Dave Filoni On Bringing Lars Mikkelsen Back To Play Thrawn in ‘Ahsoka’, Changing Ahsoka’s Lekku for the Show
In a recently-published interview conducted by Entertainment Tonight (ET) at Star Wars Celebration, Dave Filoni was asked about the process of bringing Lars Mikkelsen back to play Grand Admiral Thrawn and how the crew changed Ahsoka Tano’s lekku design for Ahsoka. The interview debuts on the heels of episode 5 of Ahsoka, which credits Dave Filoni as the director.
At the convention, Lars Mikkelsen was announced to be reprising his role from Star Wars: Rebels as Grand Admiral Thrawn in the Ahsoka series, marking his jump to live-action as the character. The reveal was “emotional” for Mikkelsen, as he was overwhelmed by the fans’ positive reaction. Filoni elaborated on the process of bringing back Mikkelsen, highlighting the need to evaluate all possible options beforehand, but he kept coming back to him:
“It’s a very considered decision. He was in Rebels, obviously. And I loved working with Lars. He’s very fun. It was a very big challenge to cast a voice. How do you find a voice for a character that everyone who read it pictured [Thrawn’s voice] in a different, unique way?
Eventually, that led me to Lars, and we were all very happy with his performance in Rebels. Coming to this, talking to Jon [Favreau], I was like, ‘It’s going to be very hard to beat Lars.’ Because Lars is in my head. The sound of his voice is kind of what I write to.
But we do our due diligence and we ask ourselves, ‘Who else?’ But I always do come back to Lars … You gotta ask yourself honestly. This is it. You get one shot at this.
But I couldn’t be happier … He looks wonderful in blue. Not everyone does, so that’s a factor … It’s a unique thing to bring this character to life … Just his presence and stature — there are many factors he’s able to deliver on, and I couldn’t be happier.”
Dave Filoni also explained in detail the process of changing Ahsoka’s lekku for the show. In Ahsoka, the character’s lekku is much longer with the blue markings much more pronounced than it was in The Mandalorian. Filoni said that there was much to consider, but that the crew desired to improve on the work they had already done:
“We had a lot of consideration the first time we did it about the length and how that would affect things, especially when swinging lightsabers and doing stunts …
I talked to the team at Legacy [Effects] and we all agreed we could do better … We like to make things look better and more true to what everybody pictures this to be.
They came up with an incredible design. When I saw it applied, I was like, ‘This makes so much sense.’ It’s lighter for them. It’s flexible in a great way … It’s the most significant leap in lekku that’s happened maybe in Star Wars … They’re actually hollow, but sturdy and flexible.”
Episode 5 of Ahsoka premiers tonight at 6 pm PT and credits Dave Filoni as the episode’s director. The episode will also be screened in select theaters in the US and London. Feel free to also check out my review of “Fallen Jedi” the series’ previous episode, and the spoiler discussion of the episode on SWNN Live! We will also have a review of Episode 5 the morning after the episode’s debut.
Born and raised in Hawaii, Jay Goodearl runs the YouTube Gaming channel “Good Games, Dude” His channel aims to open up video games to beginners and immediate players and help them understand what makes games the art form that it is.
