Diana Lee Inosanto Looks Back on ‘Ahsoka’, Remembers Ray Stevenson, and Hypes Up ‘Tales of the Empire’
Over the weekend, Diana Lee Inosanto was a guest on a panel at Calgary Expo 2024, where she finally had the chance to publicly discuss her involvement with the top-secret Tales of the Empire animated series of shorts, as well as look back at her time with Ray Stevenson doing Ahsoka.
Covered by Collider, whose Maggie Lovitt moderated the panel, the actress talked about the progression of Morgan Elsbeth from live-action into animation, and going back in the past — an experience that was the polar opposite of some of her Ahsoka co-stars, particularly Lars Mikkelsen:
“My experience is unique as this is a new character that started off in live-action, so, in many ways, I felt that this character might have been still evolving. Things were kind of spoon-fed. Dave knows exactly what he’s doing. He may still be investigating ideas. I’m looking forward to Tales of the Empire because his fingerprint is all over this.
To go into Morgan Elsbeth’s backstory, you’re going to see more of the history that he would have wanted the world to know. It will make sense when it ties into The Mandalorian and Ahsoka. That’s the brilliance of a Dave Filoni. He’s brilliant in that way.”
She also hyped up the series and in particular, spotlighted the work done by the Lucasfilm animation department:
“I feel so honored and grateful that they are continuing to share Morgan Elsbeth’s story. [Tales of the Empire] will go into a lot of how everything happens. You will know why Morgan is wired the way she is. I think you would be quite surprised and quite pleased with Tales of the Empire. It is next-level animation.
I was stunned, and I have to give a shout-out to the animation team at Lucasfilm. I got to meet with them a few weeks ago, and I was amazed at how they did the martial arts sequences. They did an amazing job.”
The actress also looked back at her experience in Ahsoka. In the Rosario Dawson-led series, we got to learn part of her backstory when it was revealed that she was a Nightsister. That, as she explained, retroactively justified her going toe-to-toe with Ahsoka Tano in Chapter 13 of The Mandalorian:
“For me, when I did The Mandalorian, a lot of people didn’t understand how this woman could keep up with Ahsoka Tano. No one really understood yet that she was a Nightsister. I did. I was told that from Dave Filoni, that she was a Nightsister, but I didn’t know how that would be expressed into the world.
[Fans] didn’t realize that she has her own relationship with the Force. That’s why I was happy in Ahsoka that it was revealed. Her own powers. Her own abilities to communicate long distances with the Great Mothers. That’s where we finally got into the nature and understanding of her relationship with the Force.”
That Dathomir connection raises some questions about her knowing Asajj Ventress or not, which Inosanto dodged: “That’s interesting. I don’t know,” she said during the panel, adding: “I can feel the spirit of Dave Filoni watching over my shoulder! No pressure!”
Inosanto also had a moment to remember Ray Stevenson, who passed away last May:
“Working with Ray was an absolute honor, because he’s a veteran actor. He had me at the show Rome on HBO, if anybody’s watched Rome. I miss Ray all the time. I’m so saddened that he’s not here with us anymore. I’m so thankful that he at least had his moment to be with Star Wars fans in London, Star Wars Celebration, which is where we last saw him.”
There will be a dedicated film festival, named Ray of Light Awards, to celebrate Stevenson’s creative spirit, according to Collider. “To me, this is a wonderful way that they’re going to carry on his legacy, his creativity, and his spiritual expression of creativity,” said Inosanto about it.
Diana Lee Inosanto returns as the voice of Morgan Elsbeth this Saturday, May 4, where she will voice the character in three of the six episodes of Tales of the Empire. Ahsoka season 2 is in development and could film as soon as late 2024.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as movies from Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
