Ahsoka Voice Actress Ashley Eckstein Speaks Out on Live-Action Disney+ Series
Ashley Eckstein, the voice actress for Ahsoka Tano, is expressing her excitement at the character starring in her own live-action series on Disney+. Production on the Ahsoka Disney+ series kicked off on May 9th, as Rosario Dawson reprises her live-action role from appearances on The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. However, it was Eckstein that helped introduce Star Wars fans to the Ahsoka Tano, the young Padawan to Anakin Skywalker in 2008's Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated movie that helped set up Star Wars: Clone Wars. Now, Eckstein is looking back at Ahsoka's journey from animated Jedi to live-action leading lady.
"I think it's absolutely incredible. I was honored to help originate this character back in 2008. She was this snippy little character that, to be honest, a lot of fans did not like. She was met with mixed reviews," Ashley Eckstein told Screen Rant. "To be here in 2022, celebrating this character – and her legacy continues, as she's getting her own series – it's such an exciting time to be an Ahsoka Tano fan. It's absolutely surreal. I'm just honored to be a small part of a giant team of people that it takes to bring this character to life. It's just surreal, and it's an exciting time to be an Ahsoka fan."
Eckstein has spent 15 years voicing Ahsoka across Star Wars: Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. ComicBook.com spoke to the actress for this year's Star Wars Day, where the announcement of the "Star Wars Mindful Matters" series was made. It's co-created, written, and hosted by Eckstein. She denied having any involvement with Ahsoka but hopes to in the future with a possible cameo appearance.
"It's something that I have not been a part of," Eckstein said. "I would love to be, but I'm purely a fan at this point. I'm not involved in the live-action series. I've not met Rosario Dawson yet. We've never had the pleasure of meeting. I talk about throwing your dreams out into the universe. And so, it's definitely a dream of mine to maybe one day get to be involved and maybe make a cameo or get to play a part, or meet Rosario at some point, one day. Got to throw your dreams out into the universe."
While Eckstein hopes to continue her involvement with Ahsoka in the Star Wars universe, she's putting her focus and energy elsewhere these days. She hopes to carry Ahsoka with her into the real world.
"Especially by doing things like 'Star Wars Mindful Matters,' I realize that I can be a real-life version of Ahsoka Tano, and that's my focus," Eckstein says. "After 14 years of this character, I say that Ahsoka lives in all of us now. The lessons that she's taught us, I mean, fans have taken a piece of Ahsoka and we carry her in our hearts and in our souls throughout our daily lives, and she guides us in all the lessons that she's taught us, truly. I mean, I ask myself almost on a daily basis, 'What would Ahsoka do?'"
Ahsoka is filming now, with an expected release date in 2023 on Disney+.