Emily Warnock holds the Star Wars cosplay fabric which was personally signed by Mike Kessell's daughter Simone Kessell who plays Breha Organa in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Photos / Rebecca Mauger
Emily Warnock holds the Star Wars cosplay fabric which was personally signed by Mike Kessell's daughter Simone Kessell who plays Breha Organa in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Photos / Rebecca Mauger
From the iconic opening scene of the very first Star Wars movie, Emily Warnock was ''captured''.
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope was a revolutionary movie in the late 1970s and captivated the world, creating a timeless army of fans who follow the franchise including its prequels, sequels and now television series.
Emily, Katikati's ''Star Wars girl'', is one of those mega-fans.
''I was about 4, watching on VHS. That first scene — just after the screen crawl — watching the ship come over. The Rebel Alliance is fleeing and being shot at by the Star Destroyer ... from that moment I was like 'wow'. That was the moment.''
Emily has been mad on Star Wars and an avid collector ever since.
She loves all the movies, particularly appreciating character development and narratives such as the love/hate relationship between Han Solo and Princess Leia.
Nearly every room has Star Wars paraphernalia and three rooms are entirely dedicated.
The main Star Wars room.
''I'd say in the last decade, the collecting has gone through the roof.''
The Star Wars room is a collector's dream and the main feature of the house. It contains multiple collections in cabinets of Lego, figurines, Pop Vinyl, Matchbox, cups, badges, toys, candles, Polly Pockets, candy holders, popcorn holders to mention a few. Kinder Surprise did a Star Wars line and Emily has all the toys. She has approximately 40 games and about 100 DVDs and VHSes.
There's a smaller room stacked with board games and puzzles.
The Star Wars board game room.
Her cosplay room — another cherished hobby — was born from a love of Star Wars. She creates her own outfits including Star Wars characters such as mandalorians and this room is adorned with old-school classic posters.
Children Tristan, 11, Finley, 9, and Kaera, 7, all have Star Wars clothes, shoes and onesies. Emily wears Star Wars clothes she has made herself.
Emily's cosplay room where she makes all her creations.
A Star Wars quilt adorns her bed — made from old Stars Wars T-shirts the kids have outgrown.
Emily won't be brought into a conversation about which movie is her favourite.
''I can't pick. They all have their place. What I like about the new ones is they are a bit like Pride and Prejudice but that's just my retelling of it.
''You'll have some hard core fans saying the sequel trilogies are stupid. There's a lot of divided fans.''
Her favourite character was Princess Leia as she was ''bad ass'' and now it's Han and Leia's son Kylo Ren which she likens to a Darcy (Pride and Prejudice) type character.
The Obi-Wan Kenobi television series / Simone Kessell connection
Katikati has its own connection to the Obi-Wan Kenobi television series.
Mike Kessell is Simone Kessell's father and a Katikati local. Simone plays Breha Organa who is Princess Leia's stepmother in the new Disney series.
Mike and Emily met in a shop when he overheard her talking about Star Wars.
''I asked if she'd like to see a photo and Breha Organa and Emily's attention went through the roof!'' he says.
He offered to have Simone — who was in Auckland recently — sign the fabric that Emily has made her daughter's cosplay outfit with. The outfit is a replica of young Leia from the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.
Emily will integrate the signed fabric into the costume.
