Ahsoka's Ezra Bridger Actor Avoided One Star Wars Show For A Good Reason
Earlier this year, Eman Esfandi made his "Star Wars" debut as Ezra Bridger in Disney+'s "Ahsoka." His role in the series' first season marked the first time that his "Star Wars" character had ever appeared in live-action form. However, while there was quite a lot of hype and excitement surrounding Ezra's return, it turns out that Esfandi didn't do quite as much research into his beloved character's past as fans may have thought. Indeed, the actor admitted that he decided not to watch all four seasons of "Star Wars Rebels" before filming his "Ahsoka" episodes.
According to The Direct, Esfandi revealed as much during an "Ahsoka" panel at the 2023 edition of L.A. Comic-Con. "I didn't watch all of 'Rebels,'" the actor confessed. In order to explain why he purposefully avoided watching all of the very series that introduced his character to "Star Wars" fans, Esfandi added, "I didn't want to get too caught up in the younger version of Ezra. I felt very connected to an older version the way he was written."
The "Ahsoka" star's decision may seem like a bit of an unorthodox one, but Esfandi felt confident that he could play Ezra right without watching every episode of "Star Wars Rebels." It sounds like he may have had good reason to feel that way, too.
Eman Esfandi's Ahsoka research didn't include Star Wars Rebels Seasons 1-4
Speaking at L.A. Comic-Con, Eman Esfandi revealed that he didn't catch up on all of "Star Wars Rebels" until after he'd finished filming "Ahsoka" Season 1. The actor added that it was ultimately the positive support and feedback he received from "Ahsoka" creator Dave Filoni and the show's other directors that made him believe he didn't actually need to watch every episode of "Star Wars Rebels" to play Ezra correctly.
"Dave and everyone else who was directing me were so like, reaffirming. Like, 'No, yeah, that's Ezra. Oh, that's also so Ezra,'" Esfandi recalled. "I was like, 'Okay, so then I think we're good. Like, I'll watch it later.' So I didn't actually do the immersion thing until all the way after shooting."
It's worth noting, as he did during the aforementioned L.A. Comic-Con panel, that Esfandi did put in the effort to watch specific installments of "Star Wars Rebels" before officially diving into his "Ahsoka" role. "I watched the episodes where [Ezra] had scenes very intimately with like Sabine and the Spectre crew and Ahsoka in particular," the actor noted. "Just to understand that dynamic."
Fortunately, given how well his performance as Ezra was received by "Star Wars" fans, it seems safe to say that everything turned out well in the end for Esfandi. His journey with his fan-favorite "Rebels" character may not be over, either. Notably, the ending of "Ahsoka" Season 1 sees Ezra finally make it back to his home galaxy, which means that Esfandi will likely get the chance to continue honing his performance as the once-animated Jedi.