Star Wars: Ashley Eckstein on Just How Big of Icon Ahsoka Tano Has Become

Ahsoka Tano represents a significant change in the Star Wars franchise. Her popularity suggests that not only can Star Wars thrive in animation and on television but that fans can become invested in a Star Wars hero who is only tangentially connected to the Skywalker saga. Ahsoka Tano is so popular that, after Star Wars: The Clone Wars went off the air, she returned in episodes of Star Wars Rebels. Now there are reports that she’s coming to live-action in the second season of The Mandalorian. The popularity of the character is not lost on Ashley Eckstein, who voices Ahsoka. She spoke to ComicBook.com’s Comic Book Nation podcast about her new book I Am a Padawan, which features Ahsoka, and discussed Ahsoka’s rise as a fan-favorite hero.

“She’s become so, so powerful and so inspiring to people all over the world,” Eckstein says. “There’s something about Ahsoka. When she walked away from the Jedi order in season five, she connected with people on a whole different level and I started receiving stories from fans all over the world about how Ahsoka either changed their life or saved their life. From day one I always knew how groundbreaking Ahsoka was, so that’s why I dedicated so much of my heart and soul and life to Ahsoka. She literally became a part of me and I saw how much good she was doing and I view it as such a privilege to be a part of the Star Wars universe. I so badly just want to do good with it and I want to be a real-life version of Ahsoka, but once Ahsoka walked away at the end of season five then I truly saw the impact that she was having on people’s lives.

“I wanted to just continue that in any way I could and kind of be a real-life reflection of her and help continue her legacy in any way that I could whether it be narrating the audiobook or voicing toys or making merchandise or just writing books or being on the front lines at conventions,” Eckstein continues. “That’s very important to me because I see that this is not just a character that people tune in to watch and then they forget about. No, they’re literally taking the lessons that Ahsoka’s teaching in these episodes and then altering the course of their life and that’s something I don’t take lightly, I take it very seriously.”

Ahsoka’s story continues in the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. New episodes debut Fridays on Disney+.