Shannon Jones McRandle, '93 BA Communication Studies, doesn't have the usual set of job hazards. Letters from lovelorn 15-year-olds, phone calls from fans who've tracked down yet another unlisted number, even a break-in at her home — all come with her work as a space-age sex symbol.
For seven years, McRandle has set male fans' hearts aflutter at Star Wars conventions as leather-clad, Lightsabre-wielding Mara Jade, a comic-book and novel character who appears in the Star Wars universe beyond the big screen. McRandle spends days at a time signing photos, comics, and books; hosting dinners; and welcoming legions of followers at meet-and-greets.
"The fans are generally really sweet. This is their hobby — it's what they do outside their family and work, so it means a lot to them," says McRandle, who first saw the original Star Wars film at age 7 and went on to see it 13 more times before it left theaters. "Fans wait in line for five or six hours to get your autograph, and when they reach you they're so beside themselves they start blubbering. They see you and get so excited."
For McRandle, being a fantasy girl is "fun and intimidating all at the same time. We all have days when we're grumpy, or didn't get enough sleep the night before. If I have a bad day, it's on film and in people's scrapbooks for the next 20 years. But it's also really cool to step back and say, 'I'm Mara Jade.' That's a part of pop culture now — you can look it up on a computer or in a book. It's not ever going anywhere."
McRandle's path to cultural immortality began at UNLV in the early 1990s. Born in Texas and reared in Virginia, McRandle spent her first few semesters at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. The school wasn't a good fit; McRandle was ready to drop out until her father suggested she try a college away from home. She chose UNLV because it was "upbeat and modern, and I knew I could find a job on the Strip."
Soon, McRandle was working as Cleopatra in Roman festivals at Caesars Palace. She went on to perform in special events at the Mirage and Bally's, donning costumes to present awards.
"My time at UNLV gave me so much experience," she says. "I was so happy to be in school there. The work I got in Las Vegas is what helps me walk into a room with 35,000 people today and not be nervous or intimidated. I gained such a solid background there."
After graduating, McRandle moved back to Virginia and began modeling for catalogs and ads. In 1998, a photographer told her the Lucasfilm company was seeking the personification of a comic-book character: a statuesque, striking, athletic, and feminine Jedi redhead married to Luke Skywalker. "Mara Jade was this kick-butt character, but very much a 'girly girl,'" McRandle recalls. The casting people took one look at McRandle and canceled their remaining audition dates.
McRandle's work as Mara Jade has taken her to Japan, Mexico, Australia, and Germany, among other countries. When she first assumed the role, McRandle found herself at events every other weekend. This year, when her third child was on the way, she scaled back to about five conventions, though "you can make a living doing appearances every weekend if you want to look for the jobs," she says.
When she's not Mara Jade, McRandle lives a mostly quiet life in Virginia. Her husband, Jamey, is a Navy SEAL whose job "gets as much attention as mine these days — and sometimes more," she says. Her job's flexibility also makes it easier to juggle parenting of Willow, 7; Riley, 2; and newborn Logan. Earlier this year, Star Wars creator George Lucas announced he was planning a TV pilot that would incorporate characters from the series' bigger universe, including novel and comic stars. Though she's not sure Mara Jade will appear in the pilot, McRandle says she's shaping up to prepare for a possible audition.
"I've had a really good time with it. It's opened doors to travel and meeting people and being part of something really neat. I wouldn't trade that for the world. But it does get kind of crazy sometimes."
