‘Star Wars’ Celebration 2023 Day 2 Roundup From the LIVE! Stage
Day 2 of Star Wars Celebration has wrapped. We had another jam-packed day of interviews on the LIVE! stage for those of you watching from home, and we’ve curated a select few moments from the day below.
First, we heard from Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, who discussed the process of tying together the connecting threads of the MandoVerse, and talked items they may have snuck home from set. Favreau admitted he has one of Grogu’s chainmail shirts as well as a Darksaber. This adds to the items they already mentioned during the Ahsoka panel, with Dave mentioning he has Ahsoka’s lightsabers and Jon saying he has Dave’s drawings. Together, they must be the quite the collections. Dave also became a bit teary-eyed when discussing his own journey as a fan to a creator and how meaningful it is to him to see the love, diversity, and support from the fans.
Dave wasn’t the only showrunner to get teary-eyed when talking about their love and commitment to Star Wars; Leslye Headland took the stage to discuss The Acolyte and, more generally, what Star Wars means to her. At one point, she even said:
“Star Wars saved my life. And it’s okay if you don’t like The Acolyte, that’s fine! The reality is that Star Wars in and of itself is not just this vast universe full of many different characters, but it is always, always about the spiritual journey of what it is to become who you are. That’s why I’m so overwhelmed and grateful to be here and beyond overwhelmed and grateful to be allowed as a filmmaker to experience what it is like to actually make something in this world. That is beyond my wildest dreams.”
Next up, we had Ray Stevenson and Lars Mikkelsen there to talk their villainous characters in Ahsoka. On Thrawn, Mikkelsen said:
“He’s very intelligent. Much smarter than me! He has all these layers, he can be very Sherlockian.”
Rosario Dawson, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead took the LIVE! stage and talked about how they got the roles and how they’ve learned from their characters since filming. All three had a lot of love for their characters and for each other. One consistent refrain we’ve heard from actors on the LIVE! stage is that it’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle. Mary Elizabeth Winstead echoed this sentiment:
“You would think something at this level would be stressful, that people would be stressed out about it. But everyone [the cast, crew] are just so joyful and happy and love what they’re doing.”
Finally, we got Andy Serkis on the stage to talk Andor and what it was like to come back to Star Wars for live-action acting after playing Supreme Leader Snoke in the sequel trilogy using mo-cap technology.
“I was really worried about taking another Star Wars role, because I thought there would be and there already are so many theories about Kino Loy somehow being related to Supreme Leader Snoke… but Tony Gilroy does such a great job writing these characters, and I was told they would keep me a secret, and I really loved the character, so I was delighted to be back.”
Regarding his fateful line at the end of the prison sequence in Andor:
“When I read it, I was like ‘What! Can’t swim?’ I bet Snoke can swim.”
Check out some of the clip highlights below:
For the full day of programming from the LIVE! stage, including a recording of the 40th Anniversary of Return of the Jedi panel, the Creature Cantina panel, The Clone Wars 15th Anniversary panel, and the High Republic panel. Check out the video below:
Check back tomorrow for a rundown of coverage from the Star Wars Celebration LIVE! stage Day 3. In the meantime, don’t miss the news from today, including information on Thrawn in Ahsoka, The High Republic publishing initiative, and The Acolyte.
When she isn't watching her friends and family's eyes glaze over at the mention of The Clone Wars, she's at the park with her dog, Melvin, or on the couch with a book in one hand and a drink in the other. Physically, she lives in Ohio; spiritually, she lives in Naboo.
