Celebrity Guest Star C. Andrew Nelson, actor, visual effects artist, animator, and lecturer.

I don't even know. Hi everyone! Yes, we have a couple of special guest stars here. Next to me we got this cute girl named Alana, halfway in, halfway out, either way. And I'm very excited to introduce Shamim Dana, my friend and celebrity liaison. And with our special guest today, C. Andrew Nelson. Who is C. Andrew Nelson? I bet you if you're a fan of, uh, like cosplay, right, or Star Wars, you will know who he is. So I— but I'm gonna let him introduce himself because it was so long, it would have taken me like hours and this thing would have strolled, like it would have just kept going. So C. Andrew Nelson, introduce yourself.

Greetings from the dark side. I know I don't look very dark, but you know, this is what a Sith Lord wears on his day off. So I'm an actor. Visual effects artist, animator, voiceover performer, and genuine Dark Lord of the Sith. I spent, uh, 12 years playing the character of Darth Vader for Lucasfilm and Lucas Companies on film, for television, for commercials, print ads, video games, magazine covers, toy packaging— everywhere the character was needed. Uh, but as I mentioned, I'm also a visual effects artist and animator. I spent 6 years at LucasArts, the game company, designing and creating games there. Both Star Wars games and non-Star Wars games, and then moved over to Industrial Light Magic after that and worked as a visual effects artist there on the Star Wars prequels and films like Galaxy Quest and Jurassic Park III and Perfect Storm and a bunch of others. I've also taught visual effects at the university level. I ran the visual effects department at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco for about 2 and a half years and have been freelancing as a visual effects and animation consultant since then. I also travel around as a public speaker and motivational speaker, speaking at college campuses and different events all around the country, all around the world. And I'm also a fish tank fanatic, which you can see over there, and even have a whole YouTube channel called Aquaticity about that. So I stay busy.

Whoa, okay, so it's just so amazing. So I have to admit to everyone, just right straight off, I, I really am not like— I've never really seen it.

That's it then, this interview is over. I'm sorry, no, I'm just kidding.

No, you really want to talk to someone like me because that's the whole idea. So, so, so you go to— so Darth Vader is Darth Vader. He's— is he a good guy?

He is a, uh, he— well, that's, that's an interesting way of asking it there. Um, Vader is, uh, he starts off I mean, again, spoilers if nobody's seen the Star Wars films. This is spoilers for you. He starts off as a young guy named Anakin Skywalker who is a Jedi Knight in training who is a good guy. He's kind of like, if you want to find somebody in history, he's kind of like, I would say, like Paul the Apostle who started off as Saul of Tarsus, was kind of led astray by some people that gave him some wrong information. Does some terrible things, but then has an encounter that changes his life and he becomes a good guy. Well, Vader's story is kind of like that. It's that he started off as a young Jedi, was persuaded by the Emperor to do some very bad things. He becomes one of the Sith, which are the sort of the opposite of the Jedi, the evil ones. He then becomes this monstrous villain One of the most iconic villains in cinema history, but then eventually is redeemed by his son, Luke Skywalker. Yes.

Oh, I know who Darth Vader is.

This guy.

So, so, see, so I love it. Professor Nelson, so were you— so, so is it because you're tall? Like, what? Like, tell me about the day that— because I mean, who wouldn't want to work for Mr. Lucas? So tell me about like the whole process when you heard about that there was like this, it was open, and then going for the audition, and then what happened after that?

Um, I was already working for Lucas. I, uh, had started working at LucasArts, the game company, in 1993, uh, February 1st, 1993. And, um, I originally started in customer support because I was looking for any, you know, foot in the door. And that's kind of what you have to do, you know, sometimes if you want to work for some company or someplace or some person, you just got to find a foot in the door. And for me, it was customer support, which was basically if, if you, if you bought a, a game from LucasArts and you couldn't get it to run on your computer and you were all angry and you looked at the back of the manual and you found that 800 number, I was the poor guy that answered the phone to help troubleshoot things for you. I did that for about a year and then submitted my portfolio to the art director, and she took a look at that and took a look at my resume and said, this— well, this is basically junior-level stuff. And it's like, oh gosh, you know, stick the knife in and twist it. But she looked at my resume and saw that I had a background in video, and that was when LucasArts was just starting to incorporate full-motion video in their games. And she was going to be designing a game that had full motion video in it. And so she brought me into the art department at the very bottom of the ladder, a position called art technician. So I wasn't even creating art. I was taking art that the artists were making that was in millions of colors and then dropping the palette down to 256 colors because that was what Windows can handle at that time. And I had to still make it look good. So the first game I worked on was a game called Mortimer and the Riddles of the Medallion. And if you say you remember it, folks, you're lying. It didn't sell very well. It was actually a really cool game about a flying snail. It was, it was, it was an edutainment game, so you learned about animals. But the, the game— but when I started on the game, I was art technician. By the time the game shipped, I was lead effects animator and then became a visual effects supervisor and senior artist soon after that. But one day I was sitting at my desk at LucasArts and doing my job, minding my own business, and my phone rings. And it was the head of public relations. It was a woman who was sitting upstairs from me. And she starts off the conversation not with hello, but with, hey Andrew, how tall are you? I said, I'm 6'5", why do you ask? Well, she was about 5'1", so I figured she just wanted me to come upstairs and get something down off a shelf for her. But then she says, do you have any acting experience? Thinking, gosh, where's this going? And at that point, I had— I've been acting since I was 10 years old. So I had had about, you know, 20, 22 years of theater and film and television experience. And I let her know that. And then she says, can you breathe for me? So you put the pieces together in your head and you go, okay, well, how tall are you? Do you have any acting experience? It's a Lucas company. 'Can you breathe for me?' And I leaned into my phone and I went like that. And I said, 'So, so what's going on?' And they were looking for somebody to play Vader for a charity event for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. So they want to have the, you know, the kids be able to have a chance to have their photo taken with Vader. It was a meet and greet. So I went up to Skywalker Ranch, I tried on the costume at the archives building, It fit. We did that one event, and I just thought, oh my gosh, that's like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. That's never going to happen again. I just thank God I had a chance to do it. But then they called me back for something else and something else, and eventually I ended up playing Vader 70 times over 12 years. That's a 7-0. '94.

So what year was it? What was the year the first, the first time?

No, no, I'm not.

By the way, you're a young guy.

God bless you for saying so. No, I am— that was actually 9 years old. Thank you.

No, actually, actually, wait, no, wait, no, that was a test.

You should have said—

oh no, no, we're both younger than she seems.

We're both incredibly—

oh, I was good.

I was testing you. You failed that test. So good.

Jerry—

oh, so funny. Jerry Cornell asked Andrew, is there a good story of you in the Vader costume you could share? Must be something.

Um, yeah, the, uh, the first time I put on the costume, it was very disorienting, uh, because you, you just don't realize how big and bulky it is. The, you know, the lenses of the mask sort of created a bit of a distortion, uh, when you're looking through them. So it was a little unnerving at first. That you're kind of sealed inside this, this, this big costume. Uh, it is 17 pieces if you include the lightsaber that's hanging off the belt. It's 17 pieces. You put it on very slowly, so it's like the straw that breaks the camel's back, you know. You have to put it on very slowly. It takes about 40 or 45 minutes to get into the costume. It takes about 5 minutes to get out at the end of the day because you don't care what it looks like at that point. When you're putting it on, you want to make sure that everything is just right, that the lines of the, of the under tunic there sort of, uh, going straight up and down, the cape is in the right place and the chest box is in the right place and there's no smudges on the helmet or anything like that, no fingerprints. So it takes about 45 minutes to get in and about 5 minutes to get out because, you know, just get me out of it, it's hot. It's, you know, turn it inside out if you have to. But that first time that I had it on, I was a little woozy, it was weird. Maybe I was swooning because I was such a fanboy or something, but it was kind of a strange thing. But there This— there's so many different adventures that I've had, you know, playing Vader. I almost caught on fire one time. We were doing a commercial for Kenner Toys, and the— in the commercial, there was a kid who's, you know, in his room playing with his Star Wars action figures. He hears a noise behind him, he turns around, he looks, and lasers are cutting through his closet door. The whole thing falls to the floor, the room floods with light, and in come two stormtroopers and Darth Vader. And the kid's like, whoa, you know. So, uh, typical, you know, what you're supposed to do in these, these short commercials. We have to overreact and whoa. Okay, he was great, he was great. But, um, so we're waiting back there, myself and the two stormtrooper actors are waiting behind this breakaway door, and they've got this thing, you know, just flooded with light. This is back in the day before we had, you know, uh, LED lighting, so it was some pretty hot lighting. And even through the back of that thick fiberglass helmet and mask, I could feel the heat. And it was like, wow, that is hot. And then all of a sudden somebody goes, you smell smoke? And they looked and it was the cape. The cape was this big, you know, wool cape, full circle wool cape, and it was starting to smoke. And they were like, kill the lights, kill the lights! And they had to take the cape. We were shooting in a studio in Connecticut. Uh, and it was wintertime, and so they ran outside in the cold air and waved it around in the cape in the cold air. And yeah, just a few more seconds and I probably would have burst into flames. So yeah, yeah, it's the hottest toy, literally.

So I— so like, so my first thought is like, wait, did you have like a little air conditioning, like, okay, let me just put the air conditioning up and get me down to 65. How many—

what was the longest amount of time that you were actually literally in one thing where I didn't take the mask off or anything like that? Was about 45, 50 minutes. It was a live event that I was doing. But the longest that I wore the costume was almost 21 hours straight. I was shooting a commercial for, uh, M&M's. Oh, for dark chocolate M&M's. So Vader's turning them to the dark side. But I was doing a print ad and a TV commercial for M&M's. We only had one day to shoot them in. So that's why I was in the costume all day long from, you know, before sunup to after sundown, you know. And so, because when they didn't need me for the commercial, they needed me for the print ad and back and forth. And we had to go all the way down to Buenos Aires, Argentina to shoot it because the advertising agency from New York had a $300,000 budget, but they wanted to make a million-dollar commercial. And with the exchange rate, the dollar went 3 times as far. So that's where we ended up. And we had to rebuild an entire set from Episode 3, Revenge of the Sith. But because we're in Buenos Aires, beautiful, sunny Buenos Aires, and they had the studio door open half the time, that made it even hotter for me. So I actually lost 5 pounds just sweating.

So I'm going to have to ask the question that most mothers want to know. "So how do you go to the bathroom? Are you eating?

Are you drinking?" That particular day I never actually had to go. I just sweated it out. I literally sweated it out. I mean, they probably could have taken that costume and wrung it out at the end of the day. It was just really, just so much sweat. No, to actually go use the facilities, you actually have to take the whole darn thing off. There's just no escape hatch or anything like that.

Amazing. And, and so, so now are you also like on scene? So you're meeting with, uh, George Lucas and like the rest of the team?

I actually had a brush with George before I even started working for Lucasfilm as an actor. I was cast as a, as a rocker in the film Howard the Duck from 1986. And, uh, so, so I was on set, and, uh, as much as George might like to divorce himself from that film because it's not a good film It's an enjoyable film because it's not— I mean, it's in sort of a mystery science theater kind of sense, but it's not classic cinema in any sense of the word. But George was right there on set, so I actually saw him there. That was the first time I saw George. But I had already met George at LucasArts before playing Vader, and then certainly afterwards, you know, spent time with George as Vader, and then as a visual effects artist working at Industrial Light Magic. I would sit with George Lucas in dailies, you know, as we, we reviewing all the different effect shots, you know, that were finished the night before.

Did you know that it was going to be—

I mean, I was— when Star Wars came out, I was, uh, I remember I saw Star Wars about maybe 6 days shy of my 15th birthday, but all I had seen was the trailer, and then all of a sudden there was this buzz, you know, about everything. But yeah, I mean, I think I do know this. When I saw the trailer— and I'm frozen again here, hold on a second. Let me— having some issues with my, uh, brand new webcam, but it's okay.

Yeah, don't worry about it. Kind of, it kind of— this app kind of works it all out.

So, so my, uh— you're fine. I remember when the, when the trailer first came out in, in '77, that, that, uh, that that one that starts with, you know, "Somewhere in space, this may all be happening right now." I remember everybody I knew was like, "Oh my gosh, what is that?" 'Cause we'd never seen anything like that. But at the same time, nobody knew it was gonna be big except for Steven Spielberg, who actually had a bet with George. Everybody else said that it wasn't gonna do that well. George himself was concerned, and he had a bet with Steven Spielberg that, uh, and Spielberg said it's going to be a smash hit. And of course Spielberg was right, and George Lucas is still paying on that bet. It was— he gave him a percentage, a little small percentage.

The second, I'm kind of curious, and I don't want to forget because, you know, we're old, um, So Star Wars just opened up at Disney, right? And I think, I think it's— is it maybe like $1,400 a night or maybe $2,500?

Oh, you're talking about the big hotel down at Walt Disney World, right?

Yeah. Yes, yes. Have you been invited? Are you— can you call and say, hey, um, Darth Vader, and I want to spend the night?

No, that's not going to happen. I mean, if it does— I mean, if anybody's, you know, from Walt Disney World is listening, hey, you know, call me. I'd love to come down and help you publicize it. But, uh, Yeah, it looks amazing. A little pricey, but I don't know, I don't know if that price is justified. But my gosh, they— you have to, you have to give it to Walt Disney Imagineering. They put everything into that. I mean, it's amazing.

It sounds amazing. Okay, so we have Jerry Cornell asked the question, and Max Wood says hello to you, Shamim. All right, and okay, so we got that one. Of all the films you worked on as a visual effect artist, which one was your favorite to work on?

Not only was it my favorite project that I've worked on as a visual effects artist, I mean, in spite of Star Wars, it's actually my favorite project that I've ever worked on. And it's my favorite movie. It really is. It's my favorite movie of all time. I just absolutely love that film. It has so much heart and so much soul. In fact, I've often joked that if the last known copy of Citizen Kane and the last known copy of Galaxy Quest were in a burning building and I only had time to save one, Oh, bye-bye Rosebud. I'm gonna save Galaxy Quest. I just absolutely loved it. I had so much fun working on it. We had a really great team at Industrial Light and Magic working on it. And, you know, the interesting thing is when you work in visual effects, you can work for, you know, months to years on a movie, and you don't know if the movie you're working on is any good until it comes out in theaters. Because when you see it, I mean, when you're working on it, You see it all out of sequence, you see it without sound, you see your portion of the movie that you're working on, and that's about it. Unless you're the visual effects supervisor, and then you maybe see more than that. But when we were working on Galaxy Quest at Industrial Light and Magic, the studio sent us a rough cut of the movie, and that just really never happens in this industry. And so we all crammed into one of the studios at ILM and, uh, started working on the— I started, you know, watching the, the, the the, the rough cut, and, um, we were, we were just amazed. We're like, oh my gosh, this movie's great! And we were just really excited to get it finished. So yeah, I'm very staunchly proud of having worked on Galaxy Quest. And if you haven't seen the film, you gotta see it. It's, it's worth seeing. And then if you've seen the movie, go watch the documentary. There's a wonderful documentary called Never Surrender, which is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen about the making of a movie. So You can find it on Amazon Prime, I think.

Oh, interesting. I want to write that down. So, Never Surrender. I, you know, what I know of the Star Wars is that when the movie came out, so it would be promoted and people were getting their tickets way before so that nobody wanted to not have a ticket for the opening night. And I remember thinking, is that— was that one of the first movies that actually caused that kind of buzz? Before there were people were there.

It was theaters, and they managed to get some kind of, of, of, uh, you know, word of mouth out early, uh, and people were just like, you know, saying, oh, you've got to see this movie. So, uh, that's what, uh, yeah, that was what happened. Also, you have to realize that back in the day, um, before Star Wars, big films were never released in summer, you know. Uh, Star Wars and Lucasfilm actually changed the way that the whole Hollywood system works. It changed the way that movies are made and released and marketed and licensed and everything. None of this stuff that we're used to now was, was, was happening then. Um, summer was where studios dumped movies that they didn't know how to market. You have to remember that when George was trying to get Star Wars made, um, it was turned down by every studio in Hollywood. Including Universal Studios, and George had already had a hit with American Graffiti, and they still passed on Star Wars because it was expensive, they didn't know what to do with it, and it was Alan Ladd Jr. at 20th Century Fox that took a chance on George. And at the time, it was a very expensive movie for them. You know, it was like $9.5 million, which seems like, you know, pittance nowadays, but back then it was a lot. You know, in '76 when they were shooting. Um, but, uh, when that film came out, it was, you know, it did gangbusters at the box office. There was only one other film that was released in summer because the studio didn't know what to do with it that actually did well in summer, and that was Jaws in, uh, in '74, I think that was, or '75. But, uh, it, you know, they, they, uh, everybody thought that was a fluke. But then when Star Wars became a hit and it just kept bringing people in all summer long, uh, that's when things started to shift. So that's now why you see all the big tentpole movies come out in the summer and then others at Christmas. Before, it wasn't like that.

Wow.

I think the whole thing with science fiction is so interesting. And honestly, um, Or Professor Nelson? Okay, so I think that maybe that's like in my own mind, I said to myself, I don't like sci-fi. And then, but now actually with like, like, and that, oh, it couldn't happen. I only like movies that where it's real and you know, that, you know, there's more substance to it. So I think I kind of like turned myself off for some reason. But now with everything going on and our taking inspiration up, which is so exciting, I mean, what do you think? Maybe there really could be a Darth Vader out there up somewhere in the sky.

I don't know.

What are your thoughts?

I will say this. I mean, I actually believe that Star Wars isn't a science fiction film. I believe it is a fantasy tale. It's mythology. And George kind of patterned this after Joseph Campbell's writings on mythology. And Shamim, you can back me up on this. I mean, I don't think it's really a science fiction film. It's more of science fantasy. And I think George took all the things that he loved growing up, you know, Westerns, uh, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, um, uh, you know, uh, uh, Oliver Hardy and, you know, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, which is what, you know, kind of Threepio and R2 are, uh, you, uh, you know, the, the, uh, Kurosawa movies, you know, Akira Kurosawa, all of his films, like, you know, Seven Samurai and that sort of thing, uh, Yojimbo. I, this is— I think George took all this stuff and just kind of, you know, figured out, well, what's the, the, the, the— what's the best part of all of these? And, you know, and then that's, I think, what he did is he just put it all together into one thing, and, and it worked. And he just kind of tied it together with this sort of the, the sort of the, that the science fiction, you know, motif, but it's really more of a fantasy tale. It's really more— I mean, the whole thing of the Sith and the Jedi and the Force, it's really more of a fantasy tale. And remember, you know, people say that science fiction, you know, it's stuff that happens in the future, but Star Wars begins with a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

So, oh yes, you're right. And then they had the prequel and the post— like, they— so there were times too where you really— I, I never knew, like, if you didn't watch one, did you have to watch the other one? Can I just go in and watch Galaxy Quest?

Yeah, Star Wars is a series, and it began with Episode IV because George didn't know if he was going to be able to make more than one movie. So he started off with— and he wanted to pattern it after the old movie serials like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. And, uh, so he, he started with the the one that he figured he could actually get made, because some of them were beyond— I mean, his vision for them was beyond what you could do in a movie at the time. So, uh, so that's why he started off with Star Wars, which was released under the title Star Wars and then was re-released about a year later as Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. And then after that became Star Wars Episode V: Empire Strikes Back, and then Episode VI: Revenge of the Sith. Then you have 16 years before you get episodes 1, 2, and 3.

So amazing, amazing. All right, so I wanted to ask you, so actually, have— so Disney having Star Wars Hotel, I think that's good because I think there's a new generation. Not everyone, you know, like a lot of my friends are like, I don't watch Star Wars, and I'm like, me either. Um, so I'm the perfect person to interview Andrew because I don't know anything. So, um, so I'm a fan of you now, but but I have to really go back and watch. But I think that's good that, that they're, um, you know, kind of bringing it back. So I want to ask you about like the cosplay and like the Comic-Cons. And what was your first Comic-Con? And then we will have Shamim kind of go in a little bit with that. But like, so you— so tell— I just want to try to understand that. And maybe we should just— I don't know if everyone knows what a Comic-Con is. I'm lucky enough that 3 years ago I went to my first one.

But can you describe a Comic-Con? Fandom convention or anything like that is, is where fans of different genres or different TV shows or movies that— or comic books— they gather together to meet people who had worked on those franchises that they're fans of, or to meet artists and actors, to meet each other, to dress up in costume, which is what cosplay is. And in and just sort of celebrate what it is that we're all nerds about, you know. And as a, you know, as, you know, growing up, I spent many years on the other side of the table at these conventions, you know, before I was ever asked to sit down on the guest side with a stack of photos and a handful of Sharpies, you know, to sign autographs. And I never lose sight of that. It's something that— it's just, it's a lot of fun. You know, there's trade shows and things like that, but, but there's, you know, for all kinds of things that people are interested in. But when it comes down to the Comic-Cons, it's got a very different vibe. It's a lot more heart to it. I think it's because you're celebrating something that you're all fans of. And so they have them all over the country, all over the world, a lot of different— you know, some of them are really big, some of them are very small. The first show that I did, I mean, I actually turned it down for many years. I didn't didn't do it. And then I finally said, okay, I'll be a guest at these shows if I can do it to help raise money for charity. And so I raised money for the Starlight Children's Foundation. And I— the first show that I did was a show in Chicago in 2005, and it was the Chicagoland Entertainment Collectors Expo. And the interesting thing is, from that show, I have friends, both famous and not famous, that I have, that have been my, my friends now because I met them at that show, you know, 16 years ago. And it's, it's incredible. And I still stay in touch with them. That's the nice thing about these conventions, because you meet people who then can be, you know, friends for life, like Shamim. So that's your cue, buddy. Okay, exactly.

I actually, I actually think it's good. I actually think it's very good for, um I think it's good for a lot of people to get dressed up and to get your confidence and maybe to, you know, to play a role that's somebody else. And, you know, for like some people's mental health, I think it really is special. And, uh, and, you know, I, I mean, I've gone and I've— some of the women are just absolutely so beautiful. It's incredible. I got to meet Alan Bellman. I don't know if you remember Alan Bellman. He's like one of the first to be like with Stan Lee doing Captain America. But Jerry Cornell has another question. Have you ever voiced any Star Wars character And Eddie, yeah, well, as I mentioned at the beginning, I am, I am a voice actor.

I do voices for games and animation. One of the characters that I've voiced over the years was Luke Skywalker for some of the LucasArts games. So that makes me the first actor to officially portray both Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. So apparently that also makes me either my own father or my own son, which is kind of weird.

So when you're motivating, so when you're going out there and speaking now, I just like to know, what, what is that What does that look like? What is your motivational speech about?

First, my own personal motivation for doing it is that I feel that I'm very fortunate and very blessed to be able to do what I do for a living, and I don't take it for granted. I tell people I'm an ordinary guy who gets to do extraordinary things, and I would be remiss if I just sort of held on to all that. You've got to pay it forward. You've got to pass it on to others. So one of the reasons why I ended up teaching When I worked on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones at Industrial Light Magic, I left there, was, you know, running the visual effects department at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and then my students, some of my students ended up working on Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. So it's that kind of thing to be able to, you know, empower other people and to take the gift that you've been given, this wonderful gift that I've been given of being able to do all these things, and to pass it on and give it to others. So when I teach, when I, when I go and I lecture, I will— I mean, a lot of times I'll lecture about— people just want to hear about my career, which is fine, um, or they want to hear about Star Wars. And I've, I've lectured on topics like, you know, how Star Wars changed the way that movies are made, that kind of thing. But also what I lecture on is how other people can do what I've done. You know, it doesn't matter whether it's, it's, you know, this same field or whatever. And I have a 5-point topic, or a 5-topic lecture that I do called the, the 5 Ts, because it's 5 things that all begin with the letter T that, you know, that help you get hired, remain employed, and stay sane in the process. And those things are talent, timing, temperament, temptation, and tenacity. You have to keep all 5 of those things in mind as you're pursuing whatever it is that you want to do. But I also do a lot of lecturing at like high schools and colleges.

Oh, that'd be especially—

I love to do it for high schools because at this point that's where people get to meet who they are for the first time. You get to meet yourself and all your likes and dislikes, and you have to understand that, you know, you're going to build upon that. And then in about 5 or 10 years, you're going to meet yourself again and you're going to have different likes and dislikes, but you're not changing who you are, you're building upon it. But that's that moment, you know, in high school. And for me, it was a very defining thing in high school. I mean, that was when a lot of this stuff kicked in, my interest in acting and filmmaking and everything. And there was always that— everybody's got that one teacher that inspired them. I had my drama teacher really inspired me to pursue all the creative stuff that I'm doing. And so, you know, that's what I teach on. That's what I lecture on.

I, I, first of all, it's just so beautiful. I really see a book. You must have a book coming, 5Ts or something. And I think that's great. I wanted just a shout out. Neil Arcan says hi, Shamim. Ryan Ramsey says hi, I'm watching. And so very, very nice. You know, I— what would be the one lesson that I think Shamile is going to speak, but I just want to hear one thing. What is the one lesson that Darth Vader would teach a room?

I don't know, what do you think, Shamile? What do you think would be the one lesson that Darth Vader would teach? Oh, he's got his— his microphone's not working here. Hold on a minute. Um, I think, let's see, the one lesson he would teach would be— I think he would be always be prepared. Because I mean, that's not necessarily an evil dark side thing. But Vader always seems to be prepared for everything. Well, almost everything. And so I think that would be the one good lesson that you could get from the dark side. Because he's always ready for the opportunities that come up. And he's always prepared to defend himself or to— attack and battle or whatever. But, but to take that and put a positive spin on it, I think, yeah, you always have to be prepared. And I always think that, you know, you have to be ready for, for opportunities, because they're everywhere. Everywhere. Every day of your life, there are opportunities that come your way. Are you ready for them? You know, I don't believe in luck. I think luck is an acquired skill. You can learn to be lucky. It's basically just being— it's just preparedness meeting opportunity. And so that'd be my one lesson, I think, from Vader there.

Vader would preach focus.

Oh, true. Yes, focus. That is important. And I'm not a focused guy. I really am not. There's another reason why I do so many different things in life is because I'm not focused. I, it's like, I'll do this for a little bit. And then it's like, oh, yeah, I like doing this too. And oh, I like doing that. So yeah, it takes a while for me to focus on things. Now, when I'm actually in the moment doing things, like if I'm working on a visual effects shot or I'm acting or something like that, yeah, I'm focused at that moment. But there's an interesting book called "Refuse to Choose," and it's talking about how there are some people in life that they just can't pick one thing to do. And I'm definitely one of those things. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Do this, do that. And I'm one of these people that has more ideas than I will ever have time to ever bring to fruition. But I still write them all down. I still work on them. And eventually, sometimes I circle back and find them again and actually make them happen.

Maybe that's because we're going on a focus.

Focus is very important.

You're on the cusp of Cancer and Gemini. That's interesting. I kind of have the same thing. There's a couple more comments, but I just want to say, right now that I find that you are so genuine, so kind. Like, there's always been like that thing like, oh, it gets to your head. I never really knew what that means, but like, oh, but you have not—

bring my limousine over here now. No, I'm just kidding.

You are so down to earth and so kind to even do this. Like, I know you love Shameem, and this is so nice to actually be interviewed by someone who's never seen a Star Wars.

Well, if Shameem's microphone would work, I could tell you that. Yeah, I don't know any other way to be. I really don't know any, any way to be. I, I, I've tried to be pretentious. It doesn't work. And if you think I'm down to earth, my wife Veronica Loud is even more down to earth. She's the least pretentious person I've ever known. She's just, you know, for real, and what you see is what you get. And she's a wonderfully talented actress and artist as well. So, and she actually worked on, on, on Phantom Menace too. She helped us with the, uh, She's a wonderful photographer and we needed clouds for the ground battle on the planet of Naboo because George wanted beautiful puffy white clouds on there. As I was working on these backgrounds for these effects shots, we ran out of clouds. We had a whole library of stock photos of clouds at ILM and we burned through it so fast. My wife, being the wonderful photographer that she is, it had rained the night before. I'd mentioned this, that we need more clouds and it rained the night before. The next day it was beautiful puffy white clouds in the sky, just what we needed. And total rock star move— while she's driving down the street in San Francisco, she sees those clouds, gets her camera, leans outside the, the, the window of her— of the car and snaps these amazing photos, which, you know, Lucasfilm paid her for. And that's how we finished the ground battle. We would never have been able to do it otherwise. So, but she— yeah, she— and she She's, she's, she's—

you gotta write a book.

Even less pretentious than I am. She's, she's just a real genuine person.

I love it. So is your camera not working? We want to see you. Um, all right, so someone wrote— oh wait, there was a question here about, um, there's some really good conversations.

That means we're gonna have to do this all over again and get Shamim back. Is Mike working? You'll have to hold up cue cards.

I mean, so yes, exactly.

What's the next—

I hope I'm saying her name right. Bryna Dabrowski. So Bryna's saying, I was privileged to meet the actual art director for The Empire Strikes Back. I was at the Academy screening for Rogue One and he was there. Very nice man.

Yeah.

Oh, she— oh, oh wait, hold on for a second. Oh my God, Jerry could be right. Hey, hold on, Jerry wrote—

all right, he's here. Let's start over.

Wait, was that me? Jerry, thank you. If Jerry's right, then I was the one. Oh my God, Jerry. Jerry Cornell, thank you. And then Sue said that's a total dark side move on your part.

Only two there are, master and apprentice, so he got cut out. There you are, buddy. All right, you're back.

I just want to say What did I miss exactly?

I don't know. We were talking about Howard the Duck.

I mean, I just want to read Sue. Sue wrote— Sue wanted to know— she wrote that she wants to steal Andrew's notebook of ideas from Sue.

Never get—

and, uh, and then, and then she wrote, the true fun of a convention podcast is when the party loves and is authentic to their craft and their fans. So that is, uh, so cool. I like that.

And the thing— and then I mean, you can jump in. The thing that I love about doing conventions is I actually get to meet the fans. And I should say the— my fellow fans, because I'm a fan of the stuff that are at these conventions as well. And it's, it's great. And sometimes you get people that come up to you and they're so nervous to meet you, and I, and I have to really work on it and make sure that they know, hey, I'm just a regular guy, just like everybody else is a regular person. I was doing a show one time in Sacramento, and this young woman comes up and she's just standing at my table. I'm guessing she was probably about under 20 years old, and she's just standing there and she goes, hee hee hee hee hee. That's all she could do at first. She was just kind of giggling. And I'm telling her, don't be nervous. It's fine and everything. It was a 3-day convention. By the 3rd day, she was like all— she brought her friends and she's like, yeah, I want you to meet my friend Andrew. And they're all going like, eee, like that. But Shamim, he's not one of those guys that just kind of is all starstruck. He just comes right up to you. And we were fast friends right from the very first convention.

OK, so one Andrew's camera is off.

Oh, my camera's off.

Yeah, for the last few.

Yeah, I can see my camera. That's weird.

Yes. Yeah. So after doing anything, after you were talking about the kids' bedroom, it was camera off and then, and switched back on. But anyway, so Where do I begin? Okay.

And my camera on now? No, it's not, is it?

No, it's not.

So, and okay, hold on a moment. I'm gonna leave the stream and come right back and I bet it'll come back. Okay. All right.

Actually, I'm so sorry, I had no idea.

Half of the interview, actually.

Yeah.

Oh yeah.

Oh, let me put it back.

So back to us saying, all right, so we're okay.

Am I back now?

Yes.

All right, there we go.

There we go.

All right.

All right, so what was I doing?

Oh yeah, everything under control, situation normal.

Yeah, so I first met Andrew at, um, Stephen Wyatt's Supercon 13 years ago. Andrew was a guest there. He's— that was the 4th annual Supercon. You've been there previously, the 2007 and 2006. Uh, he, um, got to me, uh, he was with, um, the late Peter Mayhew, Chewbacca.

Yeah.

Um, and they did a really nice panel about, um, about the chessboard, and you were talking to about how it was like in the costumes. And, um, and since then, yeah, so that day you've met, um me and my friend Lorraine. Um, and then this was the day, first time meeting, and this was signed at, um, at MouseCon 2015. This was Andrew's, um, his, um, official pics photo long out of print, uh, and, and he came up with the, um, quote himself.

Hold on. You have served the Empire well.

And then here's the second thing Andrew signed for me, which, which is— I don't know if that's your image or—

No, it looks like that's probably David Prowse, the original Vader.

And then so here Yeah, so I have— so here is— so this I bought at Steve's show 13 years ago.

Yeah.

And, and this was the last of the few things you signed that Saturday. And then I came back— no, actually, you signed a bunch of things that one day. And It's— it was my set of limited edition DVDs. And then you signed the Complete Visual Dictionary, the Star Wars Vault.

I must have signed up like 100 things for you by now.

Actually, you signed only about 22 items in the last— really?

Okay. Yeah, it seems like it's more.

So yeah, so after that, um, I just supported Andrew ever since then. And since then, um, I got him that shirt. I, I got him the VHS copy of Galaxy Quest. Where is that VHS tape anyway?

Oh, it's off camera, so I can't read. I have to leave the camera.

Oh, there's Jerry's DVD. You can show that off on back by your, um hat.

Oh, this?

Yeah, sure.

Yeah, so, so that is, um, it's a documentary that I, I was the editor for and did the animated titles for. This is, uh, uh, if the, uh, Jerry Cornell, who you're seeing in the, uh, in the, uh, the chat there, he is a producer and, and a creator. Uh, this was a documentary on the history and making of the Pirates of the Caribbean rides at the Disney parks, and he had asked me to work on that for him. So it's a great project. Yes.

Yes. So Andrew was the first Vader I've met, age 15.

That's right.

Yeah. Yeah. And then actually before that, I think I met— I shook Peter's hand and met Angie and then came over to you.

I met you.

Yeah. I forgot what—

and Jane Whelan was there too.

Yeah. The Go-Go's Jane Whelan. She and Bill Morrison did a, um, talk, uh, they wrote a comic together called Lady Robotica, which is a very nice— yeah, so, and Sue, Sue Whoven actually was Andrew's first TTM.

Yeah, ever. That means through the mail. Uh, yeah, so I was, I was— nobody knew that I was playing Vader for a long time, and then, then I actually did an interview. Lucasfilm had me do an interview for a magazine, Star Wars Galaxy Magazine, and it said in the interview that I worked at LucasArts. And at that point, then suddenly I'm getting autograph requests through the mail being sent to LucasArts, and they're showing up in my mailbox there.

And so what year was that? Was that in '97?

That would have been '97.

And I think, yeah, she still has your index card that you sent.

Yeah, and, and then since I need to replace it, I have a much better signature now.

Yeah, yeah. So Andrew actually, um, uh, he also attends MouseCon, which is a bit a, uh, Disney convention. Awesome.

We'll be doing it again. We'll be doing it again this November.

Yeah. And so your dad, um, Andrea's dad, um, um, uh, has an art gallery, um, has like the, um, Mark Davis one you bought. I think that came from her, uh, the, um, Disney animators. I think that came from your dad's gallery. I think because, um, her dad hasn't had an, a, a connection with, um, Frank Ollie. Uh, um, Frank Thomas and Ollie John— all right, yeah, Frank Thomas and, and Ollie Johnson. Um, her dad actually— yeah, you've seen the website, it's all, um, her dad sent them all to them to sign it. And then that— and she— her dad gave her a valuable lesson on when a celebrity passes away. Don't hire the price, lower the price, affordable for—

that's nice.

And then, um, so yeah, I've got about 22 orders from Andrew, about, um, 10 from Jane. Uh, Andrew actually, at the last MouseCon, he signed, um my giant poster of 1,015 autographs on it. The only person I'm— the only person I'm missing is Mark Hamill. Go figure.

Pretty soon there's so many signatures on the thing, pretty soon you're not gonna even know what the poster was. It would just be nothing but signatures.

The, the, um, the, the poster, funny enough, is, um, is, um, the the director of the movie. So I, I don't— but I do have Mocha and other things. Oh yeah, speaking of Andrew's first commercial, that was one of the most fun commercials I've seen when I was— I think the Sabers came out in '97, the lightsaber commercial, right? Yeah, that was a very— yeah, I saw that on, I think, TV, and then I got the, um The— my dad got me the Vader saber and the Luke saber from right after the commercial aired. Oh yeah, KB Toys.

The commercial he's talking about is— there, it was a commercial for a toy lightsaber. It was the very first shot as Vader. We shot it in, uh, in— where was it? I think we were in New— uh, I think in New York, or it might have been in Connecticut nearby. It was a New York advertising agency. And it's Vader against a kid who's dressed as Luke, and, uh, the kid has the toy saber and I had the real one.

So I think the voiceover is Mark Hamill, not mistaken.

It is the narration for the commercial is Mark Hamill.

Yes, that, that's—

I—

yeah, Mark did a lot of voiceovers for commercials. Yes, it seemed like. So have you ever signed one of those sabers before?

Yes, I have signed those recently, or when they came out. Uh, I don't, I, I don't know, just I've signed several over the years.

So, so yeah, so, oh, Sue, you were just talking about Sue Hooven.

She's actually in the, in the chat right there. Look at that.

So what is the, what is the glitter story exactly?

The glitter story. Okay, in, uh, 1996, in December of '96, we were shooting a commercial that was going to play during the Super Bowl in '87, and it was for, uh, it was a Taco Bell commercial. It was the Feel the Force, uh, contest. They were giving away a Hummer. I mean, like one of the original big Hummers, and it had Vader's face on it. You know, I had the image of Vader on a black Hummer with Vader on it. It was actually an image of me as Vader. And we shot it at this huge— it used to be an airplane hangar, but they turned it into a soundstage. near, in, near Santa Monica, California. And we, uh, uh, we had it filled with just a whole bunch of extras. It was supposed to make it look like it was a, a, uh, intergalactic movie premiere. So there's a red carpet and all of that. It's supposed to be a movie premiere on, on, on another—

oh yeah, I, I remember that one. That's the one where, um, it all red and you're walking out the limousine with the stormtroopers.

And, uh, yeah, the whole idea was it's like, yeah, you get this whole Intergalactic premiere. You— it's got 3PO, R2, Chewbacca, and Vader and stormtroopers. And what they wanted, they wanted to look interesting and exciting, so they had, uh, they had air cannons filled with gold glitter, these, you know, about maybe, uh, quarter-inch square pieces of gold glitter. And so they roll camera, they get everything up to speed, and then, then they'd say, okay, fire it off. And they would fire off the air cannon so there would be gold glitter just you know, raining down in every shot. Well, this gold glitter got everywhere, everywhere. Got into all the costumes. It got— we were combing Chewie's fur out every single take.

So I think, I think that was Peter Mayhew, if I'm not mistaken.

No, no, it wasn't Peter in that commercial. No, no, he wasn't there with that one. Um, but, uh, so we were doing this commercial. It's a 3-day shoot too, so, uh, it took a while to get it all together. And actually, the very first day, you know, they kept telling me, okay, you got to get ready, getting in costume, you gotta get to you in just a moment, we're gonna get you in just a moment. All day long they told me that and they never got to me. I didn't shoot until about halfway through this, the, the second day. And then the third day, they, they wanted me on set and I wasn't even using—

come here, let's get your hands washed.

I don't want to dump or something, but the gold glitter, we were dragging it everywhere, you know, back to the hotel. You can see exactly what rooms we were in because we were dragging gold glitter everywhere, little bits of it. And for years, and I mean years, we'd find another piece of it here or there. We were dragging it all over the world, you know. We would do something in Spain and that we'd drop some gold glitter there. We'd do something in Japan and we'd drop some gold glitter there. It was everywhere. Gold glitter everywhere. I still have a piece of it. I have one piece of it still that I kept for myself. So there's your gold glitter story, Sue.

Oh, that was, um, from Taco Bell, actually.

Yes, Taco Bell, the Taco Bell commercial.

Yeah, that was on YouTube. Yeah, it's right. Yeah, so Yeah, so pretty much.

But the, uh, the fun thing about doing conventions, like I said, it's like all the people you get to meet, including, you know, people like, like Shamim, and, and then also all the, uh, you know, the, the other, you know, actors or artists that otherwise you'd never meet anywhere. It's like, you know, the, the fact that all these years, you know, I'm, I'm— since, since 2005, I'm, I'm still friends with, uh, uh, uh, Larry Thomas, the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld. And John Tobin, Jimmy from Lassie.

Oh yeah, John was nice.

And his wife Lori Jacobson. You know, I— if I had never done these conventions, I would never have met these people.

Our noise for the listeners, uh, because we're live on LinkedIn and Facebook Live. So just, um, so should we— let me know when you're ready and I'll put you back on. Okay, I, I have a question because you had said something.

I have an answer. Let's see if they match.

You said, oh, I recognize that costume, so that wasn't me. So you could tell?

Oh yeah, absolutely. I can tell, I can tell right away. The, the costume changed over time, uh, when they were making the movies, even, uh, from, uh, from Episode 4 to Episode 5 to Episode 6. But I know from— I know what the things that I worked on even though it was 70 times. I know, I know that I worked on, and I know when we did publicity photos what was, you know, uh, the poses that I did and everything. And I've seen all the photos, so I know when it's me. There were very few times when I didn't know for certain whether it was me. Um, oops, and I'm frozen again here.

Uh, so, and yeah, So yeah, the— there again, so let me, let me—

there's one, I'm not back yet.

This image right here, at first I wasn't certain if that was me. This is from, uh, the promotional from, uh, folks from Target.

Target, um, Who's Your Daddy?

Um, yeah, um, who's your daddy? Uh, but I didn't know if that was me at first or if it was Hayden Christensen because it's, it, you know, Hayden played Vader at the end of Revenge of the Sith. He played Anakin Skywalker all the way through it, but played Vader at the end of the, uh, the film. And I didn't know if that was a photo of his costume or was a photo of me in my costume until I finally saw it again, the same photo on the COVID of a book without all the Photoshop stuff. Yeah, and it was just so— yeah, there are certain things about the way that the costume is built that shows what costume it is. They've made little changes, and I know all the little changes. So yes, I'm always pretty much always able to, to figure out whether it's me or somebody else.

So yeah, so, so Andrea, so the, um, the COVID that Andrew was talking about was the Insider magazine in 2005. That was the photo of you and Jake Lloyd. And, uh, it's—

no, I was thinking of a different— but there was a cover of a book that had that exact same pose.

Oh yeah, so yeah, so that, um, that image was, um, advertised for the Target exclusive— no, Target, um, uh, promotional for Revenge of the Sith, um, where they roll out the toys and they gave you a little badge. I, I was actually— that was my 12th birthday. In 2005. So wow, that day. So for my early birthday gift, I got to see a rough cut of the film from a guy who worked with Lucasfilms. Uh, wow. And so I've got, um, the— that, that, um, rough cut says like, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, beep beep beep. And it was like Green, Green Test something. So that was like May 16, 2005. I actually wrote to George at Lucasfilm for a 6th grade school project where he— it said write to one famous person and see if you can get a response back from them. I sent out to George using the Lucasfilm's address. I got a letter back with some tattoos, some— a letter by George. I don't know if it's hand-signed or not, but it said, dear Shamim, thank you for writing to Mr. Lucas, and thank you for showing your expressed interest in his films and his, um, um, and thank you for being a fan of Lucasfilm and George. Um, um, thank you again for writing. Sincerely, um, George's secretary. Um, I forgot her name is, uh, do you know her name at all? Yeah, Jane. Yeah, Jane Faye. She sent that, um, In response to my letter, I wrote, "Dear Mr. Lucas," May 2006. I said, "Dear Mr. Lucas, I've been a huge fan of your work since 1997, and I wanted to thank you for creating Star Wars and having community. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, and yeah, so, and he, um, yeah, so I also said, uh, thank you for bringing the generation as a whole for Revenge of the Sith, uh, and I told him my favorite one was The Phantom Menace. And I said, um, if you have a chance, would you please send something signed back to me for my collection? Um, sincerely, um, Shamim Dana, your fan Shamim Dana, um, Menlo Park, California. That was, um, when I was 13 years old I sent that letter and I got that response from Jane. Um, and I The only thing mom found left was the tattoo stickers, but I haven't found a letter yet. So that was my little story on how writing to George Lucas, 6th grade, for like a, a, um, CEO thing. And then, and then after that, that was like literally before I met you, Andrew, actually. Yeah, yeah, I was in 6th grade and I drew The, the art, the Return of the Jedi, um, card I gave you, hand drew that when I was 13 years old. And yeah, and then since— and then that's when I first started going to, um, when I was 15, I, I first— I started collecting sports autographs, going to Giants games, meeting players. In 2000 In 2008, '07, I met Barry Zito. And then on my 15th birthday, I got to interview Barry Zito on the field.

I'm very jealous of that because, you know, I'm a big baseball fan.

So yeah. And yeah, and then yeah, after that, and then I went to Um, yeah, and then I switched over doing conventions. Um, that's that day when I met you, Andrew.

So, uh, wrapping things up, I don't know if that's— but I want to ask each of you a question, if you don't mind. I want to ask a question. So, Andrew, you do the autographs. Shameem's a collector of autographs. How important— have you ever seen a fake autograph? Like someone like yourself, you ever see something where you're like, that is absolutely not mine? It's not my life.

You're asking— sorry, can you say that again?

So yeah, go on.

Yeah, let me ask a question.

When you You can't only—

one sec, because you know what, I'm 59, so I can't like— like all that noise, I can't operate. That's what happens when you got young-old or old-young, whatever the other wants to call us. 59 is a great—

59 is fine, right? Going to my room.

I'm curious, I'm curious about the autograph, you know. Shamin works hard. So Shamin's— Shamin's autograph, he's getting it, you're signing it.

He knows, right?

Yes.

So she's asking, um, have you ever seen a fake autograph of yourself before?

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Here's— it's kind of a funny story that I was, uh, I was online and I don't— you know, you, you do little searches, you do little things, and you fall down the rabbit hole. And somehow I managed to find a website that had a bunch of autographs on it and it was just a fan's website, and they had my autograph on there, but it wasn't my autograph. It was, it was, it was a forgery. It was a fake. And it, it, it didn't even say Andrew Nelson. It said Andy Nelson. I hadn't been Andy since I was in high school. Um, so I looked at this thing, and I, so I contacted the person They had their email address on their website, the collector, and I contacted them and I said, I hate to tell you, but your, your, your Ciandra Nelson autograph is a forgery. And the reason I know that is because I'm Ciandra Nelson. And I sent it from my own email address, my own domain name, ciandranelson.com, so that people— so you know I was legit. And I said, I tell you what, if you'll take that down off your website What?

Oh my God, so what?

So I—

wait, what happened? We left. You didn't— wait, if you take it down off your website— oh my God, we got to get him back. Hold on, Sherine, hold on. That's like, that's like a clickbaiter if I've ever heard of a clickbaiter. So, so hide him for a second.

Andrea's whose game he worked on.

Oh wait, okay, hold on, hold on, Shavim. I want to just hold on. I want to finish this.

That was the best cliffhanger.

Very cool.

So that was the best cliffhanger. So, so, Andrew, that was the best cliffhanger since Luke, I'm your father thing.

Sorry about that. So yeah, so, so they, uh, they— you've got a fake autograph on your website, somebody forged it. If you'll send me the forgery, I'll send you the real deal. I am actually C. Andrew Nelson. And I sent the email from my own, you know, email address, which is, you know, from the domain name of candrenelson.com, so they would know it was legit. Uh, and they were like, oh my gosh, that's fantastic, great. And so they sent me the, the fake one, which I have in my—

you still have it? Do you still have it?

I still have it somewhere. I can't get to it right now, but I, I still have it. But yeah, that was— that's— and I actually traced it. This is the sad part. I traced the autograph, you know, because I said, well, where did you send it? And they said they send it to Lucasfilm. And I, and I found, you know, I found that it was somebody at Skywalker Ranch had signed that and sent it back. And they signed it Andy Nelson. They said 'in all sincerity.' Well, that person doesn't work for Lucasfilm anymore. So, so I don't know why they did that.

It's like nobody—

I mean, nobody told me exactly who it was, but I do know that that person no longer works there, or they soon after did not work there anymore. So, so, um, I just want to show you one thing I did find, which is kind of cool, is, uh, to show you— like I said, I was a fan long before I was, you know, employed by the Empire. This is my old autograph book from when I was a teenager and a young guy, and one of the signatures in there is Peter Mayhew. Uh, so who then years later became my, my dear, dear friend. I knew Peter for 25 years. This is Chewbacca. So, um, we traveled together, we worked together, uh, he and his wife Angie and, uh, and his daughter Katie. Just wonderful. Love those people.

Yeah, so Andrew, so, uh, what year was that?

That was— oh, it would have been in the '80s somewhere, probably around '85 or something like that.

Okay, so that was right before the Celebration Zero convention, uh, at the Los Angeles, um, uh—

no, this was the 1980s. This was the 1980s.

Okay, so that was Empire. That was like right after you shot the— yeah, this would have been—

yeah, this would have been after, after, after Return of the Jedi, after all that. This was— yeah, it was probably like that summer between '85 and '87, and he was— it was at a convention in Sacramento. He was there with Marina Sirtis, who all— now I also know as well.

Uh, maybe— I think that was, um, I think that would have been in the night.

No, I guess it would have been later than that. I think that was, um, maybe later '80s.

Steve Wyatt's convention, I believe, if not mistaken. I know he did— I think I, I know Steve did conventions way for Super Con. Maybe it was one—

this was actually at— I met Peter at a Creation Con convention, and it wasn't the first time I'd seen him. I had seen him at a show previous to that in Oakland, which I think was probably his first big show in the U.S. Wow.

So I actually met Peter same time you did. I went to his memorial at Empire Con. I've seen Angie again. She remembered me like it was yesterday. Met, um, Katie, uh, they both said they miss you dearly, um, and I would say the Peter Mayhem memorial, uh, it was really, really nice, um, that this was an EmpireCon 2019 in LA, so they had a public memorial. So at the end of the memorial, they did the song, um, In My Life to sum up his life. And at that show, Albin John— oh, Albin Johnson. So Andrew Nelson is an honorary member of the 501st Legion, um, and he's a— what, what an honorary member is, uh, he also did, um, events for them a lot.

Yeah, is a group of fans, Star Wars fans, that with Lucasfilm's blessing, they have their, uh their screen-accurate costumes of Stormtroopers, Darth Vader, uh, bounty hunters, whatever, uh, Tusken Raiders, uh, and with Lucasfilm's blessing, they do charity work. They, they troop, as they call it, uh, they visit children in the hospital, they do different events, a lot of charity things, and they're incredible. They're incredible. So I'm a very proud honorary member of both the, the 501st Legion and the Rebel Legion, which is the good guys, you know.

Okay, so the story on Albin Johnson. So Albin, his daughter Katie was, was, was ill with, I believe, brain cancer, right, Andrew?

I believe so.

Yeah.

Yeah. So yes. So his daughter Katie was the inspiration for the Legion. And Albin Johnson told me he remembered, um, meeting you back in the late '90s, um, uh, during a troupe, uh, for The Empire Strikes Back, um, when it was released in theaters in '97 with Peter Mayhew. And it was at a little show So Albin said, um, the reason he does 501st is in, in, in, in memory of his daughter, uh, what she stood for, and R2-KT. Uh, R2-KT is, uh, they made a special— they made a special, um, figure back, um, for the— here are the two figures that Um, here's the first figure for the 501st. Uh, hold on, this was, um, San Diego exclusive. And here's a very special one, which is, uh, Albin's daughter, which is, um, uh, it says, um, so, which is this right here, which is an exclusive 501st figure. From Make-A-Wish. So Albin actually signed this one when I met him at EmpireCon. Um, he, he loved signing for me. He said I, I was the most enthusiastic fan he has ever met. And he said, he said, um, it's because of fans like you that the Five of the First are what they are. So Andrew Nelson got, um honorary in 2006, right?

Yeah.

And so he now has a badge that he wears all the time. It says honorary member Sandro Nelson. So that means, uh, he, he is a part of the 501st. And so what, what was your first charity event for the 501st?

Oh, I don't know. I, I, I mean, because I don't troop with them because I don't have my own costume, but, uh, Skywalker Ranch. But I've done a lot of different things with them over the years.

So, um, so you wore the actual costume at the 501st troops, or the—

No, I never, I never trooped with them. I mean, well, what I did was they would troop with us sometimes. Uh, we would do different events. Lucasfilm would have different events that they were involved with, and so they would have me there as Vader and then they would bring in the 501st to be my stormtroopers. One event in particular was I did an event in Las Vegas at the ShowWest convention, which is a big trade show for theater owners and distributors and things like that. And in 2005, George was debuting the first 6 minutes of Revenge of the Sith. So they had me come out on stage to introduce George along with 50 Stormtroopers from the 501st, and it was very impressive to see. Yes, all those Stormtroopers.

Um, the photo of you in your— in the Vader costume with the helmet off, that is the photo where—

talking about this?

No, no, no, the other one where your hands are up like this.

Oh no, no, that was something different. That was—

that was from—

so that was from a shoot up at Skywalker Ranch.

Yeah, so that was, um, yeah, so Andrews also was on Oprah. That was an interesting, um, so, oh yeah, so she— oh, so Jerry said, when was the last time you wore the costume?

Oh, uh, 2006. It was, uh, something for the Showbiz Show with David Spade.

Oh, so yes, yes, so in 1997, Peter, Andrew, and and Anthony Daniels, right, um, was on the Oprah Show promoting for the '97, um, special editions, right?

I saw that.

And, um, yeah, Oprah was— oh, Andrew's got frozen again.

Oh shoot. We're going to— I have one last question for Andrew and then we're going to, um, wrap it up. Let me, let me hide them and I'll bring them back. Yeah, so, and then I just want to ask—

I think there, I think that there's need to be a part 2 with Andrew. I think with all the—

I think so— is amazing. Okay, I think he's— I think I've got two of them here. Oh, here he is. Okay, let me get— all right. Oh no, you're fine. You're like, where am I?

Am I coming in?

Am I not here? All right, so there we go.

There I am.

You are coming.

All right. Yeah, so he was talking about the Oprah Winfrey Show. They were promoting the special edition re-release. Yes. So Mark Hamill was being interviewed by Oprah. Peter Mayhew was being interviewed by Oprah. Anthony Daniels was being interviewed by Oprah.

Kenny Baker.

George Lucas was there via satellite.

And Kenny as well.

Billy Dee Williams was being interviewed in a pre-recorded segment. But yeah, so we opened the show with the characters, with Threepio and R2 and an Ewok and Chewbacca coming out and joining Oprah. And then Oprah goes, hmm, seems to me there's somebody missing. And then And they had Vader come out, they played Vader's theme, and I come out. Oprah did not rehearse with us, so she didn't know what to expect. And so they had doctored up a line of dialogue. There's a line from Return of the Jedi where Vader says, "The Force is with you, young Skywalker, but you are not a Jedi yet." And so they had taken a moment from when James Earl Jones, the voice of Vader, had been on Oprah's show. and, uh, they, they took the word for— and he said the name Oprah, and they doctored it together so that I could go up to her and say, 'The Force is with you, young Oprah.' Uh, so she didn't rehearse with us, she didn't know what to expect. And so I got right up in her face, she goes, 'So Lord Vader, what do you think of all this?' And I'm right up in her face like this, and I'm, you know, you're pointing like this, and then they play the dialogue and it says, you know, 'The Force is with you, young Oprah.' And I could see right into her eyes there, and I saw actual fear in her eyes. I didn't think that— I didn't think that was possible. I didn't think you could scare Oprah, but she, she was, uh, she was so fearful for a moment. And then she goes, he said I was young.

So yeah, so Andrew, that was where I officially met Peter Mayhew.

That's when we became friends.

Yes. So, um, yeah, I think there should be a part 2 with you, just you solo, because You've got a lot of stories about your— oh, we, we forgot your fish to tell about.

Oh yeah, well, I did mention, yeah, I do have a YouTube channel all about tropical fish.

There's his question, right?

A-Q-U-A-T-S-Y. Oh, sorry. Yeah, I, I have a YouTube channel.

Hold on for a second, Shameem, you put a YouTube link. Okay, is it— can we— Shameem, I think you put a link. Was that the link?

What link did you put in?

Oh yeah, sure.

Oh, can you put the link? Can you grab the link for the, uh, because everyone wants to watch, or they want to see me make a fool of myself. Is there any noise?

It's funny because I never intended to have a YouTube channel. I was on an online forum because I've been a fish hobbyist since I was a kid. I was on an online forum trying to get some information about a fish species, and everybody on the forum was like, hey, let's all post videos of our tanks. But me being me, I just can't like get off the cell phone and shoot something and upload it. No, I've got to add titles to it and edit it and add graphics and music, and I just went completely overboard. And I was looking for somewhere to host the video, and YouTube seemed easy, but you have to create a channel for yourself. So I thought, all right, well, I'll— if I— I better give the channel a name, but if I give it a name, I better give it a name I can get a URL for as well. And then it just sort of snowballed from there. So I made the first video, I posted it to my— to that YouTube channel, I put the link on the forum, and everybody on the forum's like, dude, that's great, you should do another one. So I did another one, did another one. So now I've got about almost 1,500 subscribers— 15,000 subscribers, excuse me, you know, for a fish tank channel. But it's Darth Vader's fish tank channel. I've got almost a million and a half views on there.

And Andrea, check your host chat. Here you go. Okay.

Last question I have.

Oh, where did Andrew go again?

I don't know. There he is, he's coming back. All right, so it just, uh, all right, so we're, we're going on 78 minutes. I just want to ask Andrew my last question.

Wow.

Okay.

Which really, I, I mean, I guess it's, it's a typical question, but I actually mean this kind of sincerely. I really want to know, like, so when I ask this question, don't laugh, what does it feel like to know that I don't know why it makes me want to cry.

I'm sorry.

Hold that for guys. What could it be like to really change so many people's lives, like, just, just by being you? But really, like, you, like, you have— you go to bed at night and you, you can't even count how many people that you have changed their lives.

So what, what does that feel like? I don't even try to count because it, it'll just be— I'll end up like you're feeling right now. I'll just— I'll start I'm like crying. It is so humbling to think about it. It's— you just never know how many lives you're going to change. And that's not just me as a supposed celebrity or whatever like that. It's for any of us. You know, we touch people's lives all the time. We don't know what we do. I mean, even if we just like smile at somebody one day, you know, we're on the bus and somebody looks over and we go, we smile or something. We might have just saved their lives. Just by being— having that moment of kindness when they were thinking about, you know, ending their life. We don't know. You never know. So I'm just very humbled when I, you know, go to the conventions and I meet people, or I, I see people enjoying the work that I do and all the things that I've done. I mean, I was an animator for years on— and a voice actor on Between the Lions on PBS, uh, uh, the, you know, the kids, uh, PBS Kids show. And first, you know, for for 7, 8, 9 seasons, I was helping teach kids how to read with phonics. You know, I'll never know how many lives I touched with that, right? You just don't know. And so, uh, it is— it's very, very humbling. But once in a while you do get a little taste of it. Um, I will— I'll tell you a quick story. I was in Toronto, uh, Lucasfilm had sent me out there to do a special appearance. It was a big event for Walmart because Uh, Walmart had, uh, just become a big licensee for, for Lucasfilm, and I was there. And at the event, they brought this child up to me, young, young guy. He was in a wheelchair, he had cerebral palsy, he was blind, but he had— he was a huge Star Wars fan because he listened to Star Wars, he listened to the movies, he listened to audio dramas and everything. And they brought him over to me and they said There's someone we want you to meet, you know, they said to him. And he had a little Darth Vader action figure in his hand, and they took his hand, they put it up on the face of the mask. And when he felt what it was, and he felt that the, the action figure with his thumb, and he realized it was the same thing, and that he was meeting Darth Vader, he just lit up. He was so excited. And I just— it was Niagara Falls, just tears just rolling down inside the mask there. And just to be able to, to brighten someone's life like that, you know, you know, everything else is, is secondary. Money, fame, uh, prestige, you know, just the cool stuff that you get to do— none of that really matters. It's how you touch people's lives. That's what really matters. And that's why I do this. That's why I do everything. That's why I'm a storyteller. That's why I I work on, on, on different projects, and, and that's, you know, I'm working on a project right now called Heroes of Extinction, an audio drama. And, and I know that when people, you know, hear this, this 7-part superhero audio drama, it'll probably touch lives. It'll be— it'll entertain, it'll, it'll inspire, whatever it is. That's why I do what I do.

So yeah, so last thing, Andrew, um Uh, thank you for 13 years of our friendship, and here's 13 to more. And, and I hope to see you— I hope to see you at MouseCon this year.

I'll be there.

And alive. And I, I, um, I, I— oh, oh, by the way, happy birthday, happy birthday to your son Justin. To Justin.

Oh yes, Justice, my son.

Yes. So yes, so he just turned 21 yesterday. Yeah, so pretty much you've, you have impacted my life more than you can possibly imagine. Coming from someone like myself who has challenges like you do. But we both find a way to overcome our challenges. And I just hope, yeah, yeah, you've You've— I don't know, you just— since that day we met at Steve's Con, it's like brothers for life. And I don't know, it's just like one of those, uh, with you and Weird Al Yankovic are the two nicest celebrities I, I have ever met in my 13 years of meeting celebrities. Because what about myself is— I just love how the behind the scenes and how, how the person that kills Spinny from Sesame Street, he gave, um, his all for that character. I've grown up doing Sesame Street since, since I was 2001, since I was 8, 8, 9 years old. When I met him, I, I was very I, I met him at Wizard World Chicago. He, he was really nice. His wife was amazing, Debbie. He sadly passed away on John Lennon's death day too.

Yeah.

Um, but, but I got to meet him twice, and, and I just love the, the effort, the behind the scenes of like people like Andrea, her dad, her, um I wish I would have written to Herb and got his autograph. And but I did buy, um, the Frank and Ollie movie poster signed by Frank and Ollie from her dad's company, which here is her— his— here's what his, um, his COA from his company. That's a little of his autograph. And I just love, um, how people like you and Andrea take the time out to talk to people like you and me. And you've done so much, uh, you came to my birthday parties like twice already, and I really appreciate that. And I just love the fact that you're, you're as equally as genuine as Peter Mayhew was. I, I saw how When I first met him, he was a little grumpy sometimes, but his wife and I talk almost every day. And the sad part for me is every time on my birthday, I have to write about Peter as well because Peter has connected with me just because we have the same birthday and his generosity and extreme patience. My last time I met Peter was, um, at Silicon Valley Comic-Con in San Jose, and I gave him one of my cards I gave to you, just thanked him and Ryan, uh, and then at his memorial I took my book that Peter signed and his wife signed, and I had everybody there who's met Peter, who has associated with Peter sign as well, like a, a Miss You memorial signed book. And I just thought, all these people that Peter's affected, why not bring them inside the book? That's why I started the comic book, the movie poster, have inclusion with all the posters. And basically that's pretty much, um, yeah. So since 13 years, um, I, I hope we get to like Me 50 and you 50. And can you imagine us staying friends for 50 years? Since 13 years now, 50 years is— yeah, it's crazy. Yeah, it's crazy how, um, yeah, I, oh no, I wonder by now, by then, if you still remember how to spell my name correctly. Just a joke, I know.

See I'm very good at spelling.

Yeah, yeah. So yeah, so yeah, so yeah, with your mem— I don't know, how do you remember names so well?

Like, um, well, I, I, I do and I don't, you know. That's, that's a sad thing. It's like I'll, I'll meet people at conventions and I may have seen them, you know, before, and people just come up and go, I don't know if you remember me. And I said, yeah, I do. It was, uh, you know, 2009 at WonderCon, and I signed this for for you, and I go, oh my gosh. I said, but don't ask me your name because I, I'm happy if I get 75% of my own name. Something.

Yeah, yeah. So yeah, so like, like Vic Mignogna, he's like quick with the names, but, um, the faces he remembers more than the name.

Yeah.

So yeah, so since then, yeah, Jane is also a really true genuine person. She's done so much for me as well. She came to my birthday this year out of kindness of her heart and just spent 25 minutes with me and Andrew. And, and actually, at my birthday, Andrew and, and Bryce Eller met for the first time. Yes, Bryce Eller was the original, original Vader before Andrew. He was at the Chinese Ramen Theater back in the '70s. Remember that, Andrea?

Yes.

Yeah.

So yeah, that's the thing about you, Shamim, is that, that you, you also connect a lot of people together. So you're touching a lot of lives as well.

Yeah.

So I thank you for connecting me here so that I could be on this show today. This was fun.

Yeah. So yeah, so I just thought here's another way for Andrew can help promote his fish channel and Andrea can get a little, um, taste of beta. And maybe they'll— yeah, so I just thought why not, since I've known you this this long, but Facebook says we've been friends for like 10 years.

Yes, yes.

So, right away. Yes. So, okay, so there we gotta get going.

Just pulling the plug on it.

I wanted to say one last—

oh yeah, but people want to find me, they can find me.

I'm C. Andrew Nelson on Facebook. I think I'm the only C. Andrew Nelson on Facebook. I am C. Andrew Nelson on Instagram. And I am Aquatasy on YouTube. A-Q-U-A-T-A-S-Y.

I love it. I, I don't want to be— but you know what, I like my fish raw. That's fine. Don't let me come in there and grab any of your fish because I— so, so thank you so much. This was so— I— you know what, this was so interesting. Just, just a fun— this is exactly what the show is about. It's candid conversation. We've got the kids in the background, we've got the crazy noise. That's totally cool because that's real life. And everyone just got a chance to be a fly on the wall and hear a conversation, get to meet you, which is totally cooler than could be. I just want to say, Sue, thank you. Sue did write that when you were telling the story about the young boy, that impacted my son and myself too. At the time, he was so excited to get an autograph, and that Lit me up. So the gift that keeps on giving. You rock. I just— I cannot— I'm pinching myself. Wait, am I really here right now? Ow, it hurts. Okay, so, so you guys are great. I'm just so blessed.

Have you ever, uh, what was your first fish? If you ever had a fish as a pet, was it a goldfish or was it me or her?

Absolutely a goldfish.

Yeah, I had a goldfish too. And for anybody who's watching, I do not recommend goldfish as a first fish. They're actually a much more complicated thing for maintenance and everything like that to actually take care of one. They're not a beginner fish.

No, I killed mine pretty quickly.

I proved my point.

My dad, my dad would have loved to have met you. My dad also had a great memory. My father passed away at the young age of 90. And, uh, but I remember my dad, I would say to him, hey Dad, so-and-so, or like he just knew everybody. He remembered people, remembered their names. People lit up. He would have loved to have met you. So I'm sure he's watching from heaven because he just— and he would be saying to you right now, just like Shamim is showing all of the different autographs, my dad would be in the museum pulling every piece of Star Wars that we have. We have a great Star Wars collection. And, uh, my parents, I'll just tell you, in Connecticut, Cheshire, Connecticut, is the Barker Cartoon Character and Comic Museum. It's my mother, Gloria Barker, and my father, Herb Barker. It's their private collection of cartoon memorabilia. Only 80,000 of them, so like not much. All of it's been inventoried. It's on beautiful grounds that are made for— so if you ever go to Connecticut, made for walking around and taking pictures. My dad just loved looking out his office and seeing all the kids there. He would have big events. He would have hot dogs and he would bring in, you you know, he would ask you to come in. So he loved doing all of that. So you're in LA or San—

born and raised here.

Oh, how fun. All right, I've been to the Daytona Beach area. Enjoy one last very nice—

wow.

Oh yeah, um, have you seen Galaxy Quest? No, no, no.

Wait, so you got to rub it in for me?

I worked on it.

He's asking you.

Okay, everyone, here it is. Here it is.

Before he leaves everything I've worked on.

I promise. I promise to do that and I promise to report back.

10-minute videos.

So there's part— yeah, thank you.

That's more—

that's what we'll do on part 2 with his second interview after this is finished.

Okay, Andrew, I'd be glad to come back.

I would love that. Oh, and by the way, you probably don't know what the PG is next in the R, so I just want to tell you. So I have professional global etiquette, which I think is really a great tie-in. Both of you have a lot of etiquette. I could see, Andrew, what everything that you do, that you, you embody that kind of empathy and caring and understanding. Manners matter, and I think that's great. I am a graduate of the Protocol School of Washington. I love teaching, you know, etiquette, whether it's dining etiquette or any kind of etiquette. So I really think both of you are fantastic. I think—

thank you, Andrew Nelson.

He's like Columbo all of a sudden here. He's like, oh yeah, one more thing.

One, yeah, this will be good for you, Andrew. So Andrea has a score chapter, and I think Andrew would be a very good fit for being a guest speaker at her event. He has like the— he was at the Academy of Arts University, so I think he would be a very good public speaker for SCORE chapter. Maybe you and him can come up with a way, day and time, or work for like a seminar or something like that. Oh, where'd it go now?

But anyway, but then, you know what, thank you. That's a very nice idea. And actually, I don't want to take a second— no, I'll just take one second to make sure since you brought it up that, uh, I don't know, Andrew, if you're So, Andrea, I just gotta say, I don't know if you're familiar with SCORE. We're actually— I'm glad Shaveen brought it up. I am the chapter chair. We are 11,000 strong. We're actually the largest network of volunteers. We're certified business mentors, but there are times when we need a subject matter expert. We may have a client that needs, you know, that wants to break in or wants to, you know, just is looking for some advice. We all volunteer our time just to help. Businesses, you know, grow for the life of their business. So, you know, it's a lot to ask to be a mentor, but if you ever— if I could ever reach out to you to be a subject matter expert, that'd be great, because that's what, you know— sweet.

All right, thank you.

All right, you guys have a good night. I got, I got more volunteers.

Strong with you.

Thank you, everyone.

Thank you, Sue. Thank you, everyone. Wait, one more time. Say that to me one more time.

Strong with you.

That's a wrap.

All right, I'm sorry for the technical difficulties there, but it's okay. I don't know what it is with my, with my webcam. I've been trying. It's not a real life