What questions have you asked actors at conventions?

[Timewalker]

One other non-Trek guest who was interesting was Bruce Boxleitner. Obviously there were a lot of Babylon 5 question. He was a big supporter of the show and sorry to see it end (and kind of bummed that they had a spin-off without him). He was kind of jokingly miffed that Firefly got a theatrical movie and B5 didn't. He was also kind of a connoisseur of TV and movie Westerns (I think he was on "Gunsmoke" in the later years). He sort of blamed Johnny Depp and the ill-fated "Lone Ranger" for killing the genre (which I think is an exaggeration).

You are probably thinking of the TV series How the West Was Won, which starred James Arness as Zeb Macahan and Bruce Boxleitner as Luke Macahan.

I just now found some of it on Youtube, which is terrific because I didn't get to see all the episodes back when it was first on (had a 10 pm bedtime back then, strictly enforced).

 

[Forbin]

My very first con was in NYC in 1976, and while Mark Lenard was on stage, a little boy in front of us kept badgering his mother to ask Sarek a question. She finally said okay and raised her hand.
"Yes, ma'am?"
"Um. Er. How is Mrs. Sarek?"
(long uncertain pause, followed by graceful recovery): "She is well, madam, thank you."

Well done, sir.

 

[1001001]

Todd Rundgren—I mentioned how much I liked his 1985 album A Cappella, and he replied "that's obscure!"

If I ran into Todd Rundgren, I'd ask him if Stephen Colbert ever removed him from his "On Notice" board. He was only on there at the request of Ric Ocasek!

If Ric Ocasek says he's on notice, he stays on notice until Ric says otherwise.

I have been to many conventions, and I always cringe a bit at the Q&A part. Inevitably there is some person who asks a question as if the actor is the character ("What was it like when you slept with Data?"), asks some ridiculous continuity question ("In Season 2 we learn the Fetzer valve is in Jeffries Tube 7A, but in Season 3 we clearly see it in Engineering next to the Johnson Rod. How can you explain this?"), or just generally makes a fool of themselves. You can hear audible groans from the audience several times during these sessions.

In San Francisco, a "fan" asked Brent Spiner if he was gay. Spiner replied tersely, "that's none of your business."

In Sacramento one time, Roxann Dawson basically shut down the Q&A, saying "if you're just going to ask continuity questions we'll be here all day and learn nothing. Continuity-Shmontinuity!"

So I don't ask questions during the Q&A. When I have private moments with the actors, I ask them whatever I'm interested in that seems appropriate, always trying to be respectful of their time. I talked to Brent Spiner about his web series Fresh Hell. I talked to Kate Mulgrew about her experience in politics. I talked to Walter Koenig about the Star Trek Episode of Futurama.

So folks, if you're going to a convention, be mindful of being up at that microphone in front of hundreds of people, and think carefully about what you're going to ask. The audience thanks you.

 

[Melakon]

The best way to get an actor to talk is to ask them about something important to themselves, not something important to you. So do your homework.

Ask about their favorite role, their favorite charity, or if they ever did a live performance and forgot their lines. That one would probably result in some gems.

 

[Greg Cox]

Also, get to the point, don't ramble, and actually ask a question. I think we've all suffered, at times, from some random audience member who launches into a long rambling preamble about how much the show means to them and their own pet theories on some topic before they finally get around to asking a question . . . if they ever do.

And I've seen more than one confused speaker cope with this. "Um, was there a question there?"

And, unless you're an adorable six-year-old, don't ask for a hug!

 

[Melakon]

And some actors just love talking about acting and what it means to them.

 

[Forbin]

I talked to Suzi Plakson for a while about her sitcom Love and War, rather than Trek, and she seemed to really appreciate it. She's an absolute sweetheart, btw.

 

[1001001]

I talked to Suzi Plakson for a while about her sitcom Love and War, rather than Trek, and she seemed to really appreciate it. She's an absolute sweetheart, btw.

I asked her about working on Everybody Loves Raymond, and she said it was "fine" and gave me a death stare. I did not speak to her again the entire weekend!



That's another thing, all these actors are people. They have good days and bad days. They are distracted, or sick, or..whatever... they're just folks, so don't take it personally.

 

[t_smitts]

One other non-Trek guest who was interesting was Bruce Boxleitner. Obviously there were a lot of Babylon 5 question. He was a big supporter of the show and sorry to see it end (and kind of bummed that they had a spin-off without him). He was kind of jokingly miffed that Firefly got a theatrical movie and B5 didn't. He was also kind of a connoisseur of TV and movie Westerns (I think he was on "Gunsmoke" in the later years). He sort of blamed Johnny Depp and the ill-fated "Lone Ranger" for killing the genre (which I think is an exaggeration).

You are probably thinking of the TV series How the West Was Won, which starred James Arness as Zeb Macahan and Bruce Boxleitner as Luke Macahan.

I just now found some of it on Youtube, which is terrific because I didn't get to see all the episodes back when it was first on (had a 10 pm bedtime back then, strictly enforced).

No, he was on Gunsmoke too. IMDb confirmed it. One of the very last episodes of it's 20 year run, in fact. He was also in one of the reunion TV movies (not as the same character).

I believe he actually wrote a novel about aliens visiting Earth during the Old West. Given that, in retrospect, it might've been interesting to ask him what he thought of "Cowboys and Aliens"

I talked to Suzi Plakson for a while about her sitcom Love and War, rather than Trek, and she seemed to really appreciate it. She's an absolute sweetheart, btw.

I would've asked her about working on "Red Eye" with Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy.

Regarding the obnoxious fans, I really haven't had any major experiences like that at the conventions here (maybe it's true what they say about Canadians ).

As for the death stare, yeah, maybe there's some unpleasant memories associated with some roles. Maybe they're in a bad mood cause they had a rough flight in or the airline lost their luggage, or they're under the weather, or in the case of some of the female guests, you may have caught them at the wrong time of the month (just a possibility, I'm just saying), or maybe they're a little less patient than others about answering the same question for the fiftieth time.

All we can really do is try not to BE one of those idiots who ruins it for everyone else.

 

[1001001]

As for the death stare, yeah, maybe there's some unpleasant memories associated with some roles. Maybe they're in a bad mood cause they had a rough flight in or the airline lost their luggage, or they're under the weather...

Right.

or in the case of some of the female guests, you may have caught them at the wrong time of the month (just a possibility, I'm just saying)....

Not so right that time...come on, dude.

 

[Timewalker]

Also, get to the point, don't ramble, and actually ask a question. I think we've all suffered, at times, from some random audience member who launches into a long rambling preamble about how much the show means to them and their own pet theories on some topic before they finally get around to asking a question . . . if they ever do.

And I've seen more than one confused speaker cope with this. "Um, was there a question there?"

And, unless you're an adorable six-year-old, don't ask for a hug!

Hmm... I've only ever been to one event where the guest was an actor. I've been to a lot where the main guests were authors. What kinds of questions would you like to get from eager convention attendees if you were a guest at such an event?

 

[Melakon]

Probably every writer has heard "Where do you get your ideas?" a million times.

 

[Timewalker]

It's one of the questions I often hear people ask the authors at the conventions. But most authors have many interesting things to talk about besides their current and past books.

 

[Greg Cox]

"What are you working on now?" never gets old . . . assuming we can talk about it.

 

[Timewalker]

But if you can't talk about it and don't want to talk about anything else, your panel would either be very quiet or very short.

 

[Greg Cox]

But if you can't talk about it and don't want to talk about anything else, your panel would either be very quiet or very short.

Oh, there's always something to talk about . . . .

Funny thing, though. Many, many years ago, when I was a young fan, I saw James Doohan speak in Seattle. He was very entertaining, but, a few years later, on the other side of the continent,when I saw him again in Manhattan, I couldn't help noticing that he was pretty much telling the exact same stories the exact same way--in response to what were pretty much the exact same questions.

"How did you develop Scotty's accent?" "What's your favorite episode?" Etc.

Nowadays, when I find myself at a convention giving the same answers to the same questions, and telling the same funny anecdote for the umpteeth time (and, yes, still getting laughs), I often think "Ohmigod. I've become James Doohan."

 

[Jewel]

This is a great thread. I've never been to a con, but I am hoping to go to one this year if one is close enough with actors I would like to see. The one in town later this year hasn't announced the full guest list yet. I also will be meeting some ST actors at one of the Reading Rainbow things next year. I have been trying to think of interesting questions to ask them that they haven't been asked 10 zillion times! I like the suggestions here and hope to see more!