Actor Rosario Dawson recently joined the ranks of The Mandalorian as none other than ex-Jedi/rebel, Ahsoka Tano. What led her to the role was a mixture of Star Wars fandom support for her casting and pure serendipity that connected her to other Star Wars alumni.

When asked about her casting process, Dawson said, "I think it definitely was the Force at work," in a recent interview with StarWars.com.

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Initially, the idea originated when a fan asked her on Twitter in 2017 if she'd consider portraying the role. To which the actor enthusiastically replied, "Ummmm… yes please?! #AhsokaLives #AhsokaTano #StarWars."

"I think someone who always does the press for Star Wars saw [the post] and forwarded it to [Ahsoka creator and The Mandalorian producer] Dave Filoni, who said, 'Interesting. Yeah. She looks like she could be her. That’s cool,' and then followed me," Dawson told StarWars.com. "They ended up having the Star Wars account follow me. And that became a whole thing. Like, 'Wait, did something just happen?' And I got really excited... And then nothing happened. [Laughs] Nothing happened for a very long time."

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Ultimately, The Mandalorian creator and showrunner Jon Favreau wanted to wait on having Ahsoka Tano arrive in Mando's story until Season 2. After time passed, Favreau and Filoni revisited the idea of casting Dawson in the role of Tano. What ended up swaying Filoni was finding a photo of Dawson and actor Hayden Christensen (who plays Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars' prequels) hugging on the set of 2003's Shattered Glass.

"I have to say, for Dave, going online and looking up things -- when he came across a photo of the two of us hugging each other, he lost it. He said, 'How is this…? This was meant to be.'" Dawson originally met Christensen when they both attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, as reported by StarWars.com. Ahsoka Tano's character was originally the padawan of Anakin Skywalker, so this outside the Star Wars universe connection between the two felt fated to Filoni.

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"She’s sort of been wandering," Dawson said, regarding Ahsoka's character and motivations. "If you know Dave, then you know he’s got a lot of classic samurai references. He was talking about films like Yojimbo. She’s wandering the galaxy helping those in need. She always, for me, was a true Jedi, even if she technically wasn’t a Jedi anymore. She represented the best of what the Jedi Order could be." While it hasn't been confirmed at this time, Dawson hinted that perhaps there will be more of Ahsoka in Season 2 recently on Instagram.

Created by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers and Giancarlo Esposito. New episodes arrive Fridays on Disney+.

KEEP READING: Rosario Dawson Teases a Return to The Mandalorian for Ahsoka

Source: StarWars.com