In a new interview, Rosario Dawson and Dave Filoni revealed how the actress was cast in the new season of The Mandalorian as Ahsoka Tano. Ahsoka was the brainchild of Filoni and George Lucas, with Lucas wanting to create a Jedi character his daughters could look up to. Filoni filled in the character’s backstory, and she initially became a foil for Anakin Skywalker’s treacherous path to the Dark Side. Ahsoka started out as Anakin’s young Padawan in The Clone Wars before branching out on her own.
While the character was poorly received at first, Ahsoka quickly became a fan favorite. When rumors began swirling that she would appear in The Mandalorian season 2, fans were ecstatic. The character eventually made her debut in “Chapter 13: The Jedi,” after Mando sought her out for help in his quest to return Grogu (AKA Baby Yoda) to a safer home. The appearance was brief, but still enough to light up the internet with praise for the character’s return.
In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Filoni and Dawson revealed just how the actress came to be cast as Ahsoka. It all began with a tweet from a fan that Dawson noticed and retweeted with the hashtag #AhsokaLives. Someone with connections to Filoni saw the tweet and forwarded it to the director, who immediately saw the potential. While some allege that the casting had been in the works prior to the tweet, Filoni denies this. He says he brought up the casting idea to Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau, who knows Dawson.
With social media providing a direct link between creators and fans, it’s no surprise that Filoni and Dawson saw the pleas for the actress to play Ahsoka. With many convinced Dawson would be perfect for the part, and Dawson herself campaigning for the role, the relationship between fans and creators is becoming a more prominent part of the creative process. Filoni filled the role through Favreau’s connections, but none of it would have been possible without fan involvement, showing that fan casting can be a vital part of the creative process in an increasingly interconnected creative world.
With an actress like Dawson in the role, many are wondering about the character’s future in the franchise. While it wouldn’t be unheard of for an actress of Dawson’s caliber to make a quick cameo appearance, her campaigning for the role and her subsequent success in it is indicative of the potential for Ahsoka’s future in the Star Wars universe. With the need for more diverse stories in the universe, Ahsoka is the perfect opportunity to expand on one of the most popular Jedi’s of all time. Whether or not Ahsoka appears again in The Mandalorian, the character still has a bright future ahead of her.
Source: Vanity Fair
Originally from https://screenrant.com/mandalorian-season-2-ahsoka-rosario-dawson-cast-reason/