Ahsoka: Rosario Dawson chronicles journey to Ahsoka

Entertainment Weekly’s latest issue has an exciting digital cover featuring Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano, holding dual white bladed lightsabers in a signature pose, complete with a twirl that’s reminiscent of her master Anakin Skywalker. The issue features interviews with the entire cast, starting with Dawson who’s at the center of it all.

Ahsoka, which premieres in just 20 days, is a series that’s been years in the making, and Dawson who’s an expert on all things Tano, explains that she scared Jon and Dave a little with her excited fangirl persona. The actress describes her reaction to seeing herself as the character and says “I was literally doing jumping jacks”. She goes on to explain that she may have scared Jon and Dave by fangirling too hard.

"I remember seeing Jon and Dave’s faces, like, ‘Ooh, did we make the right decision? She’s a little bit… hyped fangirl.'”"

But that was only for an episode of The Mandalorian. The actress went on to portray Ahsoka again in The Book of Boba Fett, and right in the middle of The Mandalorian Season 2, LucasFilm announced the Ahsoka series, which would be set during the timeline of The Mandalorian. The series brings back familiar faces, with plenty of different planets and places to see. It’s described as “ambitious”, but something Filoni wanted to do for years, and he says that it all came together once he found the right person to portray Ahsoka.

"“The whole thing kind of came together for me with Rosario when we talked with her and when she put on the costume and became Ahsoka. I was like, ‘You know, this is going to work.’ It really was as simple as that.”"

Filoni, who’s a lot like George Lucas’s own Padawan, just like Ahsoka is Anakin Skywalker’s, created the character with his Master, Lucas, and she was introduced to audiences through The Clone Wars animated film in 2008. Since then, the character’s journey has been painstakingly put together from a 13 year old Padawan to the character she is now.

Luckily, Rosario has the patience to sit in a chair for hours in a makeup room, something that’s as important a part of becoming Ahsoka as learning to wield  her dual lightsabers is. As for that part, Dawson credits her fight coordinator Ming Qiu, with whom she had to train for hours in order to fight ambidextrously. Qiu praises Rosario’s energy and positivity in bringing Ahsoka’s gymnast like moves to life. Even co-star, Natasha Liu Bordizzo who plays Sabine Wren sings praises for Rosario’s energy on set and even on days off, which she dedicates to charity work.

Dawson, who’s described as “sunshine” by her Ahsoka series co-stars, will now be taking on the job of portraying the live action version of one of the most loved Star Wars characters for her very own series, and perhaps  it will go down as one of the most successful transitions from animation to live action.

Ahsoka premieres August 23 on Disney+. Meanwhile, you can read the rest of the cast’s interviews at EW.com.