‘Ahsoka’: Rosario Dawson says her ‘Star Wars’ character was inspired by Gandalf from ‘The Lord Of The Rings’

Rosario Dawson has revealed that her Star Wars character, Ahsoka, was inspired Gandalf from The Lord Of The Rings.

• READ MORE: Who is Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars?

The actor is reprising the role of the former Jedi Padawan for the upcoming Ahsoka series on Disney+, having previously appeared as the character in a couple of episodes of The Mandalorian.

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Dawson discussed how she and series creator Dave Filoni were particularly interested in examining Ahsoka’s growth from a Padawan into a leader.

The upcoming series is set after the events of the animated Star Wars Rebels finale, in which Ahsoka, dressed all in white, returned from the ethereal Force dimension known as the World Between Worlds. It was this sort of imagery and development that prompted Dawson and Filoni to draw parallels with Gandalf from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings.

“In the animation, you saw her go to the white, but what I loved is the idea that there was even another level to her,” Dawson explained.

“Dave and I talked a lot about Gandalf the Gray and Gandalf the White — talking about that transition and how she’s someone very capable and excellent and looked up to as a leader, but she still has levels of development to go.”

Dawson added that the constant push for self-growth is partly why she connected with the character in the first place.

“That push for more, that desire for more, that challenge that she pushes herself to is okay — and it’s actually remarkable and important,” she said. “That’s one of the reasons I’ve been drawn to her over the years, the fact that even with her excellence, she continues to push further.”

The upcoming series follows Ahsoka as she wanders through the galaxy in search of the villain Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen, reprising his voice role from Rebels). She’ll later be joined by familiar allies such as rebel general Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Mandalorian graffiti artist Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo).

“She seems very lone wolf, and we kind of felt that coming off of Rebels, where she works with all of these different folks, but she’s really on her own in a lot of ways,” Dawson added.

“What I really liked about this [show] is that we get to flesh that out a little bit more. We get to see what that’s like for her in this position and the path she’s choosing as a sort of ronin, just this warrior on her own. And I really loved that we get to rekindle some of these relationships that she’s had from her past.”

Last month, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that the company would be cutting back on creating new Star Wars content.

Ahsoka will be available to stream on Disney+ from August 23.

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