Many of you on this forum have posted your opinion that Kevin Sorbo is becoming a giant ego. Many of you also said you saw signs of it in Tulsa. I was there too and didn't get that feeling. Was there something backstage I missed?

Is it possible that you are mistaking ego for self-confidence, which Kevin definitely has? Anybody who wants to slug their way through the mire that an acting career requires has to be self-confident. If the actor doesn't believe in himself, why should anyone else?

Anyway, I am quite sincerely asking you for some examples of what you base this opinion on. (Something besides the past couple of days worth of quotes on the future of Andromeda, which I have certainly read.) What did he say or what did he do to make you think this way? Is it a matter of interpretation, or should I be questioning things too?

Themis

That's a good question. I can't give you word for word, but I'll tell you some of the things that put me off. I was very disheartened in the way he cut people off mid-sentence. The people who were there had put a lot of time and money into getting to see him, and he cut them off. That's disappointing. I was also irritated to see him hug every woman and child who asked, but when a guy asked to have his picture taken, the answer was "No. Everyone will want one." There really wasn't that much time left for him to be on stage. Even if the last ten minutes had been taken up with people wanting pictures with their questions, would that have been so bad?

Then he opted out of the dinner with the stars. I know a lot of people had been counting on that too. He knew about it ahead of time; in fact, that was a selling point, but he just couldn't find time to do the dinner with the stars and his fans...

Now I have always been of the mind that these sci-fi shows are only television. They're just pretend and fun and no big deal. However, it's common knowledge that many sci-fi fans look at it practically as a way of life. When presented with questions by these people, his answer of "It's just a TV show." might have been amusing to me, but it was belittling to a lot of people. Same with him saying, "If you're going to get technical, my eyes are going to roll back in my head." I thought it was funny, as I'm not terribly serious about it, and I find a lot of fans are rediculously caught up in something that's not real. However, I can see how that would be insulting to the fans that take this stuff very seriously. Those who take notes and memorize names, places, titles, and entire scenes from sci-fi shows that I've never even heard of, might be hurt by that sort of comment.

Surely he knows his fan base better than to say that stuff in public.

There were definitely humanizing moments during the con, which I was happy to see, but I also saw moments when I was disappointed.

Shhh,
Whisper

Hiya Themis, it's lovely to see you here

My feeling that Kevin was becoming a bit ego-driven started a few years back now. I really fought the feeling, but it just wouldn't go away. The day we got to meet him down here in Sydney just made that feeling stronger. I wish that I could give you good solid reasons for that gut feeling, after all, he went out of his way to come and talk to us, even after the security guys tried to steer him away. But there was just this...attitude he had, you know? I wish I could put it into concrete words for you, but I can't. It just made me very uncomfortable. Something I've NEVER felt around Smithy.

Then there were his problems with John Schulian in the early days of HTLJ, which seemed to be as much a clash of personalities as it was about creative differences. I tried to dismiss that too, thinking there are two sides to every story, which there are. But then came Andromeda, and so often I'd see interviews and read stuff, and in the end, I just...turned away from him. Because I do genuinely feel (and of course it's just MHO - I wouldn't seek to push it on to anyone else) that he has fallen for the Hollywood Ego Trap. These past several days would seem to well and truly confirm that. I know he's notorious for planting both feet firmly in his mouth, but right now my antennae are screaming EGO! EGO!!!

Dunno if that answers your question or not, but there you have it.

Kendaa

and I know a couple of others have.

I think some of the difference between Smithy and sorbo might easily be because of the different cultures they come from.

Gotta run this morning.

Nice to see ya Themis! lol, i can't answer your question at all, as never seen the man in person myself, so others will hafta answer for you. I've been a fan for less time than some of the others also, but the whole time it's been "Hercules" the character, that drew me, not so much the man behind the character...call me shallow I guess, but I always just wanted the fantasy man, didn't at first even want to hear anything about Sorbo himself...didn't want the fantasy bubble burst if I learned he was a jerk in real life, lol, had enough jerks in real life as it is. LOL, so, it sounds like he has gotten bit by the ego bug but from other things I've heard of him overall, think he's still a good man, just a little offtrack right now.
Still prefer Hercules over Andromeda, like the group mix on the latter also, and will still be a fan, and rofl, as shallow as it may be, Sorbo can still send me "thudding" in a heartbeat! maybe he'll get his ego under control here, and as for not wanting to answer any tech questions, maybe it's cuz he just doesn't pay as much attention to it as do some of his fans? granted, he shoulda just admitted he couldn't keep up with it instead, who knows, we all say things the wrong way at times, lol, i'm notorious at it myself!
love and hugs,
Sapph

I hope we've helped some. shrug It's hard to hear and hard to say things like these about people you want to respect.

{{{{Themis}}}} You're a good person for searching out the answers yourself.

Shhh,
Whisper

I've had self confidence in myself called arrogance so I think you make a valid point. There are some paradigms in American culture that I've found often lead to a confusion between self confidence and arrogance. To me it's a matter of degree. Arrogance is self confidence taken too far.

I wasn't at Tulsa BUT I got to see Kevin last January at the Rudy gold tournament. I didn't really get a chance to talk to him because yours truly couldn't get up the guts even when he like tried to talk to me.

I didn't get a sense of arrogance from him them but he oozes self confidence. Seems to me that to be an actor and deal with the kind of rejection that process involves requires self confidence and I don't fault Kevin for that.

I think Whisper makes some good points about Tulsa. However I knew long before the fest that Kevin wouldn't be at the celebrity dinner. His fan club made that very clear that because of andromeda taping and the impending strike concerns he had to basically appear and then leave. So I don't have a problem with that. I DO have a problem with his flippness. And I think it happens to him with bigger crowds. At Pasadena during the CON appearance he was kinda flip and short with some fans. But in the much SMALLER fan club event he was the most gracious kind man. I was a total mess and he must have thought I was some kind of head case and he was gracious and nice and wonderful and full of genuine affection for his fans.

And I saw the pictures of him with that girl who gave him her special olympics medal. That was NOT fake. He was obviously close to tears that a fan would give him something so special.

Frankly I think that maybe he gets impatient with all the swooning. I also think that the more nervous he is, the more likely he is to insert his foot into his mouth. I think he was partially responsible for what happened to Robert but I also think he was in the middle. I've been the victim of ugly work politics. It's never a clean cut case of good guys and gad guys.

Okay that said, the things he's said in the recent interviews about the coming Andromeda changes IF they are accurate, come off as very uncharacteristically dismissive of his fans. But you know how these interviews are. He could have been misquoted, quoted out of context, who KNOWS. I told him candidly that he had come off this way in the letter I wrote and I hope that rather than being angry at me he'll take it to heart and pay more attention to how he gets represented when he gives these interviews.

Sorry for the length of this but I wanted to say this to you guys because you're my friends and you know how much of a hero Kevin has been AND REMAINS to me.

Lil

YGG! Well expressed.

I do have to say though, and as always, this is just MY opinion and feelings , yes, he does have a lot of self-confidence and good on him for having it. I wish I could be that self-confident

However, speaking for moi, I'm also intelligent enough to know the difference between self-confidence and arrogance, and IMHO Kevin has definitely crossed the line. Note the word opinion there

Very good covering of backside there, Kendaa. I do believe you have perfected the art!!! LOL!

So, are you up for giving lessons?!

{{{{{{{{{{{{Kendaa}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Shhh,
Whisper

<I do have to say though, and as always, this is just MY opinion and feelings , yes, he does have a lot of self-confidence and good on him for having it. I wish I could be that self-confident>
Tell me about it. I could use a dose of that myself:)

<However, speaking for moi, I'm also intelligent enough to know the difference between self-confidence and arrogance, and IMHO Kevin has definitely crossed the line. Note the word opinion there .

shrug Well, I think one's opinion of where the line is is a matter of perception..;)

Based on the times I've actually seen him live I'd disagree, that he's crossed the line. But in these recent interview about Andromeda I think he has IF they're accurate. I mean, he's an actor, not a show creator like Robert. How the hell does HE presume to know what stories are too smart for casual viewers. How does HE presume to know whether we mere mortals have the capability to handle gasp...continuity in stories and character,let alone character tension. I mean, who exactly does he think he is? Hercules?

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Kendaa}}}}}}}}}}}

Of course this is all just my own view of it, admittedly colored by the abiding and rather deep hero worship I have for the man.:)

Lil

It is definitely a matter of perception. Unfortunately for me, my perception of him started to change on the occasion when I did meet him.

And even more unfortunately, recent events have me convinced my perception is correct, shrug.

Yeah, I'd give anything for that kind of self-confidence, I really would.

{{{{{{{{{{{{{Lil}}}}}}}}}}}

Whisper you have only confirmed the suspicion I had about the dinner. I was told ever since then (when I mentioned he backed out of the dinner) he was never confirmed.

I knew I wasn't going insane.

Hi ya themis...

Kendaa, I hope I didn't hurt your feelings!! I was only teasing! {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Kendaa}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Kate, actually, I think I was wrong. Lil said that she knew ahead of time that he wouldn't be showing at the supper with the stars. I have no idea why I didn't know. That was the only reason I bought the ticket. It's just weird. I would never have purchased it, or I would have given it to someone at the con who wanted it had I ever ever ever been told prior to his time slot (unfortunately, I didn't take the ticket for the dinner with me to the con, or I would've given it away then, rather than throwing it away later). Anyway, I can't fault him because I received bad information.

Shhh,
Whisper

I can't fault him because I clearly misunderstood the information that was given to me.

{{{{{{{{{{{{Whisper}}}}}}}}}}

I'm so sorry if I gave you that impression - truth is, I just now even noticed what you said, LMAO!!!!! You KNOW what I'm like when I've just staggered outta bed!

Silly Amazon - fancy thinking you could hurt my feelings! *******SMACK****** Not in this lifetime nor any other, my friend

Sure, if ya want lessons - I'll be very glad to give 'em, snicker - just go read my posts from the Old Days It pays to cover yer butt, LMAO!!!!

Just wanted to add... This is a potentially inflammatory topic (just witness the SS right now), so I wanted to make absolutely certain that everyone knew I wasn't flaming anyone, and was just giving a personal opinion.

Does that make sense? If not, someone PLEASE order some intravenous caffeine for moi!!!

Those old posts were covering your butt?!! LOL! I thought they were letting it all hang out!!!


g,r,&d!!

Shhh,
Whisper

Who is glad she didn't offend!

LMAO!!!!! THESE days I just add a million disclaimers so absolutely everyone will be 1000% clear on my intentions, LOL!!!!!

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{W}}}}}}}}}}}}

Cleverly disguised Not-So-Humble-Opinion?!

You got it!

I think there are a couple of people who haven't been heard from here, but thanks to everyone who responded. I'm glad to see opinions are based on something tangible, even though it is still down to interpretation of that something. I still have no beefs with the man as a person or as an actor. Time will tell whether I have beefs about his Andromeda decisions! Just wish we could find out who has the final "veto" power on the show.

Themis