Australian actress Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Netflix's Day Shift) spoke to SFX Magazine about her upcoming turn as Sabine Wren in Disney+'s forthcoming Ahsoka series.
Bordizzo shared that she definitely did her homework on the 'far, far, away galaxy', but she's going to make the role of Sabine Wren her own in Ahsoka.
"I loved Tiya Sircar's Sabine!... I loved the energy, sarcasm, and playfulness that really made Sabine Sabine, but obviously, it's a delicate balance because I never want to try to copy someone. I want to be inspired by the energy they put into the character and then make the role my own."
It seems it's less of a situation of Bordizzo copying Sircar's work and more of an opportunity to be inspired by it, internalize it, and then capitalize on the opportunity to progress the character.
"And of course, I watched everything… including the original films, The Mandalorian and, of course, 'Rebels.' But I didn't watch anything after we started filming because otherwise, it gets too much. You want to have space, take all the experiences and memories and inspirations from everything you've watched, and then let the live action you're creating find its own truth, its own journey."
Natasha Liu Bordizzo is a Hong Kong-born Australian actress best known for her roles in the Netflix series Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016), the Netflix film The Society (2019), as well as the streamer's action horror comedy, Day Shift (2023).
The official Star Wars databack describes Sabine Wren as, "a Mandalorian warrior and graffiti artist with a creative and rebellious spirit. Independent by nature, during the age of the Empire, a young Sabine defected from the Imperial Academy of Mandalore and joined a small rebel cell operating out of the Ghost and led by Hera Syndulla and the Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus."
AHSOKA OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: Set after the fall of the Empire, Ahsoka will follow the former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy.