Rob Benedict (Chuck the Prophet, aka God)
– Even though the one big question is on everyone’s mind, the first person asks a band question (his band is Louden Swain). What was the inspiration for “Downtown Letdown.” He was shooting a movie in St. Louis and one of the actors couldn’t get out of his funk, it’s about living in this pessimism.
– Now the question. Is Chuck a Prophet or is Chuck God? Rob acknowledges that is the question of the day. It’s the first convention since that aired, so he’s willing to talk about it. That seems to be the popular opinion, and he thinks that’s what the writers had in mind. He talked to Kripke about it and it’s open to interpretation. Chuck is Eric, Eric is God of “Supernatural,” since he created the show, Eric stepped down as showrunner, thus Chuck disappears at the end. He also likes the theory He doesn’t want to cheat it and say that he’s God because there’s more to it than that. He’s not back yet this season, but he thinks it’s open for him to come back.
– What’s easier for him in his roles, awkward and awesome or just being mean? He likes awkward and awesome. He’s addicted to being liked. Although, he’s nice in real life and it’s freeing for him to play a jerk. He is happy he didn’t die in “Supernatural.” He just disappeared a bit.
– It took me a while, but this turned out to be a question about “Felicity.” If he were Felicity, would he choose Ben or Noel? He would choose Ben because Scott is one of his best friends. She would have picked Richard. Rob likes that, for no one would have ever picked Richard.
– Assuming he is God. Did he know from the beginning? It was brought up how Dean was wearing the necklace around Chuck but it didn’t burn hot. He didn’t know the answer for the necklace thing, but in terms of what he knew, he was a prophet. He read the last script and he wasn’t quite sure what happened. Then the person who picked him up at the airport said, “So you’re God?” “Really, I missed that?” Scenes from the draft that were deleted made it more clear. He wasn’t sure the fans would get it, sure enough the message boards lit up and they got it. As far as the necklace, maybe they got it wrong.
– A Loudon Swain fan mentioned something about going out for ice cream (I guess that’s something for the street teamers). The plan is to setup video cameras for street teamers. They’d also like to play live for them. If they can find a way to have virtual ice cream and virtual bike rides. They want to have Loudon Swain to play at more conventions. They played in LA and it was awesome.
– What are the differences between being at conventions in reality and being at one in the show? There were a lot more guys in the TV version and they were all dressed up. Nobody’s dying and there were no ghosts. The whole convention was Chuck. He thinks this con is awesome. He’s been blown away by the love and all the cons he’s done. “You guys are crazy but in a good way.”
– He was asked what it was like to kiss Danneel (Jensen’s wife) in Still Waiting. It was awesome, it was great, she’s really hot. He was nervous because she’s so beautiful. She was on the “Supernatural” set one day and Jensen introduced them and Rob mentioned they worked together before. Jensen said he hadn’t seen the film and Rob told him “It wasn’t that good.” So he hasn’t seen that part yet.
– He got a “Birds of Prey” question. He liked playing someone with superpowers. It was a quirky version. He’s drawn to this kind of genre so he finds himself working in it a lot. He loved that role.
– Anything new planned for the band? They want to do shows on the East Coast. Yes, they’ll be in the East Coast soon.
– If he was a real prophet, is there a book series he’d like to see come true? Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles. The Magic Treehouse books too (his son is reading them. My son reads them too!).
– In Waiting there were a lot of breakdown scenes. Were they scripted? There was a lot of improv in that movie. A lot of the quick back and forth is improv. The penis-showing game came up. “It’s not an Academy Award winning movie.” He still gets a lot of requests to do that.
– When he first got the script. He wasn’t sure what happened when he disappeared. He thought the whole script was great and then he got confused when he got to the part. So they told him he was God. It was bittersweet and he was flattered, excited. But, then again, he disappears. He hopes he gets to come back because it’s a really fun part. There’s a lot of him in Chuck.
– Would he want to have Chuck’s story end differently? He just wants to keep coming back. He loved how Chuck in the future not a prophet but is Radar (the clerk on MASH), worrying about toilet paper. He’s not fighting any battles, he’s just carrying on about the toilet paper. He’s just a useful member of the team.
– Would he prefer to work in movies or TV? He wouldn’t pick one over the other. Sometimes you don’t get payback with movies because you don’t know if they’ll make it to a theater and with TV you know it will get aired. He wouldn’t ever close himself off to anything. He likes the challenge of both.
– What was it like working with JJ Abrams? He also mentioned Joss Whedon (worked on Buffy) and compared them to Eric Kripke. “They’re incredibly smart and their brains work so fast.” He and Kripke had a conversation about this God thing and he didn’t understand at first because Kripke was talking so fast. These guys are so inspired.
– Could Chuck have been all the Prophets looking in on different times? That stemmed from the Luke joke in “The Monster At The End of This Book.” He didn’t know but liked that theory. He likes the theory that Chuck was really Jesus too. If Chuck’s going to come back it’s got to be for the right occasion. He’s on mission. Maybe he’s all of the above.
– He was asked if he got to talk to Jared and Jensen about being God. No, Jensen and Jared were gone before he had a chance to shoot that part. At a 4th of July party at his house though a friend of Jared’s was there and this friend had something secretive to tell him that he heard. He took Rob aside and in a low voice said, “I’m not sure if you should know, but you’re God.” Rob told him he knew.
– What was going on with Chuck and Becky before the convention? His theory? She was using him. He was just excited there was someone with his hands in his pants when she was going for the cell phone. He was very proud though that she chose Chuck over Sam. He liked that girl that played Becky. She was funny.
– Did he watch the show before he auditioned? No, just a small bit. Then he went back and watched all the episodes he referenced (like the ghost ship one). He also pulled Jared and Jensen aside to ask what he’s talking about. Since then he’s gone back and watched the rest of it. He spreads the word.
– Did he know he was auditioning for a prophet? Yes, he did know. This guy is a drunk and a reclusive and he’s a what? The episode was TBC on the script so he thought he’d be coming back. Then they told him every script says TBC but he got to come back anyway.
– Has been pranked? No. “I’m God,” he joked. He did one time tell the driver he had to go back to the trailer to get something and the driver told him to go ahead. He opened the trailer door and the dogs were there. That was the driver pranking him though.
– In “The Real Ghostbusters,” were there more of those one liners at the end than what aired? Yes. About 75% of those were written, 25% improvised. He’s not sure if it will make bloopers on the DVD. He wasn’t sure which ones were going to make it into the episode.
– What is his favorite “Star Trek” series? The first one. He really loved them as a kid and when he got older he said, “It was really bad.” Then later he realized the effects are bad but the stories are great. He mentioned an upcoming “Star Trek” convention and was blown away Kirk (William Shatner) would be there.
With that Rob’s panel ended and before he left he took photos of the crowd and posted them on his twitter (@RobBenedict). Then he went to spend the next few hours in the autograph line (my offer of $20 for an autograph still stands Rob). Another successful convention done!
I swear, you chicks are so shallow. 😎
Hopefully we’ll get a Mary cameo (flashback, more likely) in season six.
So, is everyone hungry? How about burgers! I still think Misha, more than any human I can think of, needs his own TV show. Moral of the story, stick to porn, don’t do movies about Canadian serial killers.
Hi Alice
Thanks for the transcripts. Looks like you had a good time.
I hope they can bring Samantha(Mary) and Rob(Chuck) back for at least one episode each.
Thanks for the transcripts, Alice. Sounds like a good day of panels.
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