Rosario Dawson chats with EW about Ahsoka's stunts and make up, working with Ray Stevenson, and sharing the new series with Star Wars fans.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00 I still don't have all the information.
00:01 They will not give it to me just in case for spoilers.
00:04 Like, I will probably see the show
00:06 exactly the same time as everybody else does.
00:08 It's kind of wild to like be a part
00:10 of one of the biggest projects of my life
00:12 and be told like, say nothing, see nothing, do nothing.
00:14 I'm like, really?
00:16 Okay, cool.
00:17 (upbeat music)
00:19 I was taking pictures and video of myself,
00:23 like throwing on my costume for the first time
00:24 and I'm literally doing jumping jacks.
00:26 But I had to like kind of just have it in my body.
00:28 I think as a fan of the character,
00:31 it just felt so exciting to be dressed as Ahsoka,
00:34 but in a new costume and a new look.
00:37 And knowing we were establishing that
00:38 and that the story was continuing,
00:41 'cause that's just, as a fan, I just, I want more.
00:43 So it's just exciting to be a part of that.
00:46 - You and I both know who could help you with this.
00:50 - She's still just as stubborn as ever.
00:53 - I bet your master found you difficult at times.
00:57 - Anakin never got to finish my training.
00:59 I walked away from him, just like I walked away from Sabine.
01:03 - You never made things easy for me, master.
01:06 - I've always loved her confidence and her capability.
01:12 I love what an incredible, fierce, passionate,
01:17 true, loyal being she is.
01:19 Like she just, there's something so consistent about her,
01:23 but that doesn't mean that it's not tried,
01:25 it's not challenged, it's not provoked,
01:27 that she's not had sacrifice.
01:29 Like we've just been able to grow up with her.
01:31 She's such an expert, she's such a master.
01:33 And to see her get better and better,
01:35 I think that's so interesting when someone is so talented
01:38 and so skilled and so expert,
01:41 and you can still see that they have levels to go to.
01:44 You know, like we always,
01:45 when you look at someone who's capable and you're like,
01:47 okay, that's it, and you move on.
01:48 And I think there's something so remarkable
01:50 about being able to see through that
01:52 and know that you can ask for more,
01:54 that you can push it further.
01:56 And that's what's required of a warrior like her.
01:59 But seeing her grapple with that,
02:01 because, you know, even with these like Jedi tales
02:03 that came out and you see her origin story as a little baby,
02:06 how force sensitive she was at such a young age
02:10 and that the power of it actually,
02:12 really it was really to see her family, her community,
02:15 her mom, her dad, and these animals and creatures around her
02:18 all kind of surrender to it,
02:20 like truly acknowledge it is so powerful.
02:23 And to imagine experiencing that at such a young age,
02:27 her whole life, where people are looking at her,
02:29 knowing she's special,
02:31 and that she's never taken that for granted,
02:33 and that it's never been, well, you've got that,
02:36 and that doesn't mean you can get to higher heights.
02:38 I think, you know, my namesake, my Tierra Rosario,
02:42 I remember before she passed, she had told me I was 19.
02:46 I flew myself out from Chicago,
02:48 I was filming "Light It Up" with Usher and Vanessa Williams.
02:52 I flew my mom out from New York,
02:53 and I flew my grandmother out from South Carolina
02:55 to go down to Puerto Rico
02:56 so we could be with her before she passed.
02:59 And my Tierra Rosario was the one in my family
03:02 who was a little better off,
03:04 and she had taken care of my grandmother because of that,
03:06 because my grandmother was sickly when she was younger,
03:08 and she couldn't stay with her siblings and her mom.
03:10 She could see directly to me, my Tierra Rosario being like,
03:14 I see you following that same path
03:15 as the one who can take care
03:18 and is like leaned on early on.
03:20 I was only 19 and I was already shouldering
03:22 a lot of the bills and responsibilities.
03:25 And she was like, I just want you to know, Rosario,
03:28 that your prayers are no less answered by God,
03:32 that it is okay for you to ask for more,
03:34 even if you already have more than the people around you.
03:37 Like, do not curb your desires, your passions,
03:41 your whatever it is, and acknowledge that
03:45 and know that before God that that's okay,
03:48 that you can have that relationship with God too.
03:50 And there's something about that that I think of,
03:53 interestingly, probably like no other character
03:56 I've played before with her,
03:57 where just knowing that that push for more,
04:00 that desire for more, that challenge
04:01 that she pushes herself to is okay,
04:05 and that it's actually remarkable and important.
04:08 And I think that's one of the things
04:10 I've been drawn to her over the years,
04:11 is the fact that even with her excellence,
04:13 she continues to push it further.
04:15 - I started hearing whispers.
04:18 Of Thrawn's return as heir to the Empire.
04:21 - What happens when we find Thrawn?
04:25 - Power, such as you've never dreamed.
04:29 - I've spent most of my life fighting a war.
04:36 That's why I'm trying to convince you
04:39 to help me prevent another one.
04:41 - To be ambidextrous is a real,
04:43 like, it's really interesting.
04:44 Like, you start, you're working with one arm,
04:46 but this other one is like, you know,
04:47 that was a constant thing of like making sure
04:49 where's the other arm going as you're,
04:52 this is perfect, but then this one is, you know,
04:54 and it's very specific about just like where.
04:56 So I would do these, I remember I worked up this thing
04:59 with Caitlin, who was my stunt woman on "Mandalorian."
05:03 And she was filming, she lives in Georgia
05:06 and was filming there.
05:07 And when I was filming "Haunted Mansion,"
05:09 I started training with her early.
05:11 And then I would work with her on the weekends
05:13 while we filmed.
05:15 And so this way I could do seven day weeks.
05:16 'Cause I was just like, I just wanna keep training.
05:18 I don't wanna get it out of my body.
05:20 I am not a workout-y person.
05:21 I'm not that kind of thing.
05:22 So I really just, I don't wanna lag at all.
05:25 And so it was great.
05:26 So we worked out like one of some of our like exercises
05:29 and things of just like doing things to keep my shoulders
05:31 up, my arms at certain levels,
05:33 because it's just not a natural position to come up
05:36 to here all the time.
05:38 These positions have to feel really organic to her.
05:40 And it's also hard 'cause we're basing this off
05:42 of an animation.
05:44 So you've never seen her kind of confined
05:48 to the abilities of a human being.
05:50 It was really fun to figure it out, discover it,
05:52 to play with it, to have it in our bodies,
05:55 and to work against different people and, you know,
05:59 speeds and energies and heights and power.
06:02 You know, when I think about Ray, I miss Ray.
06:05 It's terrible to not be able to share this moment with him.
06:08 'Cause he definitely, there were moments where I was
06:11 fighting for my life and being like, "Ray."
06:13 Like, we're not really battling to the death right now,
06:16 right? You know this.
06:17 We're playing characters, you know, it was very heavy handed
06:19 and he just, he gave so much to it.
06:21 And it was just, it was remarkable.
06:22 Like this fight that you've done over and over
06:23 and over again, and it keeps you very present.
06:26 He's magnificent, like just proper alpha male,
06:31 huge, like stature, tall, big.
06:34 I'm just so grateful that we had
06:35 Star Wars Celebration together.
06:37 We all got to get to see him talk about his, this role.
06:41 And he got to feel that from the fans.
06:43 It moved all of us to be able to see that kind of reaction.
06:46 And the Star Wars family is really that,
06:49 very much a family.
06:51 And I'm just grateful Ray gets to be a part of it.
06:54 Sadly, if this is the final role,
06:56 then this is, it's a magnificent one.
06:58 He did a brilliant job.
06:59 It was incredible to work with him every day.
07:01 He was a delight, a joy, a beauty, a love.
07:04 And I think people are going to be really,
07:07 really excited about what he brought to this.
07:10 (dramatic music)
07:12 - Sometimes we have to do what's right,
07:14 regardless of our personal feelings.
07:15 - Buckle up.
07:19 - If we don't stop Thrawn, everything will be in vain.
07:25 - It took us three hours just for the makeup.
07:28 But we got it down to about like an hour and a half.
07:30 And so that's tough, you know,
07:31 like we're going in at like four something
07:32 in the morning every day so that we can be ready
07:34 when the crew's there at six and have a full day
07:37 and then still have like at least a half an hour
07:39 and taking all of it off.
07:42 And it sprays on with alcohol,
07:44 so it can be really harsh on the skin.
07:46 And there was, you know, we figured out some stuff
07:48 'cause my arms, I was starting getting really, really dry.
07:51 My skin was, you know, was kind of going through it.
07:53 So we just kind of kept adjusting.
07:55 And I think that's just been happening
07:57 over these past years, you know,
07:58 the mantles are longer, you know,
08:00 the exoskeleton that they built,
08:03 and the skeleton I mean that they built inside
08:06 is just unbelievable.
08:07 It's all 3D printed.
08:08 It moves completely differently.
08:10 It feels different.
08:10 It's lighter, but that technology literally didn't exist
08:14 when we were first doing the character in "Mando" season two.
08:17 So it's just been really cool to see how it keeps evolving.
08:20 And so it's the timing, it's the makeup,
08:23 it's all the things.
08:24 Like we have discovered a lot of stuff.
08:26 Like when we're shooting on the volume
08:27 versus filming outside,
08:29 my skin tone turns into a completely different color.
08:32 So we have to do different kind of paint shades
08:35 to kind of make it be able to match
08:37 and blend between those different spaces
08:39 'cause the blue light and stuff from the screens
08:42 is very different obviously than the actual natural light.
08:44 So it was just like, okay, wow,
08:46 I looked really good in the light, but I'm neon now.
08:48 Let's figure that out.
08:50 It's been really fun working
08:51 with all of the different departments,
08:53 including the wardrobe because, you know,
08:55 we create this incredible look,
08:57 but then I can't physically fight the person in front of me
09:00 because I don't have full lateral movements
09:03 of my arms or something, you know?
09:04 So it was just really great.
09:06 And I think the well-oiled machine
09:08 that is "Star Wars" at this point,
09:09 because of all of the shows and how,
09:12 these are people who know each other deeply
09:15 and their families and their friendships,
09:17 they're spending time,
09:18 they're going to Disneyland on the weekends,
09:19 they're tattooed in "Star Wars,"
09:21 like they're living and breathing it,
09:22 but they're also just like really commiserating
09:24 in a way that you don't always get on a project
09:27 because every department can kind of be siloed
09:29 from themselves.
09:30 And on this one, there's so much happening at all times,
09:32 and especially jumping from the episodes.
09:34 It's just great to be a part of a team
09:36 that's been working together now so brilliantly
09:39 for the past few years,
09:40 and to actually be in the volume and see it,
09:42 to actually have buttons and switches like you do
09:45 all over the, you know, the ships and stuff.
09:49 Like, it's just, it feels wonderful
09:51 that we're all seeing the same thing
09:54 and we can work with it in the same way
09:55 and we can build on it.
09:57 And it's not just in our imagination and coming later.
10:00 It's dazzling to imagine that we shot this in a tiny room,
10:04 literally the exact same room
10:05 that I filmed "Jane the Virgin" in, by the way.
10:07 We're on the exact stage that I was filming
10:10 all my scenes with Petra, Brooks, Shields,
10:13 everybody was on for five years.
10:14 They moved out and "Star Wars" moved in.
10:17 And now I'm in there and shooting
10:19 in this tiny little room still.
10:21 I mean, it's a stage, but technically.
10:23 And it looks like the, just the depth and space
10:28 and breadth of "Star Wars."
10:29 Like, it just is stunning.
10:31 It's stunning every day.
10:32 And there's literally folks on the side
10:34 of every day that we're filming
10:36 with all their computers setting up,
10:37 doing the special effects and editing
10:39 every single day while we're filming.
10:41 Like, it's just 24/7.
10:43 It's amazing.
10:44 - I'm not here to discuss my past.
10:47 - We have a lot of work to do.
10:49 - Once a rebel, always a rebel.
10:51 (dramatic music)
11:01 - I'm probably the most anxious
11:04 that I've ever been in my entire career
11:07 over the reception of this,
11:08 which I felt at different stages
11:10 when Mando and Boba Fett came out.
11:11 But it's a really different thing
11:13 to come onto a character that's,
11:14 I felt that maybe a little bit in "Rent,"
11:17 maybe a little bit even in "Sin City."
11:19 But when you're playing a character
11:20 that has been so special for so many fans
11:23 for so many years in such a particular way,
11:26 it's definitely intense kind of approaching it
11:29 with a new kind of perspective.
11:33 But I really, really hope that the fans love it.
11:35 'Cause, you know, that means we A, get to do more,
11:38 but B, it means that we've honored
11:40 the legacy of this character and this journey.
11:42 And I know that's what we intended to do.
11:45 I'm gonna be watching those fan reactions
11:47 'cause that was amazing to watch on Mando.
11:49 And I really am hoping that that is the same experience
11:54 people have watching this.
11:56 Whatever comes next, if more comes next,
11:58 I'd be really excited and grateful.
12:01 'Cause I just, I feel like every time
12:03 I get to step into her shoes, I learn more,
12:07 I experience what I could never experience otherwise,
12:12 and I get better.
12:15 I keep, I feel like I keep getting better.
12:17 It keeps landing in my body.
12:19 And so I wanna have,
12:20 I'd love that opportunity to keep exploring.
12:22 (whooshing)
12:24 [BLANK_AUDIO]