The Ahsoka show hits Disney+ on August 22, and marks the beloved Star Wars icon’s third appearance in live action. Actress Rosario Dawson is playing Ahsoka Tano in the highly anticipated live-action series, reprising her role from The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.
Dawson had been rumored and fancast in the role for years, with the actress herself voicing her excitement over the possibility as far back as April 2017. Her casting was leaked in 2020, and Dawson made her debut as the character in The Mandalorian season 2 episode “Chapter 13: The Jedi,” in November 2020.
Some fans have voiced their disappointment that Ahsoka’s original voice actress Ashley Eckstein is not playing the role, but Eckstein herself shared support for Dawson’s portrayal of the character and has stated that she will continue to voice Ahsoka in animated Star Wars series.
Bringing Ahsoka to life
While Rosario Dawson is the main actress for Ahsoka, she is not the only actress to physically play the role. Actress and stunt performer Michelle Lee is Dawson’s stunt double for Ahsoka, handling some of the more physically demanding maneuvers and scenes. Lee’s credits as a stunt performer include Top Gun: Maverick and Pacific Rim. As an actor, she’s appeared in Black Widow and Bullet Train.
Before either actress played Ahsoka in live action, Lauren Mary Kim did the motion capture for Ahsoka Tano for her duel with Darth Maul (whose motion capture was done by his original actor, Ray Park) in Clone Wars season 7.
Also, while she is not listed on IMDb, Savannah Steyn was rumored to be playing a teenage Ahsoka Tano in a Clone Wars-era flashback. However, we have not received confirmation of that yet. We’ll have to wait and see if there’s any truth to the rumors when that episode of Ahsoka arrives.
(featured image: Disney+)
