Ahsoka's Rosario Dawson and Hayden Christensen Are Glad People Love the Prequels Now

Rosario Dawson and Hayden Christensen met agelong earlier they crossed paths successful Star Wars; though their careers person been mostly divergent (her breakout was 1995's Kids; his was 2002's Attack of the Clones), they attended the aforesaid NYC play schoolhouse arsenic teens. Now some associated with large roles successful Star Wars and have shared the surface successful Ahsoka, they support drafting connected that agelong friendship.

In fact, it’s their shared history—and the movie awards-show photos that captured it implicit the years—that helped person Ahsoka creator Dave Filoni to formed Dawson arsenic the live-action instrumentality connected his animated Clone Wars and Rebels heroine successful the archetypal place, particularly since Ahsoka and Anakin person their ain shared history. “One of the much infamous photos of america was astatine the [2004’s] Independent Spirit Awards present successful LA. There’s a representation of america embracing, and we presented connected signifier together,” Dawson said successful an interrogation with the Hollywood Reporter. “And that was really 1 of the photos that Dave saw erstwhile helium archetypal imagined perchance casting maine [as Ahsoka] ... So to spot america young unneurotic and truly person this strange, weird, magical, connective, fortuitous past and transportation to each of it, it’s decidedly thing that the fans person been precise excited about. Who could person ever imagined this? You can’t marque this worldly up. You can’t constitute it.”

As Dawson suggests, she and Christensen are alert of what Star Wars fans anticipation for (and sometimes, request from) the franchise. But they’ve been successful Hollywood agelong capable to spot first-hand that tastes tin shift. Take the prequel films Christensen starred in, for instance; though they raked successful currency astatine the container office, they were famously met with mixed reactions from some critics and diehard Star Wars fans astatine the time. That’s shifted successful the decades since the prequels deed theaters successful 1999, 2002, and 2005, with the goodwill present truthful effusive that Christensen precocious reprised his quality successful Disney+ bid Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka.

“My acquisition with Star Wars has ever been a affirmative one,” Christensen told THR. “The critics surely took their purpose astatine those films during the prequel days, but I ever felt the enactment from the fans. So it’s been truly bully to get to travel backmost present and beryllium a portion of this franchise, and proceed with the quality and besides bask the reception that those films person now.”

Added Dawson, “I similar to accidental that [Hayden’s] got the precocious crushed now”—referencing, of course, Anakin’s climactic brawl with Obi-Wan successful Revenge of the Sith. When asked what proposal he’d springiness to the actors entering the realm of Star Wars for the archetypal clip arsenic portion of caller Disney+ series The Acolyte, Christensen sounded grateful to inactive beryllium a portion of it himself. “Just person amusive with it, due to the fact that it is specified a unsocial experience,” helium said. “It’s specified a peculiar satellite to beryllium a portion of, truthful relish each moment.”

Read the afloat interrogation with Dawson and Christensen astatine the Hollywood Reporter.

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