The Energon Pub

On Sunday, the final day of BotCon, mere hours before the close of the convention, our own dear Delicon had the notable opportunity of interviewing Mr. Gregg Berger, most known in our fandom as the voice of G1 Grimlock. Yours truly was honored to be called upon to transcribe the interview as it occurred. For me, it was both a joy and a learning experience, as I had no idea of the sheer number of current projects that Mr. Berger is involved in. Let me assure you, they are numerous. Because of this, we here at Seibertron.Com are truly grateful to Mr. Berger for taking the time to speak with us and provide insight into his amazing and inspiring career.

So, without further ado, the interview:


Delicon: What, generally speaking, has the Botcon experience been like for you so far? Are there any aspects of fandom that surprise you?

Berger: It's more than meets the eye! You have to be here to experience it and feel it. The energy is global, maybe galactic, and accessible to all. They have set the bar so high that the biggest surprise of all is that they have exceeded all expectations! It rocks so hard!


Delicon: The autograph lines have been insane, what is most unusual thing you have autographed both at this convention and overall?

Berger: Although I autographed the inside of several shoes at this con, my most unusual signing ever was an @$$ cheek, which I have been told went straight to a tattooer.


Delicon: What aspects of TransFormers, particularly G1, do you feel influence modern shows, or their creators as something that affected them?

Berger: I think it had, in its time, an enormous effect on people who have now grown into not only a devoted fanbase, but also show creators, and creatives in general. So many people in so many creative circles credit their rabid devotion to Transformers growing up as part of their wonder years, and consequently part of them. I was introduced last week by someone who said, "This is the man who made me late for school and made me rush home after school." That feels so good I can't tell you.


Delicon: You worked with so many voice actors on Transformers and other shows. Name one or two that stand out and why?

Berger: I would say, personally, Scatman Cruthers made me anxious for the times that we were not recording, because he would bring a ukulele or tell stories, and he had such a magical quality about him as a person that I just wanted to sit and listen to whatever he had to say. I still worked with Frank Welker nearly every week on new episodes of "Garfield," but when "Transformers" was working I was the new kid and was awed by his, and everyone's, incredible talent, and Frank's in particular, his sense of fun and play, keeping the sessions always fresh.


Delicon: You've done mostly voice acting, but have a regular acting background as well. Do you have a preference of the two? Is there more job security in voice acting?

Berger: I don't believe there is job security for anyone who feels that they are guaranteed job security. Every opportunity stands alone and must be earned. I love the voiceover community, but I love the on-camera, onstage, and personal appearance opportunities I have been afforded as well. I'm not trying to bail on the question, but the truth is I love whatever I'm doing at the moment.


Delicon: You're most well-known in TransFormers for your portrayal of Grimlock, but you've done a host of characters on many shows. Are there any characters you identify with on a personal level?

Berger: To some degree, all of them, which is how actors should approach their work. But strictly on the optimism level, I would have to say, Spirit from "GI Joe."


Delicon: Final question. Thank you very much for you time today, we greatly appreciate it. This is your opportunity to pitch any upcoming projects, I'm sure fans would love to know.

Berger: I am happily so busy at the moment that I need an air traffic controller! I am Captain Cutter in "Halo Wars", Kingpin in "Spiderman: Web of Shadows", Fred Dukes aka the Blob in "X-men Origins: Wolverine: The Game," two major characters in "Guild Wars 2," and I narrate "Shadow Force" for the History Channel. New "Garfield"s are in production and began airing in May on Cartoon Network UK, so hopefully other markets in the near future. Boy did you pick the right time to ask me that question!

---End Interview---



Something that many non-Botconners may not realize is that most actors who sign autographs at BotCon do so at a small table at some assigned location for a specified amount of time. However, Mr. Berger had his own booth in the Sales Room at the convention, where he signed autographs for anyone who came by during the day. No lines, just come by the booth, bring an item, or buy one of a variety of photos of Gregg and/or Grimlock (as well as some other characters he's voiced). Now, bear in mind that even Big Bad Toy Store has to pay to have a booth in the Sales Room. There's no confirmed proof that Mr. Berger actually paid money to make himself available to the fans for a far longer time, but it certainly seems that way.

In closing, I'd like to once again express how much I, and I'm sure we as a fan community, appreciate Mr. Berger and all of his hard work. It's because of his work, and that of many others, that we enjoy the vast array of Transformers fiction that we do.

good interview. Esp. for those who could not attend his and Michael McConnohie's (sp?) panel on Sunday. Really cool one -he did Grimlock, Eeyore and some others and Michael did Tracks and Cosmos. It's true that Berger had his own table in the dealers section -bet he signed a ton of MP Grimmies (as he likes to call Grimlock). It should also be noted that McConnohie offered to sign past his scheduled time, wherever, for however long it took to get to everybody. Both of these guys are great people.

Thanks so much to Savage for his assistance on this and to Seibertron and First Gen for getting this frontpaged and inserting a couple plugs.

Can someone please bold the parts where my name and Gregg's are for easier reading?

My favorite part had to be the butt cheeks...

Delicon wrote:Thanks so much to Savage for his assistance on this and to Seibertron and First Gen for getting this frontpaged and inserting a couple plugs.

Can someone please bold the parts where my name and Gregg's are for easier reading?

My favorite part had to be the butt cheeks...

Names bolded.

What plugs? Not to steal the glory, lol, but from what I can tell, nothing was inserted into my post, though someone did tweak the Thread title slightly from what I originally posted. I'm guessing that was Seibs making it match the other BotCon update thread titles when he frontpaged it.

First Gen did the edits and I think it only affected the news story version. It is just contact info, basically.

Speaking of which, is there any way we could have a sticky for it for a day or two? So much got posted that I don't think many people saw it. If not, no biggie.

been wantin to ask this for a while, here's the appropriate place i hope -- At this year's SDCC, I got Berger's autograph. The only thing i had TF on me was my ROTF shirt, so he signed it in the shoulder area with a sharpie. I don't intend to wear the shirt again, but I was wondering if I should wash it? Will washing it ruin the autograph?? (sidenote: i'm a little bit leery of washing b/c the shirt was "made" with an iron on press at last year's comic con & is on there, but has a potential to peel/is not very sturdy)