From EU to Episode II: Aayla Secura

Another performer's maxim has to do with never letting the audience see you sweat, but in the case of the painted Allen, swinging a lightsaber under the hot lights of visual effects photography didn't leave her much choice.

"Since I'm embracing this character so much I decided not to wear deodorant because I think that affects the way the paint is on your body," Allen recalls. "I just stayed away from any kind of perfume, lotion, or deodorant to help Lauren keep the blue paint on. Gillian was just tweaking the costume a little bit. She had gotten real close to me and she said, 'Well, Ames, you stink!' Which was pretty funny, but thank God I'm close to Gillian. She can tell me things like that," laughs Allen. "Oh yeah, I was stinky."

The hot lights and tight schedule kept Allen active for four days of shooting. Under the direction of George Lucas and John Knoll, she combated imaginary droid and alien villains, led non-existent clone troopers into the thick of a pretend battle, and wandered the corridors of an unseen Jedi Temple.

"It went really well," says Allen. "I had no training learning how to use the lightsaber, so I just went in and I was completely winging it." She proved to be a natural, though the two-week rush in developing Aayla so late in post-production meant the character didn't have her own unique weapon. "There were some extra lightsabers that were made in Sydney, so we used one of those and even used Ki-Adi-Mundi's at one point" recalls Libbert.

In December of 2001, when starwars.com posted news of Aayla's upcoming appearance in Episode II, there was a fair amount of bet-hedging in the announcement. "Since the film is still being edited, it's impossible to know what -- if any -- her end screen-time will be," the story read. Since that time, Aayla ended up in over half-a-dozen shots, from the Geonosian arena, to the Clone War battle, to the Jedi Temple.

Since Allen worked at ILM during the thick of post-production, she didn't have to wait long to discover her recurring cameos in Episode II. "I kept hearing about it after dailies because everyone would make fun of me," she laughs. "They would send me an e-mail and say, 'oh my God, we saw you again, we saw you again.' It started becoming a joke amongst a lot of friends here, which is good because you become close with people when you work with them so much."

Seeing her face projected on the screen was just the start. As Episode II news began appearing everywhere, Allen got quite the surprise when she found out Time magazine had run her picture in the Yoda cover-story issue.

"At ILM, I sat with two girls, Jeanie King and Christy Castallano, and they were just freaking out when I walked into the office," says Allen. "They said, 'Okay, you are not going to believe this.' At first, we thought it was just on [Time's] website, but then I checked my messages and it was someone from the Ranch telling me that I'd better go out and get to the closest newsstand because they're flying off the racks. That's when I thought -- wait, wait, wait. It's in the hardcopy of Time? I went completely ballistic!"

From national magazines, to additional comic book appearances, to an upcoming action figure, Aayla's exposure continued to grow. Allen found herself invited to Celebration II, the largest Star Wars convention ever held. She appeared on a panel entitled "Women Who Kick," alongside such female Star Wars models and actresses as Femi Taylor (Oola), Nalini Krishan (Barriss Offee), Mary Oyaya (Luminara Unduli), Michonne Bourriague (Aurra Sing) and Shannon Baksa (Mara Jade).

"I had no idea what to expect," admits Allen. "I wasn't sure how well I would be accepted yet, or how many people would know me. But people do their homework. I met more women who were so excited about it. Women and young girls that were really excited that there was a female character and that she was a Jedi."

Allen also got to meet Aayla's co-creator, Jan Duursema, at the convention. "We hugged each other right away, and it was like an instant bond that we had," she says. "I thanked her and told her the whole story how this had happened and she was really excited about it." It was sort of a meeting of creators at Celebration, as Allen's parents also met Duursema. "They really liked her and Jan is sending them some original drawings of Aayla as a keepsake. I know my mom will frame it and put it up in the house."

Still young, Allen considers her stint as Aayla Secura as a stepping-stone to larger things. She plans on attending more conventions, and meeting face-to-face with Star Wars fans, but she is already very appreciative of all that's transpired. "I've made some friends. I keep in touch with Nalini and Michonne at least a few times a week. That was something that was really cool that came out of this -- meeting these women and getting to share this experience with them," she says.

"It's been surreal, definitely surreal," concludes Allen. "It's unbelievable. I would have never in my wildest dreams have imagined that something like this would have happened."