Star Wars: Ahsoka star Rosario Dawson shared her reaction to her new look in the Disney+ series. The actress caught up with EW before the actor’s strike began, she had to tell them about the first time she put on the makeup and prosthetics for the show. It turns out that Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau heard the fan outcry about Ahsoka Tano’s appearance in the other Disney+ Star Wars shows and decided to lengthen her leaky (those striped head tails). The change was met with approval from a lot of fans, and probably more importantly, Dawson herself! Check out how she described that first time in front of a mirror down below!
“I was literally doing jumping jacks,” Dawson chuckled with the outlet. “I remember seeing Jon and Dave’s faces, like, ‘Ooh, did we make the right decision? She’s a little bit… hyped fangirl.’”
Videos by ComicBook.com
Back at Star Wars Celebration, Filoni would tell EW that moments like this sealed the deal about her casting in his mind. “I was very fortunate,” he recalled. “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.”
Finding The Right Ahsoka Tano For Live-Action
Elsewhere in that feature story, Filoni goes on record about how they made the decision to roll with Rosario Dawson for Ahsoka. He enlisted the help of Kathleen Kennedy when he was debating giving the actress the role. Fans on social media had lobbied for Dawson and that caught the executive producer’s eye. But, like with any big decision, that kernel of doubt never really truly goes away. The Lucasfilm boss told Filoni to trust his intuition to guide him to the right choice. It seems like that choice is paying off and Star Wars: Ahsoka hasn’t even begun yet.
“It goes back to a quote that [Lucasfilm president] Kathleen Kennedy gave me when I was really going over the casting of Ahsoka,” Filoni explained. “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.”
Handling The Transition to Live-Action With Ahsoka
All of the animated Star Wars shows loom large over Star Wars: Ahsoka. Because the force-user has such a long history in the franchise now, the creative team really had to labor to lock this one down. It feels like its a precarious situation to be in. People really love Clone Wars and Rebels. But, Ahsoka Tano’s been clearly set-up as a player in the live-action Star Wars TV shows. Dawson understands that dance and argues that you should go back and watch Ahsoka’s earlier adventures too.
“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,” Dawson argued to The Hollywood Reporter. “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].”
What Can You Expect From Star Wars: Ahsoka?
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 getting hyped for Star Wars: Ahsoka? Let us know In the comments down below!