Ezra Bridger has been a fan-favorite Star Wars character for many years, particularly among fans of the animated series Star Wars Rebels. The most recent actor to play the character, Eman Esfandi, recently told the story of how he came to bring Ezra into live-action in the Ahsoka series.
During his recent guest appearance on Katee Sackhoff's The Sackhoff Show podcast, Esfandi revealed he didn't even know who Ezra was at first -- until he saw a photo of what an older version of the character might look like online.
Sometimes, we forget that celebrities also often find themselves scrolling mindlessly through social media. That's how the actor first discovered Ezra, or as the internet likes to call him, "Space Aladdin."
"I was online and something came up about someone playing Space Aladdin," he said. "And then there's a picture of him by Pandora Young art, and it's this older version she made of what Ezra would look like when he came back from being cast away in Peridea. And it looked like me."
Esfandi was so intrigued that he started watching Rebels (as one should), and he felt so connected to the character of Ezra that he ended up sending a side-by-side photo of the two of them to his agents. If casting ever started for Ezra Bridger, he was going to audition.
Of course, at the time, no one knew there would be a need for a live-action version of Ezra. Then Ahsoka came along, and it turned out there was an actor that kind of looked like what an older version of Ezra might appear as in the show. And that was that.
"Six months later, I get the anonymous audition while I'm doing a different film," he continued. "Within a couple of days, I was offered the role."
Sometimes you really do just have to shoot your shot.