Pensacon and The Nola Nerd Baby
If you are a reader of our blog, then you know that last year, the day before Pensacon started, I gave birth to my beautiful daughter. Needless to say, my husband nor I were able to attend (although we did send our correspondent, Nola Nerd Solo). Pensacon is one of our favorite cons, and usually, a can’t miss event, but I think giving birth had to take precedence.
This year, our little Nola Nerd Baby is turning one and what better way to celebrate her first birthday than to go to Pensacon!
Pensacon does such a great job at getting the whole city of Pensacola involved in the fun. Whether you are flying into the airport, grabbing a bite to eat or having a drink, or just walking around downtown Pensacola, you are sure to see the con spirit. We love to cover Pensacon, and we will go into greater depth in subsequent blogs about all there is to do and see at Pensacon this year, but I am going to dedicate this blog to one of my favorite subjects: Star Wars.
Star Wars Actors at Pensacon
If you are a Star Wars fan, then Pensacon is sure to excite. Besides the artwork, panels, themed restaurants, displays, and other goodies, Pensacon has an assortment of guests directly involved in making Star Wars come to life.
Rogue One
Two such people are Guy Henry and Ingvild Deila, who played the motion capture for Grand Moff Tarkin and Princess Leia in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Guy not only provided the physical performance for Tarkin but the vocal one as well. He was so good filling in for the late Peter Cushing that it was hard to tell the difference! Ingvild’s performance as a young Carrie Fisher transported me back in time to the original Star Wars. It was so cool to see how the end of Rogue One flowed right into A New Hope. I have a Rogue One poster, in which I already have Felicity Jones, Forrest Whittaker, and Mads Mikkelsen signatures, among others, so I am very excited to add Tarkin and the princess.
Bounty Hunters
Another project that I am excited to work on is my Bounty Hunters photo from The Empire Strikes Back. Before Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett) retired, I was able to have him sign the picture. Now, Bill Hargreaves (IG-88), Alan Harris (Bossk), and Catherine Munroe (Zuckuss) are all attending Pensacon. If Chris Parsons (4-Lom) could only attend, then my photo would be complete! Unfortunately, the actor to played Dengar, Morris Bush, sadly passed away in 1999.
Star Wars Actors and Crew
Another major actor attending is Joonas Suotamo, who took over the role of Chewbacca from the fantastic Peter Mayhew. Joonas shared the role with everyone’s favorite Wookie with Peter in The Force Awakens, and exclusively wore the suit in The Last Jedi and Solo: A Star Wars Story. We’ve met him before, and he is a super nice guy. I have the “Chewie…we’re home” The Force Awakens shot that I am thinking about getting him to sign (even though getting Harrison Ford on that photo would be almost impossible!).
Another guest I am excited to meet is Keone Young, who plays Commander Jun Sato in Star Wars: Rebels. He was a vital leader within the rebellion and wound up sacrificing his life to save Ezra and Chopper. Sato received a lot of screen time on Rebels, so I am excited to meet the man that helped bring him to life.
Another cool addition to the con is Leo Towersey. If you love R2-D2 (and really, who doesn’t?!), then this is the man who built him from TFA onwards! Not only that, but operates various other droids on all of the Disney era Star Wars films, like Mouse Droids, Sentry Droids, and Astromechs. He is a definite addition to my TFA poster.
Star Wars Authors at Pensacon
A few Star Wars authors will also be in attendance. Timothy Zahn, who created the ever popular Thrawn character in the Heir to the Empire trilogy that is now part of Star Wars Legends expanded the universe. However, because his character was so incredibly popular, Disney graciously allowed him to reenter canon by appearing on Rebels and having Zahn write Thrawn, Thrawn: Alliances, and the upcoming Thrawn: Treason. If you have ever been to Star Wars Celebration, then you know he is incredibly popular, and his lines for autographs are insane. I met him at Pensacon two years ago to have him sign my trilogy books, and it was an incredibly smooth experience. We had a chance to chat, and he mentioned the Celebration Orlando exclusive cover for Thrawn (which I beelined to buy my first day!). Now I can finally get him to sign it!
Claudia Gray, author of Star Wars: Lost Stars, Star Wars: Bloodline, Star Wars: Leia, Princess of Alderaan, and the upcoming Star Wars: Master and Apprentice, is also scheduled to appear. I am just now starting to read Bloodline, a book that everyone who I know has read it has loved. I naturally want to read all of her books, I just need to schedule out some time in my day to take a break and read. Plus, she lives in New Orleans!
Another interesting Star Wars guest is designer and illustrator Christopher Burdett. He is an illustrator and concept designer in the tabletop gaming industry. We actually met him at a previous Pensacon and bought his fantastic print of Salacious B. Crumb, a personal favorite of mine.
Other Guests at Pensacon
A few other guests connected to Star Wars are also slated to appear, including James Urbaniak, Kirk Thatcher, Felix Silla, Rachael Leigh Cook, Terry McGovern, Kiran Shah, Robert Watts, Julian Glover, Clive Revill, and toy designer Jim Swearingen. As I said, if you are a Star Wars fan, Pensacon has knocked it out of the park on Star Wars guests! And this is just Star Wars guests. Other fandoms like Doctor Who, Indiana Jones, Power Rangers, and Star Trek (including Shatner!) will be there as well. Not to mention all of the other guests.
All in all, there are over 135 different media guests appearing. Needless to say, we have been saving for a while. We cannot wait to meet everyone, hear the panels, check out the artwork, and have our daughter experience her first Pensacon. See everyone soon!
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