The hardest of hardcore Star Wars fans gathered earlier this week at the Scotiabank Theatre to sit through a 15-hour movie marathon (Episodes 1 through 6) in advance of the Force Awakens premiere. As expected, many showed up in full costume. We toured the Cineplex looking for lovingly executed Leias, Obi Wans and Sith Lords. Here, the best of the Star Wars superfans.
Name: Reno Russel Age: 19 Profession: Telecommunications associate “I’ve been watching the marathon since 4 a.m. I’m sorta getting to that point of exhaustion—I’m running on soda and popcorn. But it’s my life, this is what I do. I have about $1,000 worth of Star Wars tattoos on my body.”
Name: Lisa Gal Age: 39 Profession: Teacher “I borrowed this mask from my three-year-old daughter, and the Chewbacca sweater belongs to my husband.”
Josh Gal (Husband): “What she’s not saying is that we’re missing our kid’s Christmas pageant to be here.”
Name: Roxana Cilbanu Age: 32 Profession: Senior banking manager “I’m going for a modern take on Princess Leia. I love her sense of fashion. I’ve been waiting for this for so long. I watched the trailer at least ten times—and the Japanese one, too, because it had a few more shots in it.”
Name: Vakho Lomtadze Age: 16 Profession: Student “Obi Wan is my favourite character. I find a lot of inspiration in him, because he’s such a role model for kids. I try to be like him.”
Name: Ilya Lomtadze Age: 18 Profession: Student “I’m dressed as Anakin because in the end he became a good guy—he’s careful and he’s a good father. Most of my friends are Star Wars fans because I’ve convinced them.”
Name: Nicholas Malcolm Age: 12 “Chewbacca is my favourite. He’s really funny and he looks cool. I also like wondering what kind of species he is.”
Name: David Malcolm Age: 9 “C3PO is my favourite—I like robots.”
Name: Lisa Malcolm Age: 40s “We’ve been waiting for this for a while. It’s so great to be able to share this excitement with my boys.”
Name: Romain Leroux Age: 37 Profession: IT technician “I was born in 1977, a month before the first film came out. We’ve been here for four hours waiting to get good seats.”
Name: Dexter Storey Age: 17 Profession: Student “I got tickets to this screening three weeks ago and have been bragging to my friends ever since. Han Solo is pretty classic. Actually, scratch that—Chewbacca’s my favourite!”
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