Star Wars: The Mandalorian's Rosario Dawson Explains Why She Loves Ahsoka Tano

It's not often that popular fan-castings end up becoming a reality, but Star Wars did just that last week as Rosario Dawson played the live-action version of beloved Jedi Ahsoka Tano on the new episode of Star Wars: The Mandalorian. The animated character finally made the jump to live-action and, as rumored, Dawson was the one wielding the lightsabers, bringing joy to all of those fans that had hoped she'd get the chance to take on the role. That said, as much as the fans love the casting, it doesn't seem like anyone loves it quite as much as Dawson.

Part of the reason that the idea of Dawson playing Ahsoka gained so much traction over the years is that the actress herself was publicly a big fan of the idea. While speaking to StarWars.com, Dawson explained why she is so thrilled by the Ahsoka character, and what it means to be playing her now.

"I'm just really glad that she lived, that we've been able to continue growing with her. I think that she's so special," Dawson said. "So many of the wonderful, awesome Jedi that we love and have gotten their stories told, are male, and you saw them older. When you got to see Anakin grow up it made such a huge difference. I think as people grew with her and aged with her and the story, they grew themselves, and evolved. I think it gives complexity to good and bad and right and wrong in a way that we don't always get to have story-wise. It's just fantasy. And I think she represents something stronger than that, about will and determination and audacity and tenacity. She really has pushed herself and evolved in a way that I think her heroine story is one that is not easy to find in other spaces. It's really cool to see her still out there on quests and having things teased about that world still being very much alive."

Of course, there's also the fact that Ahsoka is just a cool character at the end of the day. "On top of that, she's got two lightsabers. There's that," Dawson added.

Judging by the reaction to the recent episode of The Mandalorian, it's safe to say that Dawson's take on Ahsoka lived up to the hype.

What did you think of Rosario Dawson's live-action Ahsoka Tano? Let us know in the comments!