Rosario Dawson and Hayden Christensen met lengthy earlier than they crossed paths in Star Wars; although their careers have been principally divergent (her breakout was 1995’s Kids; his was 2002’s Attack of the Clones), they attended the identical NYC drama faculty as teenagers. Now each related to main roles in Star Wars and have shared the display in Ahsoka, they hold drawing on that lengthy friendship.
In truth, it’s their shared historical past—and the film awards-show images that captured it over the years—that helped persuade Ahsoka creator Dave Filoni to forged Dawson as the live-action tackle his animated Clone Wars and Rebels heroine in the first place, particularly since Ahsoka and Anakin have their very own shared historical past. “One of the more infamous photos of us was at the [2004’s] Independent Spirit Awards here in LA. There’s a picture of us embracing, and we presented on stage together,” Dawson mentioned in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter. “And that was actually one of the photos that Dave saw when he first imagined potentially casting me [as Ahsoka] … So to see us young together and really have this strange, weird, magical, connective, fortuitous history and connection to all of it, it’s definitely something that the fans have been very excited about. Who could have ever imagined this? You can’t make this stuff up. You can’t write it.”
As Dawson suggests, she and Christensen are conscious of what Star Wars followers hope for (and generally, demand from) the franchise. But they’ve been in Hollywood lengthy sufficient to see first-hand that tastes can shift. Take the prequel movies Christensen starred in, as an example; although they raked in money at the field workplace, they had been famously met with combined reactions from each critics and diehard Star Wars followers at the time. That’s shifted in the a long time since the prequels hit theaters in 1999, 2002, and 2005, with the goodwill now so effusive that Christensen just lately reprised his character in Disney+ collection Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka.
“My experience with Star Wars has always been a positive one,” Christensen informed THR. “The critics certainly took their aim at those films during the prequel days, but I always felt the support from the fans. So it’s been really nice to get to come back now and be a part of this franchise, and continue with the character and also enjoy the reception that those films have now.”
Added Dawson, “I like to say that [Hayden’s] got the high ground now”—referencing, after all, Anakin’s climactic brawl with Obi-Wan in Revenge of the Sith. When requested what recommendation he’d give to the actors getting into the realm of Star Wars for the first time as a part of new Disney+ collection The Acolyte, Christensen sounded grateful to nonetheless be part of it himself. “Just have fun with it, because it is such a unique experience,” he mentioned. “It’s such a special world to be a part of, so relish every moment.”
Read the full interview with Dawson and Christensen at the Hollywood Reporter.
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