Ashley Eckstein Talks Her Ahsoka Tano Star Wars Character

Ahsoka Leaves

Actress Ashley Eckstein chats with Empire Online about voicing Ahsoka Tano and the character’s growth through Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Rebels. Read on for more.

 

 

One of the best parts about the new Star Wars canon is Disney XD’s awesome show Star Wars: Rebels. Over the course of two seasons, the show has been able to shed a little more light on what was going on between the Empire and the Rebellion prior to the events seen in the original ‘Star Wars’ film. At the end of season 1, producer Dave Filoni brought a character into the story that brought hope to the Jedi warrior Kanan and his young Padawan Ezra Bridger in their battle against the Empire. Enter the former Padawan Ahsoka Tano, once an apprentice to the Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker.

 

Bringing the former apprentice into the mix turned out to be a brilliant move on Filoni’s part and a big reason why season 2 became so successful. The end of season 2 left fans grasping for answers as they watched a spectacular lightsaber duel between Ahsoka and her former master turned Sith Lord, Darth Vader.

 

In an Empire Exclusive, the voice actress for Ahsoka Tano, Ashley Eckstein talks a little more about the character and the former apprentices growth.

 

With her becoming a part of Rebels, how had she changed from Clone Wars?

Yoda obviously recognized something in Ahsoka, where he saw that Ahsoka was the perfect Padawan for Anakin. To me, she’s a mix of both Anakin and Obi-Wan. She obviously is very smart and she’s very by the book. And she really takes pride in the Jedi way, which I think is why she took the ending — the season five finale — so hard, because she literally put her heart and soul into the Jedi and when they betrayed her so badly, it just broke her. But she grew up a lot.

 

The Clone Wars

 

You first played Ahsoka on the Clone Wars series. How would you chart her evolution over the course of that show?

Very much so, actually. It was quite difficult at first for me to transition, because she went from being the Padawan and the student in Clone Wars to being the mentor in Rebels. She was very reserved. The biggest thing that I always had to remember is she was no longer a Jedi. She was neutral. She wasn’t even necessarily a full-out rebel. She was kind of in this neutral territory, which is why her lightsabers are white. She’s there to assist, she’s there to help, but she’s not there to literally lead the rebellion. It was interesting, because I wanted to jump back into Clone Wars Ahsoka — take charge and fight for the cause, and be the Jedi. Be a bit snippy. But she wasn’t that way. Like I said, she’s now very reserved. She’s very internal. She’s been on her own a lot for almost the entire time between Clone Wars and Rebels, and then she was the teacher. What’s kind of funny is it was life imitating art, because when I came into the Rebels cast, they were all new to Star Wars. They had so many questions. It was like a whole new world for them, just like the rebels in Star Wars Rebels. I came in like the veteran and I was able to answer all their questions. Tell them what to expect. I really did feel like real life Ahsoka, because I was able to provide a lot of answers about the Star Wars universe and kind of the new life that they were entering into.

 

Ahsoka-and-Vader - Copy

 

One of the highlights of Rebels Season 2 was the finale and the confrontation between Vader/Anakin and Ahsoka. What’s your feeling about that part of the story?

It was definitely a long time coming. It was nerve wracking, because I had once been told that if Vader and Ahsoka ever met that she probably wouldn’t survive. Dave Filoni didn’t tell me what was going to happen in that episode; he had kept the final scene a secret, so I had no idea whether she was going to come out of that scene dead or alive. I watched it in a theater full of people for the first time, on the edge of my seat, heart beating out of my chest, tears literally welling up in my eyes. When she walked into the Sith Temple, I literally, verbally, out loud said, “What!?”, because I didn’t know. It was like another cliffhanger. I’m, like, “Is she alive? Is she gone? What’s going on?” In my opinion, I think she’s alive. But that’s just my opinion.

 

Darth-Vader-Helmet

 

And in that battle between them, it was actually startling when Ahsoka split open Vader’s helmet.

That was amazing. It’s a moment that gave me chills, and then they actually blended together the voices of Matt Lanter [who voiced Anakin on Clone Wars] and James Earl Jones…I’m getting chills right now just thinking about it. Rebels may be an animated show, but you feel like you’re watching a live action film or television show. It’s so real and the stories so cinematic that they deserve to be on the big screen.

 

Check out a few more Q&A here.

 

Star Wars Rebels Season 2 was released on Blu-ray, August 30th. Star Wars Rebels: Season 3 debuts September 24th on Disney XD.

 

 

+ posts

6 thoughts on “Ashley Eckstein Talks Her Ahsoka Tano Star Wars Character

  • September 1, 2016 at 7:59 pm
    Permalink

    That Season 2 finale is the best lightsaber fight in Star Wars since RotJ.

    • September 1, 2016 at 8:06 pm
      Permalink

      I think I like Rey’s and Kylo Ren’s a bit more but I think it’s #3 on my list of all time Lightsaber fights.

      • September 1, 2016 at 9:04 pm
        Permalink

        I like the TFA fight, too, but there’s more emotional involvement for me in the Rebels fight. To me, the best fights are the ones where I have the most emotional investment in the characters and story involved.

        • September 1, 2016 at 9:21 pm
          Permalink

          I totally agree with that last sentence. To me, I was never more emotional than watching the killer of Han Solo go up against our hero. You can see the conflict and anger on Kylo’s face throughout the entire fight, which is why I think it is why he lost. Rey tuning into the force and taking her first step into becoming a Jedi was amazing. That being said Vader vs Ahsoka also very emotional and I will say there was a ton of buildup for this fight which made it very satisfying to watch. Both great fights.

    • September 2, 2016 at 2:52 am
      Permalink

      Have you ever watched Clone Wars? That has some of the best saber duels, period.

  • September 2, 2016 at 3:33 am
    Permalink

    Ahsoka is one of my favorite characters in all of Star Wars.

Comments are closed.

LATEST POSTS ON MOVIE NEWS NET