Ahsoka Tano actress revealed: Ahsoka made a surprise return to the Star Wars universe this year in the final episodes of the animated series Clone Wars. With different actresses providing voice, stunt doubling and playing the live action Tano, it can be hard to keep up. So, who’s the actress behind Ahsoka Tano this time?
Who is Ahsoka Tano?
Ahsoka Tano, whose name was originally “Ashla”, first appears in the Clone Wars film (2008), as a 14-year-old Padawan apprentice. Yoda assigns her to Anakin in order to teach him a sense of responsibility.
Ahsoka also appeared, albeit briefly, in The Rise of Skywalker (2019), but only as a vocal cameo.
She is a major character in the Clone Wars and Rebels television series, as a padawan-commander and secretive rebel agent respectively.
Originally, fans and critics were slow to like Ahsoka. Various outlets criticised her “half-naked” appearance or calculated cuteness.
However, she has grown increasingly popular in recent years, having undergone costume changes and become more dignified and resilient as a character.
Many now regard her as a strong female character of the franchise, serving as a “foil” for Anakin Skywalker, well placed to highlight certain qualities of his.
Ahsoka Tano actress: Who plays Ahsoka?
Three actors have portrayed Ahsoka Tano, through her various iterations as animated character (as in Star Wars: The Clone Wars) and live action (The Mandalorian).
Actress Ashley Eckstein, 39, provides Ahsoka’s voice in The Clone Wars and Rebels. Eckstein and director David Filoni developed the character together over a period of six months.
Filoni encouraged Eckstein to introduce elements of her own character into Ahsoka’s personality. As a result of their continuous development of the character, Eckstein had to re-record her dialogue for the first half of season 1 to keep continuity.
Who plays Ahsoka in The Mandalorian?
Rosario Dawson, of Rent (2005), Grindhouse (2007) and Sin City (2014) fame, expressed an interest in portraying Ahsoka as early as 2017.
She appeared on Good Morning America in April of that year and said, crossing her fingers, “internet, help me out!”
Graphic artists gave the campaign a little push with a piece of fan art, fusing Rosario Dawson’s face and body with the Ahsoka character.
In March 2020, SlashFilm reported exclusively that Rosario Dawson would appear in season 2 of The Mandalorian. They described it as a “fan-casting dream come true”.
Production for season 2 is well underway, with the first episode airing on 30 October. Many fans have expressed their support for Dawson’s portrayal of the character.
Ashley Eckstein said it was her dream “to continue to play Ahsoka Tano in all forms”. Nevertheless, following word of Dawson’s casting, she reached out to her fans to thank them for all their support.
Ahsoka Tano’s stunt actress
In order to make the final Clone Wars duel between Ahsoka and Darth Maul as epic as possible, creator Dave Filoni opted to stage the fight in real time.
“I wanted this fight to be big”, he said. To this end, he brought back original Maul actor Ray Park, and introduced Lauren Mary Kim to portray Ahsoka Tano.
The two performers donned motion-capture equipment and devised a sequence involving real time acrobatics.
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