Labor Day weekend is just around the corner, and that means Dragon Con 2023 is not far behind. Beginning Aug. 31 and ending Sept. 4, downtown Atlanta’s annual pop culture convention will be home to 65,000 adoring fans — many donned in immaculate cosplay. Billy West, the voice actor behind “Space Jam’s” Bugs Bunny and multiple “Futurama” characters, will be making his first appearance at Dragon Con in roughly 10 years. The man behind the voice of Shaggy, Woody Woodpecker, Elmer Fudd and many more spoke with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about his upcoming visit and his pandemic project — an autobiography.
Speaking on his hardships growing up with autism, West revealed that he is currently working on an autobiography. With dozens of chapters already written, the Futurama actor is looking to publish his life story of triumph. In the meantime, he’s looking forward to spending his time at conventions — like Dragon Con — to help other people find their superpowers in life.
“I played in bands and I could sing and play guitar, but, again, I didn’t know how to do anything else,” West said, describing the early years of his career. “I barely got out of high school. I shoveled dirt out of trucks and did dishes. Those are the only kind of jobs I could get.
“But I didn’t care because my mind would be freed up to think about what it was that I wanted to do. And sometimes when you’re a work in progress, it takes a while to figure out what your function is gonna be in this world. How do you best serve yourself and how do you best serve others? And it’s a noble thing to think about, you know?”
For the next chapter of his life, the Futurama star began — well — writing chapters.
“You’re looking at a person that has nothing but gratitude about what happened in my life, but I did have a rough start,” he said. “I wrote a book over the pandemic. It hasn’t been published yet. I’m going to get with that real soon. But I sat during the pandemic, and I said I’m not gonna sit here and do nothing for however long this takes.
“I was just like everybody else, just eating everything in the refrigerator and not going out. And I sat down and I wrote like 20, 23 chapters of an autobiography. And it taught me so much about myself, like my recollections. Because you don’t dote on those things, you know? You live in the moment every single day.”
For fans excited to get their hands on a copy, West said the book is still a work in progress and he can’t wait to share it. He also offered a wonderful spoiler.
“It never leaves you really, just thinking of all the bizarre ups and downs,” he said. “My life was pretty bizarre starting out. Here’s a spoiler: the book had a happy ending.”
Fans can find Billy West, and dozens of other featured guests from pop culture’s greatest achievements, at Dragon Con 2023 this Labor Day weekend.
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