Posted in: Disney+, Star Wars, streaming, TV | Tagged: Ahsoka, disney, Eman Esfandi, Ezra Bridger, star wars, star wars rebels, taylor gray

Star Wars: Taylor Gray Discusses "Rebels," Voicing Ezra Bridger & More

Taylor Gray discusses what Dave Filoni told him about Ezra Bridger's "Rebels" endgame, the "Star Wars" fandom, embracing voice acting & more.

When Taylor Gray was cast as the young Jedi lead Ezra Bridger in Star Wars Rebels, he never imagined the nuanced challenges that awaited him in the realm of voiceover and animation. Prior to his casting in 2014, the actor has predominantly performed in live-action since his debut in the CBS series Numb3rs in 2007, also appearing in The Mentalist, Hawthorne, and Bucket and Skinner's Epic Adventures. Rebels is creator Dave Filoni's second Star Wars animated series, which takes place prior to the events of the original trilogy and also starred Freddie Prinze Jr, who played Ezra's master Kanan Jarrus; Vanessa Marshall as the brave Twi'lek pilot Hera Syndulla; Steve Blum as Zeb Orrelios, a mechanic and muscle of the group; Tiya Sircar as proud Mandalorian Sabine Wren; and Filoni as the voice of Chopper as they try to overcome the domineering Galactic Empire while sewing the seeds that became the Rebel Alliance.

Joining the crew late in the series is Clone Wars veteran and Jedi expatriate Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein), who helps when she can but keeps a safe distance not to incur the full wrath of the Empire. Ahsoka acts as a live-action sequel to Rebels with new actors in most of the Rebels roles accounted for except Zeb and Kanan with Rosario Dawson, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Eman Esfandi, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead playing Ahsoka, Sabine, Ezra, and Hera, respectively. While promoting his upcoming appearance at Fan Expo in San Francisco, Gray spoke to Bleeding Cool if he's seen the series, if he was in direct contact with Esfandi prior to filming, what he learned about himself as an actor while on the series, and his Star Wars legacy.

How Star Wars Changed Taylor Gray's Life

Bleeding Cool: Any thoughts on 'Ahsoka?'

Gray: I can't wait to watch it. I haven't seen it yet.

You haven't?

I can't offer too much on the show, but I've heard a lot of fan sentiments while I've been at different conventions over the past month or two, and it sounds like it's been incredible.

When you heard about the development of the series, were you in contact with Dave about your meeting with Eman to help into Ezra's headspace, or were you not involved whatsoever?

I never spoke with the actor who ended up playing Ezra, but I was in talks with Dave early on. He had spoken to us about what was going to go on in the show and where it was going to go. Disney came in later, and I'm not actually sure what happened and how everything ended up unfolding. In the early days when 'Rebels' had ended, I was much more in the loop on where everything would be going with Ezra-wise, and how they would end up finding him. Since then, I haven't had too many conversations with them.

Were you surprised that even though 'The Clone Wars' had some additional seasons strung along to tell their story, 'Rebels' as a cast didn't get that similar opportunity?

No, because David told us early on how long the show was going to go. It was nice because we knew that there was going to be a bow on it, and this was the story that he had wanted to tell. Everything fit into place on that, the way it was sort of initially planned. I remember him expressing some sort of sentiment about 'The Clone Wars,' maybe the story stopped a little earlier than he would have liked to tell the entire arc. With 'Rebels,' he wanted to make sure he got the entire story.

What did you learn over the years playing Ezra about yourself as an actor and leading a series like this?

So much, especially playing the arc Ezra had from this young kid, who is naive and maybe has an innate ability to become a Jedi, is sort of like mirrors the journey of a young man or woman going through the maturation process of becoming whole and transcending themselves. It's a testament to all the writers. I would tell Dave also that I was so surprised by the issues that Ezra was encountering in his life, I was experiencing myself as Taylor. It was cool to look at how we can become this sagacious whole thing while there are so many different struggles and conflicts that happen in our day-to-day lives. It's cool, so everything I had done up to that point was live-action. I'd never done anything that was animated, so there was a big learning curve with how to convey a full character through your voice. I found it helpful to go through that and work. I was fortunate to work alongside such great voice actors as Steve Blum and Vanessa Marshall, not to mention all the other great actors like Freddie, Tiya, and Sam [Witwer], and everyone they had on. A handful of us had come more so from a live-action background so it was cool to learn how to sort of convey a character through our voice and not being able to use actions, movements, and facial expressions.

Did you meet with them throughout the show's production at all to get to know them in and outside of the characters?

It's an interesting and amazing process on 'Rebels.' We were always in a room together. You feel that dynamic throughout the cast. We were acting off each other all in the same studio, and it was something that I believe I heard they started on 'Clone Wars,' and it was the precedent started by George Lucas that he thought it would behoove all the actors to be together in a room and capture that essence. We did the same thing on 'Rebels.' Dave would be in the booth directing us. He would fly down to L.A. and we would all be together, so we forged an amazing bond, friendship, and family.

Given your time in the Star Wars universe, what's been the biggest surprise to you about the community?

I was blown away by the sheer size of it. It might be alongside Marvel, like the biggest fan base in the world. It's probably bigger because it is Star Wars. I didn't realize how far their reach was internationally. I was on a sitcom for years as a teenager, and there's a live audience, so you would have 300-400 people there, and you would be able to share this experience. They're doing theater. People are there watching. Whereas taping an animated show, you're in a booth with the other actors, so it's you and eight other people in a black room. Going out to these conventions, the Star Wars Celebrations, and meeting fans and seeing how many people watched the show, [and] how much it impacted them, sentiments of fans have been incredible and a special experience to share with people. I've been blown away by how big the galaxy is now.

What is your future in the Star Wars franchise since your appearances on 'Rebels' and 'Forces of Destiny?' With Dave getting the promotion now, any hope of you voicing Ezra again or perhaps a potential live-action appearance?

We haven't spoken any further beyond those initial conversations when 'Rebels' ended. The idea, ostensibly at the time, was to carry on with Ezra and since then, I hadn't had a conversation with Dave.

Taylor will appear on Saturday and Sunday, November 25 & 26, at Fan Expo San Francisco. For more information, you can check it out here. You can stream Star Wars: Rebels on Disney+.

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