I attended this premiere as a guest of Disney
If you haven’t read my story about how I became a Star Wars fan , I highly recommend it. My route to fandom came later in life, but it doesn’t mean I’m not as pure a fan as my children who have grown up with the franchise.
My love of Star Wars is as real as the love of peanut butter and jelly. It just works and it’s as real as anything.
When I was invited to the World Premiere of Solo: A Star Wars Story, I lost my mind. It didn’t matter that it was over Mother’s Day weekend. Actually, that made it even better. I got to be at the premiere of the latest film in the Star Wars franchise over a weekend dedicated to me. What better Mother’s Day present is there?
None.
Getting my photo with stars always makes me queasy. I am a woman who values connection with people, so instead of asking for a photo, I try to pay them a compliment. Sure, there’s no photo proof of our connection, but I have moments I can tell stories about.
I had the great pleasure of helping Leanette from Funtastic Life around the red carpet with Louise from MomStart . Earlier in the day she went on a big trip down the concrete of the Disney Studios campus. No, seriously. It was like she was boogie boarding but on concrete and without a board.
She’s a trooper, though, and made it to the premiere where she traded her crutches out for a wheelchair. We missed a pretty big length of carpet, but her (unfortunate) disability landed her (us) a lot more attention than if we had all been on foot. Shout out to Sandra Oh who begrudgingly took her photo with handicapped Leanette before whirling off down the red carpet.
I ran into Nathan Fillion who is one of my celebrity crushes. When he was done playing with the LEGO Millennium Falcon cockpit, I told him I was a big fan to which he replied, “You have good taste!”
I know, Nathan. I know.
My dress by Nicole Paloma was a hit and apparently featured on the big screen inside the theatre which was pretty dope. Unfortunately, I was still busy taking my picture with Solo cups (get it?) and hobbling around the end of the carpet in my too-tall heels, so I missed it.
At the start of the carpet, a life-sized Millennium Falcon had been constructed. The feeling of being so close to an iconic part of my favorite franchise was overwhelming. I drank in every second I possibly could, completely ignoring the fact that I was surrounded by celebs. The Falcon was all that mattered.
Once inside the Dolby theatre, I grabbed a bottle of water and found my seat, 7 rows away from Mark Hamil himself. I still don’t know how this is real life.
The movie was better than I expected it to be. Ron Howard took an already-great script and turned it into pure gold. Look for my spoiler-free review this week!
This was the first time bloggers had been allowed to go to the premiere of a Star Wars movie, but we also got to go to the after party which is still such a blur. There were Stormtroopers walking around, costumes from the film set up, and tables where the cast could hang with their families while being chased around by those of us who desperately wanted to interact with them.
I told Ron Howard how much I loved the film and he made full eye contact then thanked me.
I had my picture taken with my old Jungle Book BFF, Jon Favreau.
I met Joonas Suotamo (pronounced YO-niss) who plays Chewbacca (and is 6’11.5″ tall, though he told me not to tell anyone that because he’s listed as 7′ tall).
But the highlight of my evening was meeting Ron Howard’s son Reed and daughter in law Ashley. Ashley told me in passing that she loved my dress and we started a conversation. She eventually introduced herself as Ron’s daughter in law and her husband Reed came over to introduce himself too. I could have stayed and talked to them all night long but didn’t want to take up their time. The time I did have with them was beautiful and I was glad to have the opportunity to tell them how much I genuinely loved what Ron had done with the film.
The night was completely magical and I still can’t believe this is my life. From winning an Iris Award for Best Writing to attending the Solo premiere, I feel like May 2018 is one of the best months of my adult life.
Stay tuned for SO much more from the premiere including interviews and a spoiler-free review of the movie !
Solo: A Star Wars Story hits theaters on May 25th!
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