebrities don't have the ability to carry a lot with them out of the convention and don't have a lot of personal stuff with them. Giving a gift to a celebrity creates more of an awkward setting. Your best play is to walk up and say, "Mr. Cullen, it is very nice to have the opportunity to meet you. As a fan it is a great day for me. I have a drawing I made that I would like you sign if it isn't much trouble."
I met him at a gas station in MI. I may have completely embarrassed myself in front of the whole store. Ohh I was like 35 at the time so not like I was a kid lol.
I saw Peter Cullen at a grocery store in Los Angeles yesterday. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything. He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?” I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying. The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter. When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.
I met him years ago when he came to a convention here in Australia. When I met him to get his autograph, my god was I very nervous as hell, but he spoke to me, he took my hand in his big gentle ones and said kindly, "Don't be nervous, its okay to be nervous." I never told him of my nervousness, but it was like as if he had met me already in the past or he just read me like an open book. All of my nervousness went away instantly and he signed my TFP Optimus picture that was given to me. I asked him, he even wrote one of my favourite Optimus quotes without me asking, and I asked him if he could do it in his Optimus Prime voice, "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings." I told him my name and he said it was a real pleasure to meet me, and that he hopes I have a wonderful time here. I left feeling content and happy until we were due for our photo. I was sitting in line waiting to get my photo taken along with other fans I talked to on an TF fan Australian website. It soon came my turn for the photo and he smiled when he recognised me, saying my name and put his arm around my shoulder in prep for the photo. I'll never forget that day. Ever.
Class act! I love knowing he doesn't just go through the motions. Optimus Prime cares. You almost broke my heart.
I swear to Jah, brother, don't freak. I wanna assume, due to your semantics, that we're about the same age, so from one GenZ-er to another, just be cool about it. He's human. He just does a cool, deep voice every now and then, but not right now, because Hasbro doesn't like actors' unions. In any case, you have the luxury of getting to meet him at all. I'll only be there Saturday and Sunday. The upshot to this is: a.) me save money, and b.) holy crap, Peter Weller's only $45!
I honestly can't tell if this is serious....XD ----- I met him yeeeaaars ago. When it was my turn, I was a shaky nervous wreck, as he was giving me his autograph I stupidly kept going “thank you…. thank you….” He saw how nervous I was and called me a ‘sweatheart’ there’s a picture of me walking away from him with the funniest expression on my face that reads “Holy Crap that was Peter Cullen!” But like Aernaroth said, it’s pretty routine, as it kinda has to be, the last thing a fan wants is to see another getting more attention while waiting in the same line. Also sat in during his panel, such a nice man! So appreciative of his fans he kept thanking everyone. There are some celebrities that are really down to earth and who will surprise you if you don’t fuss over them and act like they are just your average guy. A great example is Kurt Russel whom I’ve been lucky enough to meet twice Talk about an awesome dude who was joking around and messing up just like everyone else, it was kinda weird as first how casual he was but it’s an important things to realize he’s just a person like everyone else. My brother also got lucky this winter and spotted Tom Cruise walking by super-fast with his entourage, my brother just said in a chill voice. “hey man.” And Mr. Cruise was like “what’s up buddy.” XD I think him being so calm and not freaking out was what he was happy for, he was kinda where he was in private and no one was supposed to know he was there. Just be chill and have fun. Best of luck!
Never meet your heroes. I've actually walked away from autograph tables wanting to toss it in the trash. I quit getting stuff signed 10+ years ago.
