Natasha Liu Bordizzo says her casting as Sabine Wren for Ahsoka happened so fast she couldn’t believe it. She was announced during the Star Wars Celebration 2022 where she joined Rosario Dawson onstage to greet the excited fans. It had been initially reported in Nov. 2021, but her appearance there made it official.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Bordizzo talked about the experience with producer Jon Favreau and how it made her feel uncertain.
“It was a very, very quick process. I was suspicious! I was like, ‘Wait, I have the offer for this?’ I met 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.”
Sabine Wren is a Mandalorian warrior and a skilled rebel leader who fights against the tyranny of the Galactic Empire. She’s an explosives expert and graffiti artist, often mixing her two passions by spray-painting her bombs with her signature tags. The character is a fan favorite on Star Wars Rebels, so getting her just right was very important to many.
The plot details about Ahsoka are still slim, but Dawson has teased the next stage of Ahsoka’s journey. The series will presumably take place after her appearances in The Mandalorian, which shows her still finding her place in the universe after Order 66. In the episode, she points Mando (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu to the planet Tython, and later in The Book of Boba Fett she consults with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) about Grogu’s training.
Dawson also revealed an interesting fact about Grogu, noting that the same puppeteers who operate Grogu worked with her on Men in Black II (2002). Ahsoka’s appearances in both The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett involved the little green guy, which mirrors how her masters once guided her. Perhaps another meeting with Grogu awaits in the future.
Ahsoka will be released sometime in 2023 on Disney Plus.