“The Force was at play”: Rosario Dawson says a fan’s tweet led to her role in ‘The Mandalorian’

Disney+(LOS ANGELES) — Fans are still freaking out about Rosario Dawson’s debut as former Jedi Ahsoka [ah-SOH-kah] Tano in the latest episode Disney+’s The Mandalorian — and she says they have an unknown fan to thank. 

Way back in 2017, a Twitter user posted a now-deleted split-screen photo that showed Dawson hugging her Shattered Glass co-star Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker in two of the Star Wars prequels.  Next to it was an image of Ahsoka and her master Akakin from the animated Clone Wars series. 

In the new issue of Vanity Fair, Dawson says when she saw the pic, “I retweeted back and I was like, ‘Absolutely, yes please’ and ‘#AhsokaLives.'”

Long story short, her tweet caught the attention of the Clone Wars producers, with the casting idea years later making its way to The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau, who knew Dawson personally.

Dawson, an admitted Star Wars fangirl, confessed she was “freaking out” during the audition, “trying to play it cool, but I was sweating.”

Dawson got the part she loved, and the rest is history — or, as she puts it, “[I]t just felt like the Force was at play.”

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By Stephen Iervolino
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