Posted in: Disney+, Star Wars, TV | Tagged: Ahsoka, ahsoka tano, Anakin Skywalker, darth vader, disney, Hayden Christensen, lucasfilm, rosario dawson, star wars, star wars: the clone wars

Ahsoka: Rosario Dawson & Hayden Christensen on Anakin Return, Reunion

Ahsoka stars Rosario Dawson and Hayden Christensen reflected on a number of aspects of their reunion during the Star Wars live-action series.

Regarding one of the most beloved Jedi padawan and master relationships in Star Wars, it's hard to top the one originally established in the animated series The Clone Wars with Ahsoka Tano and Anakin Skywalker. Voiced respectively by Ashley Eckstein and Matt Lanter in 2008, the two characters would develop a long-lasting bond but took a tragic turn as the Dave Filoni series eventually caught up to the events of Revenge of the Sith (2005) that saw Anakin's ascension as the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader.

The two would not only reunite as opponents on Filoni's animated series Rebels with a much older Ahsoka, but the characters would meet again in a live-action setting in the Disney+ series Ahsoka with Rosario Dawson playing the title character and Hayden Christensen reprising his role as Anakin from the second and third episodes of the Skywalker Saga films as not only a Force guide but also we get a flashback sequence of their time in the Clone Wars with Ariana Greenblatt playing the younger Tano. With the reception of Ahsoka, Entertainment Weekly revisited not only the reunion of both characters but also the two actors whose past dates back to acting school.

Ahsoka: Rosario Dawson & Hayden Christensen on Ahsoka-Anakin Reunion Reception

When it came to seeing Christensen back as Anakin and his alter ego, Darth Vader, "It's so beautiful and so special. I was just elated when I saw Hayden in 'Obi-Wan Kenobi' and just hoped, fingers crossed, that that would happen with him on our show," Dawson said. "I don't want to put anyone in the crew out there, but I will say there were some tears shed when we got to see that lightsaber in his hand again. It's pretty remarkable and very special."

As far as reuniting with Ewan McGregor on Obi-Wan and the nostalgic electricity and seeing him and Anakin once again, "It is a character that people have a lot of affection for, and yeah, you get a sense of that," Christensen said. "A lot of the people who are working on these projects now grew up on the prequels and were huge fans of those films, and so I think they have a special connection to these characters and to Anakin. Anytime Vader shows up, that's a crowd-pleaser, so that's an easy one. But it's really nice to see the support that Anakin has now."

When it came to swinging that lightsaber again, "Easily the best part. Any work day with a lightsaber, it's a good day, and the experience on this one was really awesome," Christensen said. "Ming came up with a really great sequence of fights, and we spent a lot of time working on it. Like Rosario said, we do it in isolation just with the stunt team, and then we get to practice a little bit together before we get to set. But the experience of getting to do that on the stage was awesome, and we were just laughing a lot because we couldn't believe our good luck that we were getting to do this together."

As far as what we can expect from Ahsoka and Anakin in season two, "I will just say that as she puts on that hologram of him, you see that there's several of them. So I think there's that potential. But I love also not just being relegated to those messages and things that we might be able to see more of in the future. We've gotten to see from the films now into the show that he's been able to become this force ghost that brings him back to Anakin, who, at the end of the day, when he went and ascended to that space, that's what he became," Dawson said. "And I love that she's got that access point. I love that that peace has continued and you get to see it reflected in him that he gets to enjoy seeing what his legacy has become in a different way. And if Dave Filoni is listening, I hope we get to explore that more because the road ahead is not going to be easy. And I think that's been one of the really cool things about this story is a lot of these folks have been able to continue. I'm very into that sort of intergenerational openness of wisdom being passed on, and I would hope that she'd still be able to access that wisdom."

You can check out the complete interview for more, including Christensen's "sweet tooth," how Dawson compares Christensen and Ray Stevenson's lightsaber skills, dialogue, scene work, and more.

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