ROSARIO DAWSON
IS READY FOR ADVENTURE AND EXCITEMENT…
The Sin City star bags a key role in The Mandalorian.
In the rankings of geek fan castings, one hoped-for actor/character combination has lit up the internet more than most. Just ask the actor in question, who has long pushed for a trip to a galaxy far, far away. “Two lightsabers?” said Rosario Dawson, visibly thrilled when asked about the subject. “I mean, if you’re going to be a Jedi…”
If rumours pan out, Dawson will join The Mandalorian’s second season as a live-action Ahsoka Tano, the Forcesensitive Togrutan alien introduced (voiced by Ashley Eckstein) to the Star Wars animated universe in The Clone Wars and Rebels. Since her arrival, Tano has trained under Anakin Skywalker, left the Jedi order, fronted revolutions and fought a trio of Darths: Maul, Vader and Sidious. Eckstein’s voicing also joined The Rise Of Skywalker’s climactic Jedi chorus.
Will Tano become The Child’s Jedi Master, as is thought? That’s not clear as yet, though one thing is: Dawson would be perfect for the role. While her passion for the character is welldocumented, so is her steadying, sensitive and strong screen presence. After a no-nonsense debut in indie-film hand grenade Kids (1995), Dawson went on to notch up indie credibility points and mainstream in-roads between films such as Men In Black II and Spike Lee’s He Got Game/25th Hour. A stand-out in movie musicals Josie And The Pussycats and Rent, she also showed comic chops (and more top dance moves) in Kevin Smith’s Clerks II.
Like Smith, Dawson is a big comics/ genre fan. In between her activist commitments, she played Gail in Sin City, voiced a pitch-perfect Batgirl in The Lego Batman Movie and voiced Wonder Woman for other DC animations. Most famously, she brought grounding empathy to nurse Claire Temple in Marvel’s Netflix TV slate. Soon to appear in Ava DuVernay’s DMZ and David Oyelowo’s The Water Man, she’s also banked a confident lead TV role as an investigator in the mystery Briarpatch, which thrilled her. “I’m not used to being No. 1 on the call sheet,” gushed Dawson. If Tano graduates to her own headline show, she’ll soon adjust. KH
ETA | 2020 TBC / THE MANDALORIAN SEASON 2 IS CURRENTLY SCHEDULED TO ARRIVE ON DISNEY+ THIS AUTUMN.