Forest Whitaker Will Voice Saw Gerrera In Star Wars Rebels
By Elaine Tveit
Having portrayed the extremist rebel in Rogue One, Forest Whitaker is also voicing his character, Saw Gerrera, in Star Wars Rebels.
Academy Award-winning actor Forest Whitaker will voice his Rogue One character, Saw Gerrera, in Star Wars Rebels (via Entertainment Weekly).
Rogue One portrayed Saw Gerrera as an extremist rebel whose mind and body are ravaged by constant warfare. Star Wars Rebels will glimpse Gerrera as he was a few years prior to Rogue One‘s events. Whitaker agreed to reprise his role as Gerrera’s voice.
The upcoming Star Wars Rebels episode places Gerrera and The Ghost crew on Geonosis. Geonosis was the initial construction site of the Death Star until the Empire decided to move it. Before they left the system, the Empire killed off the entire native people to ensure the battle station’s secrecy. Presumably, Gerrera and The Ghost crew discover this genocide in Rebels.
Image Credit: Lucasfilm – via Entertainment Weekly
At this point in his past, Filoni says, Gerrera is not the crazed, half-machine man we saw in Rogue One.
"“He’s not quite as beat up as you see him [in Rogue One],” Filoni says. “I never wanted to go into a lengthy thing about this is how Saw lost his foot. It’s more about his philosophy and who he is and what he thinks about the Rebellion — and how they go about resisting the Empire.”"
Mon Mothma, the leader of the Rebel Alliance in Rogue One, describes Gerrera as “an extremist.” His preferred method of resistance is violence.
Image Credit: Screenshot (photo library Elaine Tveit)
However, Gerrera has cause to feel desperate.
"“Saw really has this feeling that there are things at work, and if [the Rebels] don’t get active, there’ll be no stopping it,” Filoni says. “There’s only a thread of hope at that point.”"
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In spite of the threats he predicts, Gerrera may be too extreme for The Ghost crew to work with. We will see how they synergize when “Ghosts of Geonosis” premieres on Disney XD in January.