We are happy to announce the late addition of Shannon McRandle, the model and actor who is the real-life model for the beloved Star Wars expanded universe character Mara Jade, created by Timothy Zahn.
Before 1998, the character of Mara Jade appeared only as illustrations created by various artists based on the descriptions provided of her appearance in novels in the Star Wars expanded universe. A long-time fan of the Star Wars franchise, McRandle auditioned to be cast as an image for Mara Jade after Lucasfilm decided to use a photographic likeness as a model for Mara. Lucasfilm Ltd. used McRandle’s likeness for merchandise of Mara Jade. Illustrations of the character were influenced by McRandle’s appearance.
Shannon will be with us Saturday and Sunday downstairs signing and talking with fans. She will have some wonderful art and memorabilia from her personal collection for sale during the weekend, so please make sure to visit both her and Timothy Zahn during your time with us this weekend.
We are sad to announce that Scott Grimes has had to cancel his #FarpointCon2022 appearance due to a change in his film production schedule. He sends his best wishes to all and is sorry that he won’t be able to be with us this coming weekend.
But when one door closes, another opens – Agent Liberty from Supergirl, Darth Maul and Palpatine from the Star Wars Universe, Rupert Chipping from Riverdale, Mr. Hyde from Once Upon A Time, Aidan from Being Human, Doomsday from Smallville, and all around excellent person SAM WITWER will be joining us!
Emmy-nominated actor Sam Witwer is probably best known as the voice of the famous and fearsome Star Wars villain ‘Darth Maul’. Witwer has done extensive work for the storied Lucasfilm/ Disney franchise, including Star Wars: Clone Wars, for which he earned an Emmy nomination in 2013 as “Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program,” and Star Wars: Rebels. His memorable performance gave him the opportunity to reprise his role in the 2018 blockbuster franchise prequel, Solo: A Star Wars Story. Working opposite such talents as Jon Favreau and Clancy Brown, Witwer also received recognition with an Annie Award nomination for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production in 2012. tar Wars fans and gamers will also recognize Witwer as Darth Vader’s vengeful apprentice, ‘StarKiller,’ in the LucasArts video game sensation Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Parts I and II). Through high-tech digital referencing and motion capture of Blur Studios, Witwer has become the voice and face of the series’ powerful protagonist. Given all of the above, it should be no surprise that Witwer will be part of the cast of the recently renewed season of Star Wars: Clone Wars, though what role he will play remains a secret.
Having always been popular among sci-fi fans, Witwer began his career in the memorable role of ‘Lt. Crashdown’ in SyFy’s Battlestar Galactica and played ‘Davis Bloom/ Doomsday’, the character fated to kill Superman, on CW’s Smallville. He then went on to play the lead in the SyFy series Being Human, a U.S. adaptation of the critically acclaimed British television series. The darkly humorous, provocative drama starred Witwer as the heroic ‘Aidan’, a modern and self-aware vampire who becomes roommates with a ghost and werewolf, respectively played by Meaghan Rath and Sam Huntington.
Recently, Witwer wrapped a recurring role on the CW’s Riverdale as ‘Mr. Chipping’, an English teacher at the prestigious Stonewall Preparatory high school that Jughead (Cole Sprouse) transfers to on scholarship. He also just finished a season-long arc on the CW’s Supergirl as this season’s main antagonist, ‘Agent Liberty’. The series set a new precedent with Witwer, giving his character an entire prequel episode dedicated to building his backstory as a disenfranchised professor who leads a hateful human supremacy movement against the aliens who have to settled on Earth.
Witwer is also one of the authors of the critically acclaimed Dungeons and Dragons Art and Arcana: A Visual History. The book features the history and art that built the franchise into the massive pop phenomenon it is today. The artwork, sourced by Sam and his partners, explains the origins of the tabletop game that became a household name. While considered a niche hobby by some, the fanbase surround the franchise boasts some very noteworthy names — including Joe Manganiello who came on board for Sam and team to write the forward for the book.
Chicago born-and-raised and a Juilliard-trained actor, Witwer is also an accomplished musician, having just released Revenge of the Crashtones, the sophomore album of his one-man-band, The Crashtones. When not working, Witwer resides in Los Angeles with his two dogs, Buster and Leonard.
Our planned #FarpointCon2022 convention schedule can be found HERE in downloadable PDF format and in our interactive online app. Changes may be made in the final days before the convention. Bookmark this page, and/or follow us on Facebook (Farpoint Convention), Instagram (@FarpointFoundation) and Twitter (@FarpointCon) to receive updates as they are published.
Scott’s career began at the age of 9 on Broadway and has since expanded to also include movies, television and music. He is currently appearing with Seth MacFarlane, Adrienne Padalecki and #FarpointCon2020 guest Penny Johnson Jerald on “The Orville“, with the season 3 premiering on Hulu in March 2022.
Scott has released three albums of his original music and is a member of the famous Band From TV, joining with other actors and musicians, performing around the country every year to raise money for multiple charities. The group has raised over six million dollars for various charitable causes since their inception.
Scott will be arriving at Farpoint on Friday evening and will be speaking and signing on Saturday and Sunday.
Once upon a time, Wilson Cruz was invited to Farpoint Convention and happily accepted. However, his office misread the dates for Farpoint and did not realize that our con and the Trek Cruise were the same weekend. Wilson had booked the Trek Cruise quite awhile ago. So with many apologies, Wilson will be unable to attend Farpoint Convention next month and will instead be joining us in 2023.
We have a verbal acceptance from a replacement guest but are waiting for the signed contract before announcing their name. Hold tight.
Make a tax deductible donation to Farpoint Foundation
Hot on the heels of announcing Wilson Cruz joining us at #FarpointCon2022, we are pleased to announce that our friend Timothy Zahn is making his return to join us too!
Timothy Zahn is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy. He is known best for his prolific collection of Star Wars books, chiefly the Thrawn series, and has published several other series of novels of his own original creation, in addition to many works of short fiction.
Zahn’s novella Cascade Point won the 1984 Hugo Award. He is the author of the Blackcollar trilogy and the Cobra series (eight novels so far), fourteen Star Wars expanded universe novels, including thirteen novels featuring Grand Admiral Thrawn: the Thrawn trilogy, the Hand of Thrawn duology, Outbound Flight, Choices of One, Thrawn, Thrawn: Alliances, Thrawn: Treason, and the Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy.
The Thrawn trilogy marked a revival in the fortunes of the Star Wars franchise, bringing it widespread attention for the first time in years; all three Thrawn trilogy novels made the New York TimesBest Seller List, and set the stage and tone for most of the franchise’s expanded universe content. Zahn also wrote the young adult Dragonback series and the popular Conquerors’ trilogy.
We have received the unfortunate news that Brent Spiner and Sean Gunn are cancelling their appearances at #FarpointCon2022 because of production delays on their respective projects that have pushed their film schedules out into March 2022.
This bad news does allow us to offer some good news as well. Please join us in welcoming Wilson Cruz, Dr. Hugh Culber from Star Trek: Discovery! He also can be seen on the Netflix series, Thirteen Reasons Why, playing the role of ‘Dennis Vasquez.’ Early in his career, Wilson won the hearts of audiences playing ‘Rickie Vasquez’ on MY SO CALLED LIFE. It was the first openly gay teenager role to air on network television.
Wilson’s theater accolades include his portrayal of the critically acclaimed role of Angel in the Broadway and West Coast premiere productions of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning musical RENT. His portrayal earned him the Los Angeles Ovation Award and Dramalogue Award. He also starred in Tick, Tick, BOOM! at the Westport Country Playhouse, West Coast Premiere, and its first National Tour.
On the frontlines of LGBT advocacy, Wilson Cruz recently served as the Director of Entertainment Industry Partnerships and as National Spokesperson for GLAAD, the nation’s leading LGBT media advocacy organization. Wilson also wrote and is executive producing a sixpart docuseries, OUT OF THE BOX: HOW AMERICA CAME OUT ON TV.
Please mark your calendars now to join us Feb 25-27, 2022 at the Delta Hotel by Marriott, Hunt Valley MD for #FarpointCon22! We are happy to announce that Star Trek icon BRENT SPINER is joining Sean Gunn and Maisie Richardson-Sellers as our #Farpoint2022 celebrity guests !
Sean Gunn is known for his role as Kraglin in the Marvel Universe films Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. In addition to portraying Kraglin, Sean also provides on-set motion capture performance for Rocket Raccoon for the Marvel Cinematic Universe productions, working in both Guardians films, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame in this capacity. Gilmore Girls fans remember him as Kirk, one of the quirky townies of Stars Hollow.
Maisie Richardson-Sellers is a British actress known for her role as Amaya Jiwe/Vixen and Charlie on The CW superhero series Legends of Tomorrow. She has also played Eva Sinclair on The CW series The Originals, and a starring role as King Saul of Israel’s daughter Michal in the ABC Biblical series Of Kings and Prophets.
Convention membership tickets and hotel room reservations are available now here on our website. We look forward to seeing you at #FarpointCon2021 in February.
Please join us in welcoming Mary Chieffo, the actor behind Star Trek Discovery‘s Klingon High Chancellor L’Rell, to our Farpoint family of legendary guests! Mary will be joining already announced guests Penny Johnson Jerald from The Orville and Anthony Montgomery from Star Trek Enterprise for all 3 days of the convention.
Mary received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Juilliard in 2015, winning the Elizabeth Smith Voice and Speech Prize and the Saint-Denis Prize for “Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Drama.” In her fourth year, she took on the title character in Erica Schmidt’s all-female Macbeth, reprising the role with Schmidt in 2016 for Seattle Repertory Theatre’s The Other Season. After portraying Iago in October 2015 for Harlem Shakespeare Festival’s all-female Othello, Mary participated in workshops of Lover, Beloved: An Evening With Carson McCullers—a one-woman show written by Grammy Award-winning Suzanne Vega and Tony- and Grammy Award-winning Duncan Sheik. She performed the piece at the Sherry Theatre in LA and at the Alley Theatre in Houston, TX in March and August of 2016. Mary stars as Jane in the upcoming webseries Digital Detox—a futuristic rendering of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story The Yellow Wallpaper—opposite her fellow Juilliard classmate Justin Lawrence Barnes, directed by Amber Benson (Buffy The Vampire Slayer). Mary hopes to use her newfound Star Trek platform to bring about greater intersectional gender equality in front and behind the scenes in the entertainment industry and beyond. To that end, Mary is currently producing, writing, and starring in a feminist, gender, and color conscious Shakespeare adaptation alongside Viola Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions. She is thrilled to reveal more details about the project soon!
