Turlock couple know the power of the dark side

Steven Gwin first saw the 501st Legion on TV, when members of the “Star Wars” costuming group marched in the 2007 Rose Bowl Parade when George Lucas was grand marshal.

“I was mesmerized. I thought, ‘Who are these guys?’ ” he said Thursday night, at home with his wife and fellow “Star Wars” superfan, Marie.

Not until 2010, when he saw a poster for the Stockton Thunder hockey team’s “Star Wars” Night, did Steven learn the name of the international group and that it had a Central California Garrison. “I was like a little kid, saying, ‘I saw those guys in the Rose Bowl Parade. Those guys are legit!’ ”

He and Marie went to the game, and before entering the ice arena, 6-foot-4 Steven said he thought to himself, “If I’m taller than their Darth Vader, I think I should be Vader. I’m just sayin’.”

Well, he was. And he couldn’t shake the thought that he should join the 501st.

He ran the idea past Marie, sort of hoping she’d be the voice of reason, saying something like, “That sounds really expensive.”

Instead, she recalls saying, “If you’re going to do this, be the best dang Vader that ever lived. ... Don’t tell me how much it is, just go out and do it to the best of your ability.”

And now, to paraphrase his alter ego, Darth Vader, the student has become the master. Just a few short years after admittedly “geeking out” over the costumed 501st members, the 47-year-old is one of them, enjoying the experience behind the mask as children and adults alike ooh and aah at his Sith Lord presence.

Marie, 39, recalled a small boy dressed as a Jedi who wanted nothing but to hang out with Vader when the 501st made a Game Stop store appearance for the release of the “Star Wars Battlefront” video game recently. “That little guy did not want to leave your side,” she said to her husband. “And there are little girls who seriously want a hug.”

Not only did Marie greenlight her husband’s September 2011 entrance into the 501st, she joined him within two months. Since she belly dances, she initially figured her character would be a Twi’lek dancer, like the tentacle-headed character who performs for Jabba the Hutt in “Return of the Jedi.”

But Steven had to tell her that if she wanted to hang with his Vader, she’d have to be a character from the Empire, in keeping with the 501st’s theme. No rebel scum or others allowed.

So, she became a storm-trooper, and loves it. Standing 5-foot-8 in bare feet, 5-10 in armor, “I’m actually the right size for a storm-trooper,” she said, “but my whole garrison is a bunch of tall guys.” So she often hears the insult Princess Leia directs to Luke Skywalker in the original “Star Wars”: “Aren’t you a little short for a storm-trooper?”

Actually, no. Among the wealth of trivia the Gwins have learned: The storm-trooper armor made for the original “Star Wars” was cast for a guy who was just 5-foot-7. But when Lucasfilm is scouting for storm-troopers for high-profile events like that Rose Parade or a major-league baseball game, it wants people who are 5-10 or 5-11.

Being in the 501st for four years already has given the Gwins memories to last a lifetime.

Steven said his highlight was portraying Vader in Course of the Force, an Olympic-style relay run from Skywalker Ranch in Marin County to the San Diego Comic-Con. Celebrities participate, as do people who win spots to carry the relay’s version of an Olympic torch – a light-saber. Steven helped kick off the Bay Area stretch of the race. “The first place they put me was on the doorsteps of Skywalker Ranch. George wasn’t home, but I got to be there at the door.”

Marie’s big moment was at an event Disney held in Las Vegas to announce to licensees that it had purchased Lucasfilm.

As a backdrop, you need to understand that what Mark Hamill ad-libbed in “Star Wars” while disguised as a storm-trooper – “I can’t see a thing in this helmet” – is pretty accurate.

“We usually tell people we can’t climb stairs (while wearing the helmets), we can’t see below the nose at all,” Marie said. But at the Vegas event, “They tell us, ‘OK, you guys are gonna be on stage and do choreography.’ The only one who can really count (dance steps) is me. So I’m in charge of helping these big, goofy guys turn on four.”

So each storm-trooper gets to the stairs leading to the stage, kicks the bottom one to see where it is, and clambers up. The group figured out the choreography, she said, “and we show up that night and they’re like, ‘Oh, and the lights will be out and there will be a smoke machine.’

“We had literally 30 guys on stage, marching around in formation, and you have to hit your mark and stop because Vader’s going to come out. So I can’t see (well through the helmet), I’m sucking in smoke, it’s dark, but you know what? Nobody fell off the stage.”

Good thing, because everybody knows Vader doesn’t tolerate failure.

The Gwins have been married 10 years. She works in management at the Jo-Ann fabric and crafts store in Modesto. He is a quality technician for Parker Racor, which makes fuel, air and oil filtration systems. In the Central California Garrison, he’s executive officer and webmaster, she’s event coordinator and charity representative. Both say they’d love to see garrison membership – currently at 102, according to its website – grow.

What advice do they have for those considering joining? “We’d definitely request they look up the 501st website (www.501st.com) and follow the threads. Most questions have been asked,” Marie said. “... The only requirement is a movie-accurate costume of your choice.”

The legion requires just one event appearance a year to retain membership in good standing, Steven said. His first year, though, he made more than 50, while Marie said she “trooped” 38 times.

How much money you spend on costuming depends on how obsessive you are, the Gwins say. A good storm-trooper outfit can be had for as little as $400 to $600.

On the other hand, Steven took about nine months to “source the parts” for his original Vader costume. He has a few other Vader costumes, too, though, representing the Sith lord at various times in the “Star Wars” saga. You might be surprised at all the little differences made to the movie costumes from episode to episode, but it makes sense. Vader wouldn’t wear the same “clothes” day in and day out over the years.

Asked about how much he’s sunk into his passion, Steven at first said about $4,000, but then added, “Things have been replaced, upgraded ... who knows how much I’ve spent.”

Neither he nor Marie wants to put a price tag on the happiness being in the 501st has brought them, though. “I love it,” she said. “It’s a big part of my life. I’m not just a fan. I want to live it, be it.”

This story was originally published November 21, 2015 at 3:06 PM with the headline "Turlock couple know the power of the dark side."