Between 1999 and 2009 Lightsabre.co.uk brought news, fanfic, podcasts and much, much more to the masses. Our thirty-second guest was the webmistress of nerf-herders-anonymous.net and a regular and popular contributor to the blogs on starwars.com – Leah Mangue.
Lightsabre – Leah, welcome to Lightsabre.
LM – Thank you, Mark! It’s my pleasure to be here and I’m thrilled to help initiate the webmaster section of Lightsabre.
Lightsabre – Star Wars has had a profound effect on all of us – it’s why we’re here talking about it, but what was it that started you off on your Star Wars journey?
LM – The first time I saw Star Wars. 1977. It was early afternoon, my best friend, TEA, and I were standing in line with 2000 other excited people at the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara, CA (my original home-town). We got into the theatre, bought our popcorn and drinks and found our seats. The atmosphere was electric it was buzzing with children playing in the aisles and near the stage, there were an equal number of adults. When the lights dimmed there was a slight quieting but still quite a bit of energetic squirming. I don’t recall one trailer (preview) I saw but I do remember that the theatre went dead silent once Star Wars started to roll. But once it did it was cheering and laughing sometimes so loud you couldn’t hear any of the dialogue (sound wasn’t what it is now and the theatre was very large with a very high ceiling and a pronounced echo) by the time the end credits rolled I was an eleven year old, dyed-in-the-wool fangirl.
Lightsabre – Your work on your highly acclaimed site nerf-herders-anonymous.net has built up over a number of years and become the place to go for news and information on Star Wars actors and their careers. What made you decide to concentrate on this sphere of the Star Wars phenomenon?
LM – My focus on the actors came about because I wanted one single place where all fans could go to find out about the actors from every branch of official Star Wars media. There was a serious lack of complete information out there and somehow I felt obligated, as a dutiful fangirl I suppose, to fill the niche. While my site isn’t particularly sophisticated, I now have more information about the Star Wars actors than any other similar actor oriented database in the world. There are 829 and counting.
Lightsabre – Which of the six episodes stands out as your favourite?
LM – Star Wars. For the sheer magic…brings me back to that afternoon nearly 30 years ago every time I watch it, nothing can beat that.
Lightsabre – What is it like to be a part of the Star Wars phenomenon, now you have been `officially’ recognized on starwars.com?
LM – Surprised. Over the moon. I had no expectations, no notions of being recognized by anyone let alone the OS. It’s very special!
Lightsabre – As a fellow fan you must have many golden Star Wars memories. Tell us about some of them.
LM – A month or so before Return of the Jedi came out my friend and I had been invited by a mutual friend to a premiere of the film at 20th Century Fox in Los Angeles. We were the only young people amongst a group of what I believe were mostly executives from the studio. Our friend’s grandfather, Len Engel, was part of the music editing team (maybe he was head at the time, I can’t recall now) at Fox so he was our ticket into the preview show. It was a huge thrill to be there and we were somewhat vocal in our delight as the film rolled on. The weird thing was we were the only ones making any sort of sound at all. We were enjoying ourselves immensely but there was nary a twitch, a smile or even a breath from the large group of undoubtedly jaded executives that surrounded us.
At the time it had not occurred to me to look for important people, not that I could have recognized but a few faces back then. By the time the credits ended people had scattered and left. I did, however, spot Howard Kazanjian in front of the screening room and we thanked him and chatted for a few minutes, talking about the film of course, and had him sign the cast & crew folder we’d received before the showing. It was a grand topping on the day.
Side note: We had started that day with a tour of the back lot and were taken to the sets of the TV show M*A*S*H which had filmed their series finale several weeks before our arrival. The sets were going to be flown to The Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. for an exhibit. They let us wander around and play with everything.
Lightsabre – Which of the Star Wars characters is the closest to you?
LM – Princess Leia. Feisty and strong-willed but I’m a bit taller. My friends made an immediate association and I was nick-named Princess Leah from day one. Good thing I liked Star Wars.
Lightsabre – What would you change about Star Wars if you could go back in time and make alterations?
LM – I wouldn’t change a thing. I’ve always felt that it was never my place (or anyone else’s) to make changes to another’s work of art, I certainly wouldn’t want people changing mine.
OK, no, not entirely true. I would change one thing, I would have added myself to the cast of one of the films.
Lightsabre – You are constantly striving to keep the site updated and current, as well as being a continual presence on the blogs. Clearly you love devoting this much time and attention to Star Wars.
LM – Circumstance gave me bits of time to work with throughout the day. I work at home and my computer and keyboard are next to and under, respectively, my drawing board. Having a flexible time schedule and such close access to the computer has made it easier for me to work, take care of other work related issues, raise my son and live life, AND devote time and effort to my website. There’s hardly a moment each day where I’m not working on something.
Lightsabre – Now that Revenge of the Sith has been released, where do you think Lucas will take us next on our trip through the Star Wars galaxy?
LM – I hope that the live-action series will, as I’ve heard, be the time between Revenge and Hope. If that’s the case then I want to be taken closer to the darker elements that are integrated into an evil empire such as bounty hunters, pirates, rogues and the grittiness that comes with life under a tyrannical thumb…or two. I also wouldn’t mind seeing something about the Knights of the Old Republic.
Lightsabre – What do you foresee for yourself in the future?
LM – For the immediate future:
I’ll be working on a few little extras for NHA.n, more sketches throughout the site, making separate divisions of the SWAD (in addition to the original page) to make it easier to search for actors in specific groups, all ANH, all KOTOR II, etc., etc., and maybe by their characters as well. I’m currently working on a feature project concerning Ewoks – it’s far from finished but I’m hoping for a 2007 unveiling.
Work (art) and family, the two most vitally important things in my life. I’ll continue with Pets Illustrated and other work, I was recently juried into a fine-arts show which will be held in March (2006), so most of my artistic efforts will be put into new pieces to show and sell there and for future shows and galleries. I also have loads of projects that I’d like to accomplish. I’m never without something to do.
Spending time with my family is what I value most so I hope to be able to devote more time to them.
As to what the far future holds, I can’t be sure. It’ll be fun to find out.
Lightsabre – A quick question about our site, Lightsabre. Any comments?
LM – The interview section is brilliant and I love listening to Setnin Radio…more please!
Lightsabre – It’s been a great interview, and thanks for being our guest on Lightsabre. Just one final question. Princess Leia, Padme Amidala and Oola have all been entered into a beauty pageant, and we’ve now reached the bikini round. Which one would get the most votes?
LM – The results would be…
1st place: Princess Leia (buxom, saucy, sexy)
2nd place: Oola (another buxom beauty with a dancer’s physique…Oola-la)
3rd place: Amidala/Padmé (that sweet, girl-next-door quality)
Thanks for having me, I had a great time! I’m especially honored to be the first and I look forward to seeing the other interviews!
