Star Wars: Ahsoka Creator Shares Rosario Dawson Casting Story

Star Wars: Ahsoka is headlined by Rosario Dawson, and Dave Filoni just revealed the piece of advice he used to cast her. EW published a big feature about the Disney+ show and they asked the Star Wars TV architect about the early days. It seems like he identified her interest on social media. From there, Filoni would ask Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy for some advice. The right person would manifest, he just had to wait for the universe to bring the actress to him. With Dawson's apparent love for the franchise and boundless energy, she was a natural choice.

"It goes back to a quote that [Lucasfilm president] Kathleen Kennedy gave me when I was really going over the casting of Ahsoka," Filoni told the outlet "I said, 'How do you know when it's the right person?' And she just looked at me and said, 'Dave, you just know.' And she was right. I just knew when it was Rosario, and that kind of brought Ahsoka together for me, and off we ran."

"I was very fortunate," Filoni said back at Star Wars Celebration. "The whole thing kind of came together for me with Rosario when we talked with her and when she put on the costume and became Ahsoka. I was like, 'You know, this is going to work.' It really was as simple as that."

Ahsoka's Animated Foundation Heading Into The Series

Star Wars TV czar Dave Filoni has been very open about the importance of Star Wars Rebels and Clone Wars in his work. In a recent sit-down with The Hollywood Reporter, Ahsoka's biggest star agreed with him. So, you might want to go brush-up on some Rebels before diving into the new Disney+ show later this month.  Dawson argued her point about watching the animated output, "Oh my goodness, yes. Natasha [Liu Bordizzo] said something to that effect, and there was some fanfare about it. But it's important."

"With Star Wars fans, there's folks who really just watch the films, but now and especially with The Mandalorian, more [and more] people are watching the live-action shows. And then there are people who watch the animated shows," she added. "There's even a tier beyond that with all the books and fan fiction. So there's different levels to the Star Wars family, and it's always been very highly considered to make sure [everyone can watch it]."

Ahsoka Made Dawson Do The Hardest Lightsaber Training Ever

Getting those lightsaber skills together was kind of hard for Dawson. She told EW's Dagobah Dispatch podcast the the training was intense. Every movement was critiqued. But, there were moments of true euphoria on-set for the actress.

"She's so fierce from the very beginning," Dawson said when describing her character. "It was never a question about whether she capable. She meets every single match just so head-on. There's no hesitancy from her whatsoever, and that's really different from someone who's learning martial arts in their 40s who's trying to protect their face."

"There was definitely a moment a few months into the training where I just felt it land in my body in a way," she added. "I remember when it clicked in where I really felt grounded in her and some of the stuff started feeling more familiar and seamless. That's when I really felt like I locked into Ahsoka." 

Dawson would also mention, "I was grateful for the team of people that we have ... And to have someone like [stunt coordinator] Ming [Qui], who actually started nodding and going, 'Okay, this can work.' When she said, 'This one did not make my eyes hurt,' that was the first compliment that I got, and I think I cried. It took a lot of effort on our part to make look easy, and that felt really remarkable because of that discerning eye."

Does Star Wars: Ahsoka Pick-Up From Where Rebels Ended?

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.

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