Natasha Liu Bordizzo and Ivanna Sakhno, the dynamic duo behind Sabine Wren and Shin Hati – aka Shabine – meet up to discuss their characters and their friendship which saw them bond during the making of the debut season of Ahsoka on Disney Plus.
First, Bordizzo discusses learning more about the character of Sabine Wren.
Bordizzo didn’t just study up on series creator Dave Filoni’s earlier storytelling in Star Wars Rebels to get a sense for Sabine and her journey so far. “I prepared for the role by watching just about every Star Wars project ever made,” she says, “chronologically, by story.” Treating Tiya Sircar’s younger version of the character as a memory bank for her own portrayal in the New Republic, the actor used the Imperial-era tales as a foundation, borrowing her character’s overall energy and knowing smirk from the animation. “But then, of course, time’s passed and she’s been through a lot,” Bordizzo says. “I wanted them to be streamlined, but still separate in a way, and I wanted to just bring the truth of whatever the live action project brought on the day, every day on set. Her journey has changed since Rebels in Ahsoka… where she had to work her way back to being that free spirited kind of kid that we all loved.”
Next, Ivanna on the research she did to play Shin Hati.
Meanwhile, Sakhno worked with Filoni and co-star Ray Stevenson to forge the new lightsaber-wielding duo Shin Hati and Baylan Skoll. To get into character, Filoni gifted the pair a book of Norse mythology called The Children of Odin. “The first story in that book is called ‘Far Away and Long Ago’, and it speaks on two wolves, Hati and Skoll, chasing the sun and the moon,” says Sakhno. “It has this perpetual cycle of chase that I think reflects the transient nature of life and the coexistence of opposing forces. And much like the tales of the galaxy far, far away, I think it reflects on some fundamental truth, which is: In every shadow there is light, and in every light there is shadow finding its quiet home.” For the Shin Hati actor, that mythological core also speaks to the gray area Baylan and Shin seem to inhabit.
- Hardcover Book
- English (Publication Language)
- 144 Pages - 03/05/2024 (Publication Date) - Titan Comics (Publisher)
