Joining Star Wars And Playing Ahsoka Required An Entire Lifestyle Shift For Rosario Dawson
It ain't easy being a Jedi. On the plus side, you gain the ability to basically move things with your mind and wield a bomb-ass lightsaber. On the other hand, you're not allowed to have sex, and forming romantic or familial bonds is not strictly forbidden, but still kind of a no-no. Grieving's sort of frowned upon, too, even when it concerns the death of your Padawan or losing a student to the dark side. Is it any wonder Luke Skywalker ultimately wound up as a cantankerous old hermit chugging green milk on Ahch-To?
Leaving the Jedi Order is no small thing either, as Anakin Skywalker's Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, learned when she did just that during the animated series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." Despite the culture shock of going from living as a space monk her entire life to having to make ends meet working the "Star Wars" gig economy (which, as "The Mandalorian" has taught us, is even more treacherous than our own), our girl "Snips" eventually found her footing, even joining the Rebellion along the way. Her journey was far from easy, though. It's something Rosario Dawson took to heart while preparing to play the character in the live-action "Mandalorian" spinoff (and, in a sense, "Star Wars Rebels" sequel series) "Ahsoka."
Speaking with io9, Dawson said she trained "two hours a day, seven days a week" in the lead-up to production on the show, only to spend as many as "seven to 12 hours" filming fight scenes some days. "But I loved that because that's who Ahsoka is. It's her!" she added. "Every fiber of her being is on the line at every given moment, so it felt really good to have that strength. It was this amazing mental, emotional, physical experience."
The limitations of live-action
One of the many perks of telling "Star Wars" stories through animation is the freedom to stage lightsaber duels in just about any way you can imagine without having to worry too much about those pesky real-life laws of physics. This did, however, present a problem when it came time to adapt Ahsoka's fighting style and techniques for live-action in "Ahsoka." As Dawson told io9, there were some things she simply couldn't train for because, well, they're not something a real-life human being can actually do (even one playing an incredibly powerful "Star Wars" warrior):
"Our stunt coordinator, Ming Qiu, looked at Ahsoka's fighting style, and said, 'That's not physically possible for a human, so let's see what we can do to figure out how to do that move.' We tried to do as many stunts as possible practically. We had ropes and pulleys and all kinds of things to make them work. There was a lot of experimentation, using technology that was developed while we were filming."
'She's in me'
Then there was the challenge of getting into Ahsoka's mindset. All signs indicate Ahsoka hasn't drastically overhauled her lifestyle in the years between leaving the Jedi Order and the point "Ahsoka" picks up. In fact, she undoubtedly had it harder having to maintain that way of living on the road, as opposed to the life she led back in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. (Those chairs the Jedi Council spend their days lounging around in look might comfy.)
"I did everything I could to be physically prepared every day, trying to get a good night's sleep and eating well," Dawson explained. "I've mentioned it before, but Ahsoka is not some character I can just play and then dismiss when I take off the head montrals. It's been a lifestyle shift in connecting to her and performing her. She's in me."
The proof is in the pudding on this one. As lovely as it would've been if Ahsoka's longtime animation voice actor Ashley Eckstein had gotten to bring the character to life in live-action, Dawson has quickly succeeded in putting her stamp on the role. Her iteration of the (never forget, former) Jedi is more wizened than her animated counterpart, her past mistakes and regrets weighing ever heavy on her mind, as they do to everyone as they grow older. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Dawson compared the post-"Rebels" Ahsoka to Gandalf the White from "Lord of the Rings":
"['Ahsoka' showrunner] Dave [Filoni] and I talked a lot about Gandalf the Gray and Gandalf the White — talking about that transition and how she's someone very capable and excellent and looked up to as a leader, but she still has levels of development to go."
"Ahsoka" premieres August 22, 2023, at 6PM PT/9PM ET on Disney+.