Star Wars Fan Days

The sound of breathing on an intercom of an evil villain comes to mind when I think about "Star Wars." When arriving at the Star Wars Fan Days at the Irving Convention Center, there was more than just Darth Vader; there was every character you can think of wanting to meet the makers of their fantasy world.  

There are fans who have been going to these conventions for years and some new to the "Star Wars" fan universe. Devotees wait until this day to bring out their costumes that have been sitting in their closet since the last time they wanted to relive "Star Wars" all over again.

There are diehard fans who make a living out of making prop costumes of characters from "Star Wars" like The Dented Helmet. Scott Kaufmann has taken over "The Dented Helmet" and oversees it for Art Andrews, who owns the movie props site company.

"It's a website mainly based on costuming and collecting two main characters, Boba Fett and Jango Fett (his father) and mostly bounty hunter costumes characters," Kaufmann said.  "It's all fan based, fan run, it's not so much a company (The Dented Helmet). It's soon to be a company part of the movie props site."

If you are wanting some help for costumes,  go to the website, www.thedentedhelmet.com.

One of the most anticipated guests there was Catherine Taber, an actress and a true Star Wars fan. Even her job mostly revolves around "Star Wars."  Taber provides the voice for Padme Amidala  for the "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" TV series.

"I love playing her; I was a ‘Star Wars' fan before I got the job and she was my favorite character, so it was very exciting to get to play her cause she is really girly and elegant but also she's really tough when she needs to be, which I like," Taber said.

As far as what's going to happen to her character for the next season...

"Well my character's fate-because of the ‘Star Wars' saga that we all know-is sealed. It doesn't end well for her, but we have a lot of time before that happens, so right now we are just exploring the time between what we saw in the movies during the ‘Clone Wars' and letting her and Anakin's relationship develop, so it's a lot of fun," Taber said.

She has also voiced characters for the video games "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed,"  "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic" and "Star Wars: The Old Republic," which is coming out Dec. 20, as well as many other Star Wars franchises.

"I'm playing Vette in the upcoming ‘The Old Republic,' there's a really cool Twi'lek character that I play again and she's a really  tough blue chick, so she's going to be a lot of fun. I kind of modeled her after Indiana Jones, so she's a lot of fun."

Taber has also worked on other games like, "Final Fantasy XII" and "XIV," "Resonance of Fate," "Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker" and so many more.

We can't only think of the actors making "Star Wars" what it is today. There are also the stuntmen like Dickey Beer, who performed in the "Return of the Jedi." He faces many challenges in the process of making this fantastical movie.

"What happened on the ‘Return of the Jedi,' when we came to location in Arizona, on the first day about five of the stunt guys got hurt to the point where they broke their legs or twisted their ankles pretty bad or broke their arms. I decided not to fall on the side of the sarlacc and roll into it. I decided to jump from the top straight into the hole,"  Beer said.

Fans enjoy the art of sci-fi artists such as Joseph Linsner. Linsner likes to capture the beauty of the feminine body as well as the masculinity of a man's body.

"I draw a comic book called ‘Dawn.' It's my take on classic goddess mythology and it's been in print since 1989. [It includes]Every facet of feminine beauty all around me; everything from Marilyn Monroe to Ann-Margret to the Vargas girl," Linsner said.

Going to "Star Wars" Fan's Day gives fans everything they need to fulfill their dreams  and enjoy the life of "Star Wars."

For more exclusive interviews of ‘Star Wars' Fan Days, go to www.youtube.com/Prettylady000.