Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead – who just so happens to be married to the real-life Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ewan McGregor – just got a major role in a galaxy far, far away.
The “Fargo” actress is now responsible for bringing the character of Hera Sydnulla from the animated series “Star Wars: Rebels” to life in the Disney+ live-action series, “Ahsoka.”
However, Winstead revealed that she is actually a bit relieved that she has so much information to draw from to help inform her portrayal of the beloved character.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead Reveals The ‘Luxury’ Of Playing Hera Syndulla In ‘Star Wars’ Series ‘Ahsoka’
In an interview on Entertainment Weekly‘s Dagobah Dispatch podcast, Winstead said that she has “never” had the experience of playing a character with such a rich backstory to draw from in any of her prior roles.
“Having a character who’s already existed and has such a rich history on something like Rebels, as an actor, it’s incredible,” Winstead said. “Because sometimes we’re tasked with creating our own backstories or trying to flesh out a character that doesn’t really have that much on the page. And so to play a character that has season after season of storylines and complex histories with everyone in their life and relationships and experiences was really something I’ve never experienced quite like that.”
She revealed that she didn’t just take advantage of watching “Rebels” to inform her performance. She also had “Rebels” and “Ahsoka” creator Dave Filoni there “to speak to about it every day on set.” She described his presence and the amount of material to inform her portrayal of the character as “a real luxury, for sure.”
However, it’s possible that Hera might have changed a bit since the last time fans caught up with her in the series finale of “Rebels.” Winstead called Hera an “incredibly strong but complicated person,” adding, “She is very maternal, but also she’s this leader of this crew. And as we see, she continues and becomes a general. And so she’s leading quite a lot of people and she’s become something of a legend in her own right.”
Although Hera might be known for her military leadership and expertise, Winstead reminded fans that Hera is “also very soft and warm,” as characters often “come to her for advice and solace and comfort.” Winstead went on to say, “Seeing those things combined is very unusual, and something that I really wanted to play on screen, because that’s such an aspirational thing, I think, as a woman — or just a person — to be able to be all of those things in one.”
“She’s certainly not perfect, but she does have all of those qualities that make her somebody that you can really look up to in a way,” she added. “And I like to try to be that on film. I don’t know that I quite live up to it in reality, but it’s someone to try and try and reach for.”
Natasha Liu Bordizzo Reveals She Had Lightsaber Training For Her Role As Sabine Wren
Mary Elizabeth Winstead isn’t the only actress helping a character make their live-action debut. Australian actress Natasha Liu Bordizzo is playing another “Rebels” character – Sabine Wren. Collider dropped a sneak peek of her interview with Empire Magazine for their “Star Wars” 2023 summer issue, in which Bordizzo reveals that Sabine’s Mandalorian heritage influenced her real-life lightsaber training for her role.
“I’m just really glad that’s out there. It’s been really hard talking about my fight training without talking about the fact that it’s saber training, which is literally all I’ve been doing for so long,” she explained. “The Mandalorian [physicality] is very Western, and then the ‘saber style is very samurai-influenced. Trying to embody those two things – sometimes one right after the other – in the choreography was super interesting because they’re such different modes of being. I really had fun with the journey of trying to master both.”
The two actresses will join Rosario Dawson, who already helped the animated character of Ahsoka Tano make her live-action debut in “The Mandalorian” before she reprised the character again for a brief appearance in “The Book of Boba Fett.”
“Ahsoka” will be available to stream on Disney+ starting in August 2023.