Star Wars Tales of the Jedi Ahsoka Tano Interview: Ashley Eckstein

About a decade in the past, everybody was positive Ahsoka Tano was useless. Dead each on display, together with her present The Clone Wars all however canceled, and off-screen, as a result of how might one other Force consumer nonetheless be alive on the earth of Star Wars?

Things have actually modified. Not solely did Ahsoka come again for extra Clone Wars episodes, however she was additionally again on one other animated present, Star Wars Rebels, and has been on the middle of novels, comics, and even the world of live-action, with appearances on The Mandalorian and Book of Boba Fett establishing her very personal present. But even that’s only the start.

Last week, Ahsoka went again to her roots and appeared in three episodes of Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, an animated anthology from the character’s co-creator Dave Filoni, aiming to inform new, essential tales, about Star Wars Jedis. The present meant actress Ashley Eckstein would as soon as once more get to voice the character, and io9 spoke together with her about returning and every of the landmark episodes.

“When Dave Filoni calls and says that there’s a new project, there’s no pitching, it’s just how quickly we can get out the word ‘Yes,’” Eckstein informed io9 final week. She recorded her episodes through the pandemic over Zoom, and every one posed distinctive challenges and questions. Below, we break all of it down.

Tales of the Jedi Episode 1: “Life and Death”

“Life and Death” tells the story of Ahsoka’s delivery and first expertise with the Force. However, because the character remains to be a child, Eckstein didn’t have something to do with the episode. As a fan of the character although she was riveted by the very fact she lastly bought to see the place Ahsoka got here from.

“It was really, really interesting to see Ahsoka’s backstory as a baby and to see everyone in her town,” Eckstein stated. “I think that the problem with Tales of the Jedi is that it opened up more questions than we have answers to. Now, I have so, so many questions.”

When Eckstein was making The Clone Wars, she would ask Filoni about Ahsoka’s backstory, however he’d by no means actually give her any info. “I asked about it a lot,” she stated. “I always wanted to know her backstory. And to be honest, I don’t fully remember what Dave said. But what I do remember is him always being coy about it. What I always gathered from his answers was that it was a story that he always wanted to tell. So, it’s very cool that he finally got the chance to tell it.”

Tales of the Jedi Episode 5: “Practice Makes Perfect”

The subsequent time Ahsoka pops up in Tales of the Jedi, the story is ready early on in her journey, across the timeline of the Clone Wars film and season one of many present. For Eckstein, that meant going again to a voice she hadn’t needed to do for years.

“I really enjoyed going back to a 14-year-old Ahsoka,” she stated. “It’s fun to reminisce and go back to those days, and it actually was quite easy to change my voice to go back to 14-year-old Ahsoka. It’s like stepping back into an old pair of boots that you’ve had for years that you broke in. They’re comfortable. They just mold to your foot. And that’s how it felt.”

That doesn’t imply there wasn’t preparation although. “I did go back and watch The Clone Wars movie and several of the first episodes in season one,” she stated. “So I did listen to my voice back then and it’s shocking how different it is. Ahsoka has grown up so much and she’s gone through such an evolution.”

That evolution is partially as a result of her grasp, Anakin, places her via such intense coaching. The episode not solely options the voices of Eckstein’s Clone Wars household (Matt Lanter, James Arnold Taylor, Dee Bradley Baker), all of whom reunited on Zoom, however might maintain the keys to a number of mysteries surrounding the character. For instance, Ahsoka Tano has two lightsabers. Is it due to this?

“I think so,” Eckstein stated. “I actually got to watch the episodes with my nephew last night who’s like a Star Wars expert. And we came to the same conclusion. That she got the second lightsaber for her training and because of these exercises.”

Eckstein additionally discovered it fascinating how this particular train of dodging blasts from Clone Troopers would develop into so, so essential to the character’s survival. “[Anakin] was preparing her to save her life,” she stated. “And I think what was so heartbreaking to me, having seen it for the first time, was little did any of them know he was literally preparing her to save her life against the clones. The very people she was learning from are the very people that she had to escape from later on, which made it so much more heartbreaking. But also that answers our question of how could she do that? How could she escape from the clones at the end of season five like she did and then how could she escape from the clones, obviously, with Order 66?”

Tales of the Jedi Episode 6: “Resolve”

The remaining episode of Tales of the Jedi, set quickly earlier than the occasions of Star Wars Rebels, introduced up complicated feelings for Eckstein. “Ahsoka at Padmé’s funeral, for me, I was sobbing during that scene as I was recording it,” she stated. “It was very real where she says, ‘She was my friend.’ I could hear it because I knew what was happening but I was full-out crying during that scene. So. yeah, the emotions were very, very real in that episode.”

After the funeral, we meet Ahsoka hiding as a farmer. Some followers observed that the story has some very shut parallels to the E.Ok. Johnson Ahsoka novel, however Eckstein says that was by no means mentioned. “No, we didn’t have any conversations about the novel… but it felt like an extension of the novel,” she stated. “I didn’t even ask Dave if this was before the novel or [after], I just assumed this was kind of at the beginning of that chapter. So I definitely sense the parallels.”

One parallel that’s lacking is Kaedan Larte, a girl who begins to fall for Ahsoka within the guide. Tales has an analogous character however has eliminated the love story and a few (together with io9) have criticized the present for ostensibly changing a queer character. When the subject was introduced up, Eckstein might solely specific a deep adoration for the character.

“I will say I absolutely love the character of Kaedan and Miara, her sister,” she stated. “E.K. Johnson and I actually collaborated on another book, From a Certain Point of View, where we together wrote a chapter and included those characters. But, this is purely my opinion because I did not have any discussions about it, I do hope that we eventually get to see Kaedan and Miara because I think E.K. Johnston wrote two incredible female characters that I hope we’ll see in the future.”

Finally, as was the case virtually 10 years in the past, Eckstein admits the ultimate episode of Tales From the Jedi made her unhappy as a result of, for now, she’s unsure if that is the final time she’ll voice the character or not. “Every time I step into the studio and record Ahsoka I always have so much gratitude and I’m so grateful to have the opportunity,” she stated. “I never look at like, ‘Okay, well, what’s ahead?’ And, ‘Why don’t we have more?’ I don’t ever look at it that way. I’m just grateful for what I get to do. But there’s always a sadness whenever a project comes to an end. And so that episode, in particular, was, the last one, it was sad.”

Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi is now on Disney+.

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