Rosario Dawson went ambidextrous for Ahsoka lightsaber training
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Lord knows Rosario Dawson had to spend enough time in the makeup chair each day on the set of Disney+'s upcoming Star Wars series, Ahsoka, but that wasn't the only daily commitment she had to make to play the character.
Making her believable as the Togruta warrior and former Jedi Padawan extended beyond just physically mirroring the animated character — it also meant matching the ferocity of Ahsoka's battle technique. That meant lightsaber training. Lots and lots of lightsaber training.
Dawson, speaking alongside co-stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Natasha Liu Bordizzo, spoke to EW's Dagobah Dispatch podcast about all the work she put in to mastering Ahsoka's trademark double saber technique. "Doing two hours a day, seven days a week, was pretty intense," says Dawson. "And then you add on when we were actually filming and doing these different battles and having to continue to studying it."
Disney+ Rosario Dawson on 'Ahsoka'
Ahsoka also presented a special challenge in training due to her unique fighting style. "She is ambidextrous," notes Dawson. "That was just a lot to kind of own."
There was also one other big difference between the character and the actress. "She's so fierce from the very beginning," says Dawson. "It was never a question about whether she capable. She meets every single match just so head on. There's no hesitancy from her whatsoever, and that's really different from someone who's learning martial arts in their 40s who's trying to protect their face."
But the actress and student notes that after enough work, something clicked. "There was definitely a moment a few months into the training where I just felt it land in my body in a way. I remember when it clicked in where I really felt grounded in her and some of the stuff started feeling more familiar and seamless. That's when I really felt like I locked into Ahsoka."
Lucasfilm Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano on 'The Mandalorian'
Of course, she had a lot of help, including stunt coordinator Ming Qiu, whose approval carried the most weight. "I was grateful for the team of people that we have," says Dawson. "And to have someone like Ming, who actually started nodding and going, 'Okay, this can work.' When she said, 'This one did not make my eyes hurt,' that was the first compliment that I got, and I think I cried. It took a lot of effort on our part to make look easy, and that felt really remarkable because of that discerning eye."
Beyond the lightsaber training, Dawson has been feeling the Force, something she thinks can be accessed even without waving one's hand. "It's the intention and the desire behind it," says Dawson. "I feel like I have it more than someone who just wants to move an object. I definitely feel more powerful and confident portraying this character, and I think it does show up. Even when I'm meditating, I feel that there is an energy that we have and a power that we have that if we do concentrate it and focus it in the right ways can move mountains."
A different kind of training, perhaps, but equally intense.
To listen to our entire interview with Dawson, Winstead, and Bordizzo, check out the latest episode of Dagobah Dispatch.
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