Disney has announced that the upcoming ‘Ahsoka’ series starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rosario Dawson & Natasha Liu Bordizzo will begin streaming on Disney+ August 23. The date was revealed via a new teaser which you can view below:
“There was a lot of looking at episodes that focused on how much she loves to fly, and the way that that turned on her spirit and her energy.”
Production Stills
Empire Magazine July 2023
With Star Wars Celebration 2023 now officially over, a new interview with Mary and the cast of Ahsoka has come out. In a brand new podcast for Entertainment Weekly, Mary details how she feels playing the character of Hera Syndulla, the Twi’lek resistance leader turned general.
“Having a character who’s already existed and has such a rich history on something like Rebels, as an actor, it’s incredible,” Winstead told Dagobah Dispatch. “Because sometimes we’re tasked with creating our own backstories or trying to flesh out a character that doesn’t really have that much on the page. And so to play a character that has season after season of storylines and complex histories with everyone in their life and relationships and experiences was really something I’ve never experienced quite like that.”
It was a resource Winstead took advantage of throughout filming on Ahsoka. “To have Rebels to refer to, and to have [Rebels and Ahsoka creator Dave Filoni] to speak to about it every day on set, was a real luxury for sure.”
Mary also continued to elaborate on her character by describing her as someone who “is incredibly strong but complicated person. She is very maternal, but also she’s this leader of this crew. And as we see, she continues and becomes a general. And so she’s leading quite a lot of people and she’s become something of a legend in her own right.”
Winstead is also careful to point out how that military leadership and expertise are just one facet of the character. “She’s also very soft and warm, and people come to her for advice and solace and comfort,” Winstead explains. “Seeing those things combined is very unusual, and something that I really wanted to play on screen, because that’s such a aspirational thing, I think, as a woman — or just a person — to be able to be all of those things in one.”
However, that doesn’t mean Hera doesn’t have any flaws or is not subject to the occasional mistake, says the woman playing her: “She’s certainly not perfect, but she does have all of those qualities that make her somebody that you can really look up to in a way. And I like to try to be that on film. I don’t know that I quite live up to it in reality, but it’s someone to try and try and reach for.”
You can listen to Mary and Rosario Dawson as well as Natasha Liu Bordizzo talk about the show and see a clip by using the link above. The podcast can be heard here and begins around the :58 min mark.
Ahsoka will begin streaming on Disney+ this August.
After posting the first round of interviews Mary and the cast did for ‘Ahsoka’ over the weekend, a new interview has been released via Black Girl Nerds. You can watch the entire video below, Mary’s questions coming in around the 18:08 mark.
Now that the Star Wars Celebration event has wrapped in London, I will begin posting some interviews Mary did while she was there promoting the show with the cast & crew. The first interview comes from one she did yesterday (4/8) with Rosario Dawson & Natasha Liu Bordizzo talking about how they feel joining the Star Wars universe and learning about their characters:
Mary also spoke with ET Canda about how she feels joining the Star Wars franchise (around the 2:35 mark):
And in another interview with Screen Rant, Mary was asked if her husband Ewan McGregor any advice joining the series and if she’d love her character to team up with Obi-Wan:
Exclusive: #Ahsoka's Mary Elizabeth Winstead shares Ewan McGregor's advice about joining #StarWars and wants to team up with #ObiWanKenobi: https://t.co/BS8rIhWdjd pic.twitter.com/qi8DbSPcZO
— Screen Rant (@screenrant) April 9, 2023
I don’t know that he gave me any advice necessarily, other than to just enjoy it. He just told me about what a special experience it is to get to be part of something that means so much to so many people. And that already is proving true just today. And, yeah! I think if there was any way to make the timelines match up in some way, I would be incredibly happy to do that.
Stay tuned for even more ‘Ahsoka’ interviews with Mary to be released soon!
Actress Rosario Dawson was on the Today Show earlier this week where she recently gave an update on the upcoming Disney+ series ‘Ahsoka’. Though it was quick, Rosario states that the series will begin airing “later this fall”, although not confirmed.
You can view her speaking about the show at the video below, beginning around the 1:23 mark. The Star Wars spin-off will also star Rosario’s Death Proof co-star Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Hayden Christensen. As always, stay tuned for updates!
More new photos of Mary in New York City have been added to the gallery. The pics were from this past Tuesday when Ewan was doing press for the Disney+ series, “Obi-Wan” & made an appearance on Jimmy Fallon & leaving their hotel. You can see the new photos and the previous ones by clicking the pics below:
“She doesn’t need any advice from me, but it was kind of cool that when it came up and she was starting to think about it – we thought it was amazing to both be in this world together. It’s something that will [always] be with us. It’s not something that ever goes away.”
While no details about her role were revealed during the first day of the Celebration event, McGregor said, “Now that she’s also in this world where we’ll be able to do this kind of thing together, it should be amazing.”
Following the panel, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy also spoke to ET about creating this new Star Wars family dynasty. “We did [have conversations with Ewan], but I don’t think we were looking for his approval for his wife and vice versa,” she said with a laugh. “But we couldn’t’ be more excited to have the two of them involved in Star Wars.”
“She doesn’t have the firsthand experience that he does, but he was the one saying, ‘Mary, you’ve got to do this. You’re going to have a blast.’ And I think she will,” Kennedy added.
After sharing some of the most recent ‘Kate’ interviews Mary did with the likes of GQ & Men’s Health, I wanted to add a few more here in case no one has read them. The first one is with The Hollywood Reporter where she talks about the film and hoping she’ll someday get her own Huntress spin-off (or series) & possibly appearing in Jurnee Smollet’s Black Canary film. As always, be sure to click the links provided to read the interviews in full.
On possibly appearing in Jurnee’s HBO Max Black Canary movie:
“If it came together in the right way, it would be so much fun,” Winstead shares. “I know that Jurnee [Smollett] is doing a Black Canary movie, which I’m so excited for. She’s amazing and she’s going to kill that, so I can’t wait to see where that goes. I don’t know if that’s going to involve Huntress or not, but I love that character and I love the version that we were able to create in Birds of Prey.
Which role was quite difficult given your skillset at the time?
I would say Gemini Man was harder for me because that was my first big step up in the action realm. I did a lot with Scott Pilgrim, which was also really hard. But I trained a really long time for that as well, and then had a bit of a break. I did action films, but I didn’t have as much stuntwork to do in them until like ten years later. And then I jumped into Gemini Man training, but I didn’t have as much time as I wanted to have to really feel like I was nailing it. So I did it, and while I hope I did it well, I was a bit stressed out from wanting to get it right. (Laughs.) And with all the gun work and choreography, and especially being there with Will Smith, I was just a little intimidated. But now, with Birds of Prey and Kate, I feel like a much different person in the action realm than I did with Gemini Man.
I’m just starting to look at stuff now, but I don’t really know when I’ll actually end up back on set. So I’m not rushing. I’m going to just do it when it feels right, but I am just now starting to read things at least. I’m giving five minutes here and there to at least open an email occasionally. (Laughs.) So yeah, I’m excited about what this new version of life will look like when it happens.
She also did another great interview with TatlerAsia and her co-star Miku Martineau. Here is the first question on what drew her to the role of ‘KATE’:
“I was instantly drawn to the idea of Kate when it was first brought to me and I knew that Jojo (Jonathan Eusebio, the stunt coordinator) and his stunt team were going to be involved so that instantly piqued my interest because I worked with them on Birds of Prey and I loved them so much and the idea of getting to continue that relationship is exciting. I was a little hesitant about doing more action because I was a bit tired and also kind of seeking a break, but then I read the script and it was so good, and Kate is such a great character. It’s something that felt more challenging than anything I’d ever done before on so many levels, physically as well as emotionally. Just going as far as the film goes was something that was really exciting for me and I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity.”
“I love Japan. We didn’t get to spend very much time there and it’s probably the ultimate place that I’d like to go back to as soon as I can travel abroad again. I’d like to spend more time in Tokyo but also explore beyond the city. It was just an incredible place to be.
“I ended up going to a little piglet café. Where else in the world can you just sit on the ground and have little piglets crawl all over you and cuddle them? (laughs) It’s just the most unusual thing to do there that you can’t do or see anywhere else. And the food, the sushi, you just can’t stop eating. It’s a beautiful and unique place that’s unlike anywhere else. I only got a tiny taste of Japan and it wasn’t enough.”
After posting some of the more recent video interviews Mary did to promote Netflix’s “KATE”, below are some of the interviews she did with several outlets. The first one is with GQ. As always, click the links to read the FULL interviews:
You’ve worked with Bruce Willis, Kurt Russell, and Will Smith, who are all in the American Action Hero Mt. Rushmore. I’ve heard people talk about the American action star being extinct, but I think it’s because people haven’t realized that the American action star is a woman now. What’s gained when the lead in an action film is a woman?
You know, that’s an interesting idea. It does feel like that right now, like there is a heavy presence of women leading action films, which is amazing, considering that that was never the case before.
After years and years and years of wanting to be the Bruce Willis — rather than Bruce Willis’s daughter, as much as I loved that — and it feels like that’s now within reach. Ten years ago, it didn’t feel like it was. I don’t know how true that statement is going to be in the long run. But my hope is that you’re right. I’m game for it.
You’ve carved out an impressive niche in action and horror genre films, but is there any part of you that wants to take an Oscars swing?I mean, anytime people love what you do enough to give you some sort of accolade is amazing, but I hate the idea of calculating it that way. Like, I would never think of something as, ‘Oh, this is my chance to try to get an award.’ If I got the chance to work with a renowned filmmaker who makes films of that caliber, that would be incredibly exciting. But I mean, if not, then cool. I’m okay either way.
Mary also participated in a roundtable event with Men’s Health that featured Karen Gillian and Shang-Chi’s Meng’er Zhang.
Mary on if she ever thought she’d be working on action after shooting films such as BIRDS OF PREY and KATE:
I initially just wanted to be an actor, and I don’t think that the question of what genre of film I wanted to go into ever really played in my mind. I started as a kid, so it just didn’t occur to me to think in genres. In my dreams, I pictured more being a musical star or something, singing and dancing and that kind of thing. That’s what I grew up watching, and that was my idea of what it meant to be in movies.
Once I started working more, I realized that I liked playing parts that were very physical. That’s what’s drawn me more and more into doing action—I love getting the chance to really use and move my body in my work.
On which actors of filmmakers have inspired her career:
I’ve always been inspired by those iconic early female action characters, like Sigourney Weaver as Ripley in the Alien series. I think particularly just how grounded and smart she is in those movie. I’ve done a lot of horror films, so I think I’ve taken inspiration from her in those as well. I find it to be an interesting challenge to be placed in a genre film, whether it’s action or horror, and have these crazy things happening that are out of this world or larger than life, and to make them feel very real and lived-in, and to play women who use their strength but also their intelligence to save the world. That’s always what I keep being drawn back to, and I think that’s in part because of characters like Ripley.
Mary also did a podcast interview with Bloody Disgusting‘s Boo Crew. This was another interview which I really enjoyed listening to! Click the link above to hear it in its entirety. In it, she talks about the films she’s done throughout her career, why she’ll always return to horror films once in a while, the practical effects (& studio interference of adding CGI) to 2011’s THE THING, her musical career and more.
On Final Destination 3: “I think I was just really excited about the challenge of – I think it was one of my first horror films, if not my first horror film. So it was very exciting for me to think about entering into this storyline that was maybe far-fetched or unrealistic, and trying to make her really real and relatable. Just really believe it. So I just wanted to play her as very real… part of me looks back and goes okay, I took it really seriously, maybe more seriously than I needed to. Meanwhile, a lot of people are just watching it for the gruesome deaths, you know. But the emotional impact was very important to me, so that’s really where I was coming from. And what I was excited about.” On working with Quentin Tarantino in 2007’s DEATH PROOF: “[Quentin Tarantino] would tell me all the time… he’d take me aside and say, ‘I need you to know how great you are.’ I was 22 years old or something… my mind was blown, consistently. He would just build up his actors. He’s such a fan of actors. You could just feel that. And that’s an infectious feeling. When you feel that a director is loving what you’re doing, and he’s expressing that; it’s this adrenaline rush. It’s an unbelievable confidence booster, for sure.”
Apologies once again for posting this so late! Last month after KATE debuted on Netflix, Mary was on the Late Late Show with James Corden. On the show, she discussed filming the movie and doing all the intense fight scenes, being a brand new mom to a 3 month old and her love for the original SCREAM film when it first came out. You can view Mary’s interview below. I already posted publicity stills and did all of Mary’s screencaps from that interview which are all in the gallery.
Late Late Show Stills
I apologize for not having updated the site as quickly as I should. I’ve been busy with real life things and barely had time to update with all the latest going-ons when Mary was promoting her Netflix film ‘KATE’. After its debut on the streaming service on September 10th, the film was #1 for two weeks in various countries.
That said, I have rounded up a few interviews Mary did which you can view below, some after the cut. The first one is one she did for Twitch.tv. I loved the interviewer to this one. She was completely fan-girling over Mary the entire time and I don’t blame her lol. The interview begins around the 13 mark. If I’ve missed an interview, please let me know via Twitter!
Collider Extras also had a great interview with Mary where they talked about the film, Scott Pilgrim VS the World, Sky High, doing stunt work, wanting to do more action films and much more!
Entertainment Tonight also spoke with Mary on a possible Huntress film and the 10 year anniversary of SPVTW: