One Serendipitous Moment Convinced Star Wars Boss Dave Filoni That Rosario Dawson Was the Perfect Ahsoka

Star Wars is undoubtedly one of the biggest franchises ever. It has produced many prequels, sequels, and spin-offs that have kept constantly growing and expanding the universe. Characters like Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and Yoda have now become iconic in pop culture. 

When more stories are told, new characters are created, and some of them are remembered forever. One such character is Ahsoka Tano, portrayed by Rosario Dawson. However, not many are aware that a random meeting from the past was going to help her get the role one day. 

Rosario Dawson’s Journey to Ahsoka Tano

Ahsoka Tano first appeared in the Star Wars universe in the 2008 animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Originally developed by George Lucas and Dave Filoni, she became an important part of the franchise. Fans saw her from being a rebellious Padawan to a wise Force user.

Rosario Dawson has also been a fan of Star Wars since she was young. Her casting rumors began when she responded to a fan on X, who was asking her to join the Star Wars cast as Ahsoka. Dawson quickly responded to it, saying, “Ummmm, yes please?! #AhsokaLives #AhsokaTano #StarWars.”

Fortunately, Lucasfilm and Dave Filoni saw her post too. However, it was not just fan-casting for Dawson. In fact, Dawson had a certain connection with Hayden Christensen, who portrayed Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels. The two had met in the drama school in 1995 and also acted in Shattered Glass in 2003.

For Filoni, the deal was done when he saw a photo of Dawson and Christensen taken in 2004. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she said,

That was actually one of the photos that [Lucasfilm’s] Dave [Filoni] saw when he first imagined potentially casting me [as Ahsoka]. He was like, ‘How is that even possible?’ So to see us young together and really have this strange, weird, magical, connective, fortuitous history and connection to all of it, it’s definitely something that the fans have been very excited about.

Filoni had Dawson in mind, but the moment of serendipity came when he saw an old photo of Dawson and Hayden Christensen hugging each other. Their past connection looked truly destined because Ahsoka Tano has a strong bond with Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars universe.

Rosario Dawson’s Preparation for Ahsoka

For the preparations of Ahsoka, it was necessary to prepare not only physically. Dawson immersed himself in the character’s backstory and watched The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. She noticed Ahsoka’s physicality and the way she moved and spoke progressed over time.

Dawson’s attention to detail was quite evident. She was adamant about portraying Ahsoka as authentic as possible and was adamant about Ahsoka’s blue eyes. She said to StarWars.com,

There was one point, actually, where Dave was curious whether I should wear the contacts or not. I had tried them on so I knew what a difference it made. Also, in talking about the fans, I was like, ‘You can’t do this to me. I can’t not have blue eyes. That will just not be okay.’ [Laughs] And it really made all the difference.

Filoni had an unusual source of inspiration for Ahsoka’s character development- Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings. He had a nice correlation between the transformation of Gandalf from Gray to White and Ahsoka’s journey. Dawson told Entertainment Weekly,

Dave and I talked a lot about Gandalf the Gray and Gandalf the White — talking about that transition and how she’s someone very capable and excellent and looked up to as a leader, but she still has levels of development to go.

It became sort of Dawson’s reference point that guided her in developing the character. It helped her figure out what the audiences of the animated series wanted to see in Ahsoka and, at the same time, have a wiser, grounded Ahsoka, whom fans saw in The Mandalorian and Ahsoka.

The Star Wars movies and series are available to stream on Disney+.