On Saturday afternoon at Invasion, two major stars from Ahsoka took to the stage to talk about their time in a galaxy far, far away.
Natasha Liu Bordizzo and Ivanna Sakhno, who play Sabine Wren and Shin Hati respectively, have a clear friendship and energy for each other and their work and this was evident in their infectious disposition.
For obvious reasons, all question regarding season 2 were off limits but that didn’t stop anyone from having any less of a great time.
Natasha was able to speak on an obvious question: was she familiar with the character before she took the part? She said that, unfortunately, in Australia while Rebels was it its peak, Disney XD was not readily and easily available at the time. The show just wasn’t on her radar, though she was aware of it. Both actors were able to speak of their introductions to Star Wars and this was thanks to their fathers who showed them the original saga.
A question was put to them both about the level of pressure that performers in Star Wars could feel thanks to the intense level of scrutiny by die-hard fans and if this had any bearing on their work. Thankfully, they answered no. All the details, such as ship names and specific things about canon, are left to the creative team. All they can do is deliver the best performance possible to them on the day and execute the director’s vision.
An interesting question came up about stunts. If there was time, I’d love to have asked about a more specific detail. Both actors spoke about their love of doing their own stunts. This is always a fun and taxing day on set but they love performing as much as they can. My question comes from an interview from Liam Neeson back in the summer. He stated that there’s confusion around stunt work in film and television. The greatest misconception, Neeson stated, is that he does his own stunts. He does not. Liam Neeson does his own fighting. Fighting and stunts are two very different things. Liam Neeson throws the punches and gets kicked in the stomach but when it comes to jumping out of trains and being flung from fifty-foot buildings then this is left to trained professional. I’m guessing that the actors on Ahsoka do as much sword fighting as they can but the big work with the explosions is left to others.
I was able to ask a question about toys. I’m always interested to know what it must be like to be immortalised in plastic forever and knowing that versions of you are in cabinets around the world and played with by kids. Both Natasha and Ivanna spoke at great length about their love of this aspect. They’re lucky, they said, to pretty much be sent one of everything related to their characters but sometimes that’s quite late. Natasha, for example, spent a long time on the Saturday at Invasion signing products that she’d never seen before and Ivanna saw the Hot Toys version of her character only minutes before the panel began. She was that excited that she took a picture of it to send to her Mum.
A delicate question came up regarding the late Ray Stevenson. The actors seemed to be under guidance on this from Lucasfilm as they both said that further comments and stories about this sad situation will come next year. They did say, however, how much they loved and missed him.
Finally, a big laugh came at the end when Natasha was asked how she able to get so many great pictures from behind the scenes of the shoots without getting into trouble with Lucasfilm. Her response?
“Take the picture now, seek permission later.”
Invasion returns to Birmingham next summer with tickets on sale now.