Star Wars: Ahsoka Star Details What Influenced the Live-Action Debut of Sabine Wren

Star Wars fans are looking forward to the upcoming Star Wars: Ahsoka not only because we’ll get to see an entire storyline devoted to Rosario Dawson’s take on the beloved titular character, but also because the new series will mark the live-action debut of Sabine Wren from Star Wars Rebels. While Ahsoka was a fixture of both Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Rebels, Sabine’s adventures have been isolated to Rebels, where the character was voiced by Tiya Sircar. With Natasha Liu Bordizzo bringing the character to life in the new series, she recalled where she looked to inspire the performance. Star Wars: Ahsoka premieres on Disney+ on August 23rd.

“I loved Tiya Sircar’s Sabine!” Bordizzo shared with SFX Magazine, per The Direct. “I loved the energy, the sarcasm, and playfulness that really made Sabine Sabine, but obviously, it’s a delicate balance because I never want to try to copy someone. I want to be inspired by the energy they put into the character and then make the role my own.”

She did note that Rebels was a major touchstone for her performance, as she pointed out, “And of course, I watched everything… including the original films, The Mandalorian and, of course, Rebels. But I didn’t watch anything after we started filming because otherwise, it gets too much. You want to have space, take all the experiences and memories and inspirations from everything you’ve watched, and then let the live action you’re creating find its own truth, its own journey.”

Another reason fans are so excited for the series is that it comes from Dave Filoni, who created both Ahsoka and Sabine for his The Clone Wars and Rebels. Bordizzo went on to note how he provided so much insight into the characters while filming the series.

“Just to have the creator around every day is a luxury,” Bordizzo detailed. “He’s like this bottomless pit of knowledge and the guardian of the story and the characters. Also, he really just trusted us — while we’d go to him for guidance, he’d also say, ‘You are Sabine, so whatever you instinctually feel is right is right.’”

Fan-favorite Star Wars hero Ahsoka Tano returns in the brand new series on Disney+. Rosario Dawson stars in Star Wars: Ahsoka, premiering in August on the streamer. The series picks up after the events of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, in which we saw the former Jedi searching for Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) and helping Luke Skywalker train Grogu. Ahsoka will be joined on her new mission alongside longtime allies Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) and Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) as they attempt to track down Thrawn, who was last seen disappearing to the far reaches of space after a confrontation with Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi). Star Wars: Ahsoka is the latest live-action series from Lucasfilm’s creative duo of Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni.

Are you looking forward to seeing Sabine’s live-action debut? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!