Star Wars: Ahsoka’s Diana Lee Inosanto Reveals What It Was Like Seeing Thrawn in Live-Action (Exclusive)

There was big news on Saturday when, at Star Wars Celebration in London, it was announced that Lars Mikkelsen had joined the cast of Star Wars: Ahsoka as Grand Admiral Thrawn. The fan favorite character is one that many Star Wars fans have wanted to see make the leap from animation to live action for some time and now that it’s actually happening, they’re very excited. It turns out that fans aren’t the only ones excited for the live-action Thrawn either. Diana Lee Inosanto, who plays Morgan Elsbeth in the series, spoke with ComicBook.com‘s Brandon Davis at the event about what it was like seeing Thrawn in live action and it’s something that she called “transformational.”

“It was transformational, seriously it’s transformational,” Inosanto said. “He’s incredible in this role and I just kind of kept pinching myself, like, this is strange, this is wild  because I read some of Timothy Zahn book about Thrawn and so to see this character manifested in front of me and to be able to explore certain connections it was incredible and I think audiences are going to be really surprised.”

Mikkelsen, who previously played the character in the animated Star Wars Rebels, also revealed that he’s known that he’d be playing the character in live action for more than a year and that he had to lie to keep his role a secret.

“It was one and a half years ago. I’ve known for quite a while now and it’s such a relief that I can actually tell people now because everybody’s been asking me. I’ve just been lying and lying,” Mikkelsen said. “I don’t like lying.”

Who else stars in Star Wars: Ahsoka?

Star Wars: Ahsoka stars Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano; Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine Wren; Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Rebel pilot and general Hera Syndulla; Eman Esfandi as Ezra Bridger, with dark side villains played by Ray Stevenson (Baylan) and Ivanna Sakhno. Additionally, Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker, Genevieve O’Reilly’s Mon Mothma, and David Tennant’s droid lightsaber maker Huyang are all making a return to the Star Wars franchise. 

Star Wars: Ahsoka is set to debut on Disney+ in August.

Are you excited to see Grand Admiral Thrawn in live action? Are you looking forward to Star Wars: Ahsoka? Let us know your thoughts about this and all things Star Wars in the comment section.