Making a Star Wars Debut

Host Kristin Baver welcomes actors Diana Lee Inosanto and Ivanna Sakhno to the Star Wars Celebration LIVE! stage. The crowd roars as the two stars of the highly anticipated Disney+ series Ahsoka take their seats. Baver jokes that surviving a fight with Ahsoka Tano using a metal pole, or making a debut in a brand-new Star Wars series, easily earns them a spot on the stage.

A New Apprentice

Baver immediately puts Sakhno in the hot seat, asking what she can reveal about her character, Shin Hati. Sakhno laughs about the intense secrecy surrounding the project but explains that Shin is the young, ambitious, and intense apprentice to Baylan Skoll. She describes her character as an “incredibly skilled lightsaber user” and a Force wielder. Sakhno hopes that through creator Dave Filoni’s writing, the humanity of the character will “expand our understanding of that darkness within someone.” She praises Filoni’s ability to show that light and dark are not just two simple sides of a story, but a complex spectrum.

The Magistrate Gets a Name

Baver turns to Inosanto, asking what it is like to continue Morgan Elsbeth’s journey after her first appearance in The Mandalorian. Inosanto reveals a hilarious behind-the-scenes detail: she initially had no idea her character even had a name. “When I first did Mandalorian in season two I didn’t even know she had a name, I just knew that she was the magistrate,” Inosanto explains. When she heard Rosario Dawson call her “Morgan Elsbeth” on screen, she was stunned, looking at her husband and saying, “I have a name!”. Looking ahead to Ahsoka, Inosanto teases that fans will explore her background and witness her cold-hearted, unwavering loyalty to Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Destined for the Role

The conversation shifts to Inosanto’s deep martial arts background. She shares that martial arts are a core part of her heritage; her father is the legendary Dan Inosanto, and her godfather was Bruce Lee. She recalls seeing Star Wars at 11 years old during her father’s martial arts camp in Aspen, Colorado. Moved by the film, her father bought her plastic telescope lightsabers and began training her with them immediately. Inosanto marvels at the full-circle moment, saying, “it’s so crazy we flash forward to when I did Mandalorian season two and had my fight scene with Rosario that that would play into my future”.

Discovering the Magic

Sakhno admits she did not grow up with Star Wars, but she discovered it with “childlike exuberance and obsessiveness” after joining the project. Through her friends, she realized what the franchise meant to people, and she quickly fell in love with it. For her, the Force translates into the flow of the universe and the lessons that come with it.

The Bond of the Baddies

Both actresses agree that the most surreal part of the experience has been working with Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, praising their visionary leadership and collaborative nature. Sakhno also takes a moment to sincerely thank Inosanto for being a warm and kind mentor on set. Inosanto gets emotional, revealing that the villains of the show, including Ray Stevenson and Lars Mikkelsen, formed a tight-knit group. “We have this Bond of the Baddies,” Inosanto says proudly, noting that her affectionate nickname for Sakhno on set was “Heart and Soul”.