Ashley Eckstein first brought Ahsoka Tano to life in The Clone Wars and later reprised the role in Star Wars Rebels. Responsible for creating the beloved Jedi alongside Dave Filoni and George Lucas, the actress has become synonymous with this character and now shares her with Rosario Dawson.
The Mandalorian marked Ahsoka's first foray into live-action and the character will take centre stage in this August's Ahsoka.
Dawson recently praised Eckstein for laying the foundations for her to play the hero, confirming she had visited the Disney+ TV show's set. That's led to speculation about a cameo, and Eckstein has now revealed whether she shot anything (unfortunately, it doesn't sound like she's making her on-camera Star Wars debut quite yet).
During our conversation about the return of the Her Universe Fashion Show at next month's San Diego Comic-Con, the actress also reflect on what it's been like to share the role with Dawson and getting to continue her exploration of Ahsoka Tano in Tales of the Jedi.
Check out this expect from our interview with Ashley below.
Rosario Dawson recently spoke about your visit to Ashoka's set and had nothing but lovely things to say about what you mean to her, the character, and that show, but what was that experience like for you?
Oh my gosh, I was so humbled by her words. I actually texted her right away as soon as I saw the article and saw her kind words. I just thanked her. We had the chance to finally meet on the set of Ahsoka. I was invited for a set visit. It wasn’t a cameo! I want to set the record straight. Everyone thinks I’m dropping a hint, but unfortunately, I don’t have a cameo in the first season. I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed and throwing my dreams out into the universe that maybe if there’s a season 2 or some sort of spin-off that I’ll eventually do a cameo, but I did get to visit the set.
It was a dream day. I got to meet Rosario and all I ever wanted was to just to get to know each other and support each other like the beautiful example that’s recently been set with Jodi Benson and Halle Bailey with The Little Mermaid; that’s what I always wanted. Team Tano is getting bigger and bigger and I feel so blessed that it started with a small little team back in 2006 with myself, Dave Filoni, and George Lucas. I feel so grateful I had a hand in creating this character. I was asked to bring my own heart and soul to this character. I was cast to be myself, so in many ways, my heart is in the character because I was asked to do that in order to bring her to life.
To have that recognised by Rosario just means the world to me and now, to have a friendship and relationship with Rosario that’s so special, I am just so grateful to her and what she’s been bringing to the character with the great job she’s been doing in carrying on Ahsoka’s legacy. I look forward to building this friendship with her over the years and continuing to shine Ahsoka’s light both on and off the screen.
Ahsoka has transcended the screen. That’s why I say Ahsoka lives in all of us now because she’s truly changing and saving lives. She lives in the hearts and souls of all of us as she guides our thoughts and decisions and inspires us daily. This is a character that I try to live my life and be Ahsoka on-screen whenever I’m given the privilege to do so and off-screen just in my daily life to be a real-life Ahsoka Tano day in and day out. So, yeah, it’s just an honour and a privilege to get to know Rosario and celebrate this character together whenever we get the opportunity.
When we last spoke, Tales of the Jedi hadn’t been released yet, but I loved exploring those three huge turning points in Ashoka’s life. What was it like for you to learn about those untold moments even after the years you’d already spent playing her?
Tales of the Jedi was just so beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Even though they were shorts, they were so powerful. As Yoda says, ‘Judge me by my size, do you?’ Do not judge something just because it’s a short piece of content as it packed a powerful punch! It really gave some important information to Ahsoka’s backstory and I’m so grateful that I got to step back into Ahsoka’s boots and lend my voice to her again. Dave Filoni promised me that I’d always be the voice of Ahsoka in animation, so I’m just so grateful I got to do that again and celebrate more Ahsoka stories with Tales of the Jedi. I’m going to continue to celebrate more Ahsoka with the Ahsoka series and can’t wait to see what new stories we’re about to get.