I was lucky enough to be invited to the red (white, actually) carpet event and world premiere of The Last Jedi, which took place at the Shrine Auditorium, in Los Angeles, CA.
I was joined by R2 Builders Michael McMaster, Chris James and Steele Smith, along with dozens of club members of the 501st and Rebel Legions, and other Star Wars fan clubs.
Mike Senna was also nearby, but he had other fish to fry. He did kindly offer to take pictures for fans from the vantage point of the carpet (including the one above).
At 5:00pm sharp, the festivities began, starting with a garrison of First Order Stormtroopers.
They were immediately followed by the droids! Leading off, BB-9E.
Next up, everyone's favorites, R2-D2 and C-3PO.
And by shear coincidence, Mike Senna walked by.
And the last droid, but certainly not least, BB-8.
After that, the actors and crew started to arrive, and most of them autographed our badges and other memorabilia.
Chewbaccas of past and present, Peter Mayhew and Joonas Suotamo.
Yoda himself, Frank Oz.
Director Rian Johnson, whom I met at this years Star Wars Night at Dodger Stadium.
Living legend Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke (and forever memorable as Gollum).
Daisy Ridley as Rey signed lots of badges, and made fellow R2 Builder Keri Bean (in glasses) very happy when she signed Keri's Porg. :)
Warrick Davis and family made their way by.
Next up, Mark Hamill. Mark took plenty of time chatting with people and autographing badges. He also walked away with my Sharpie, but that's ok, I had another. :)
We saw Lupita Nyong'o from a distance, as she was called over for an interview with the Star Wars Show crew.
Adam Driver as Kylo Ren almost made it to where I was, but he too got called over and I just missed him.
Gwendolyn Christie as Captain Phasma also got called over, so we missed her too!
John Williams, another living legend, walked by.
John Boyega (Finn) barely made it due to travel problems from Atlanta, so he was running late and had to turbo-sign everyone's badge. Thanks to Mike Senna for nabbing this picture.
And toward the end, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, to whom we shouted our thanks.
Ok, with that out of the way, it was time to make our way indoors to see a movie!
As I write this, very few people in this galaxy or any other have seen the movie, so I won't say anything about it at all, other than we were provided popcorn and drinks, and before the movie started, Rian Johnson brought the cast out on stage and said a few words.
About 2.5 hours later, we emerged for the after party and dinner! We saw Kelly Marie Tran chatting with some of the cast from the show Speechless.
The theme of the party was somewhat like a casino.
Photo ops! Michael McMaster, Mike Senna and I got to have our picture taken with R2-D2. This all somehow seems very familiar.
Michael McMaster and I ventured over to where the rounder droids were standing by for photos.
We chatted with other guests (the celebs were pretty much off limits), and took in the sights and sounds as the evening went on. Toward the end, we lined up to get a special gift.
Once we collected our gift, it was pretty much time to head on out. I took one last look at the massive AT-M6 walker.
Later at home, I was able to get a look at my badge and open up the gift.
It goes without saying that I am super grateful that I got to go to the premiere. It was a memorable evening and I'll always appreciate it.
The full photoset is here.
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