Mary Elizabeth Winstead is the latest actress to join the Star Wars universe, soon to star in the Disney+ Ahsoka alongside Rosario Dawson, and she is now opening up about her journey to the galaxy far, far away.
Speaking recently to the Dagobah Dispatch podcast at EW, Winstead noted how the animated series Star Wars: Rebels played a big role in her performance of Rebel hero Hera Syndulla.
“To have Star Wars Rebels to refer to, and to have [series creator Dave Filoni] to speak to about it every day on set, was a real luxury for sure. Having a character who’s already existed and has such a rich history on something like Rebels as an actor, it’s incredible. 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,” says Winstead. “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.”
When it comes to how she wants to approach the role of Hera, Winstead views her as a complicated leader, telling the podcast, “I see Hera as an incredibly strong but complicated person. She is very maternal, but also she’s the 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.”
“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 adds.
SEE ALSO: Star Wars: Ahsoka trailer teases the arrival of the Heir to the Empire
Are you looking forward to seeing Mary Elizabeth Winstead take on the role of Hera Syndulla in Ahsoka? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeirngMyth…
Ahsoka stars Rosario Dawson as the titular Ahsoka Tano, Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Eman Esfandi as Ezra Bridger, Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine Wren, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Hera Syndulla, Ray Stevenson as Baylan Skoll, Lars Mikkelsen as Grand Admiral Thrawn, David Tennant as Huyang, Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma, Diana Lee Inosanto as Morgan Elsbeth and Ivanna Sakhno as Shin Hati.
Star Wars: Ahsoka premieres on Disney+ August 2023.
Originally published May 21, 2023. Updated August 18, 2023.
