'Ahsoka' Star Rosario Dawson Says 'There's No Dialing It In in Star Wars'

Actress Rosario Dawson entered the galaxy far, far away as Ahsoka Tano, the former Padawan of Anakin Skywalker.

The character made her debut in the 2008 animated "Clone Wars' film and then appeared in the "Clone Wars" animated series and the "Star Wars: Rebels" cartoon before making her jump into live-action, where Dawson portrayed her first in "The Mandalorian," and then again in its spin-off show, "The Book of Boba Fett."

In 2023, Ahsoka will finally get her own spin-off series, appropriately named "Ahsoka."

Earlier this summer, Entertainment Weekly caught up with Dawson and a new cast member, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, who will be playing Sabine Wren. Fans know Sabine from the animated "Rebels" cartoon, but this is the first time that she will feature in live-action.

Bordizzo first made her debut in Netflix’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny” in 2016. She also appeared in Netflix’s “The Society” series in 2019 before it was canceled. Although she doesn't have many acting credits under her belt, she told EW that her audition was "a very, very quick process." She sent in a self-tape, not knowing it was for a Star Wars project, and was quickly cast in the role.

"I was suspicious!" she admitted. "I was like, 'Wait, I have the offer for this?' I met [showrunner] Jon Favreau later, and he was basically like, 'I get it. I'm an actor. I don't want to put you through the wringer, and I don't want to make you do a million takes and auditions and tests. We know we want you, and that's it.' I really appreciated that."

Both actresses remained tight-lipped about the plot of the new show, but Dawson did say that the same puppeteers who control Grogu on "The Mandalorian" also worked with her on 2022's "Men in Black II."

Although Rosario Dawson couldn't say much about the plot of the show, she did manage to give fans a small teaser of what they can expect from Ahsoka's journey at this point in her life.

"What I love is that these little things we've gotten to hint at in these other shows, we get to more deeply explore," Dawson explained. "I think whether you've seen the previous animations or have only seen these episodes, she's still quite mysterious at this stage and point in her life. That's what I think is the most exciting part of Ahsoka having her own series here, that you get to better understand her in this part of her journey."

For her role in "The Mandalorian," Rosario Dawson had previously explained that the make-up process took about three hours. Considering how often she's in the elaborate costume for the new show, they managed to reduce the time down to one and a half hours... which is still a long time to sit in a chair!

However, Dawson says that she doesn't mind the time spent in the chair as long as they manage to perfect every detail of Ahsoka's elaborate ensemble. "Every single day, you're not dialing it in," Dawson said. "There's no dialing it in in Star Wars."

In April, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Marvel’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” director Peter Ramsey has been tapped to direct at least one episode of the “Ahsoka” live-action series.

In late March, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the History Channel's "Vikings" star Ray Stevenson had joined the cast. Stevenson previously voiced Gar Saxon in "Star Wars Rebels" and "The Clone Wars." He also played Volstagg in Marvel's "Thor" films and Blackbeard in the Starz "Black Sails" pirate series.

Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker in the "Star Wars" prequel series, will reprise his role as Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader. He also reprised his role in the "Obi-Wan Kenobi" Disney+ series, which was released in May 2022.

Actress Ivanna Sakhno has also been cast in a yet-to-be-disclosed role. At this time, it is believed that she is a new character that has been created for the series, as reported by Variety. Sakhno has appeared in various films, including “The Spy Who Dumped Me,” “Ivan the Powerful,” and “Pacific Rim: Uprising,” which also included “Star Wars” alum John Boyega, who portrayed Finn in the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy.

Fans can catch Rosario Dawson starring as "Ahsoka" when it premieres on Disney+ in 2023.