How Rosario Dawson Transforms Into Ahsoka

Ahsoka Tano is a breakout character from the highly celebrated animated Star Wars TV series "The Clone Wars." Initially, she is Anakin Skywalker's (voiced by Matt Lanter) young and abrasive Padawan, given to him to train by the Jedi Counsel. However, as her story develops, Ahsoka (voiced by Ashley Eckstein) transforms from this fresh-eyed Padawan into a wise and powerful Jedi. 

The second season of the live-action "Star Wars" series "The Mandalorian" introduces a live-action version of Ahsoka to audiences, played by none other than actress Rosario Dawson. Her introduction to the series solidified her character as a pivotal player in the next phase of "Star Wars," along with another fan-favorite, the previously animated-only character Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen). This is all part of the larger plan to bring the Star Wars animated shows to the forefront, giving them their well-deserved live-action treatment.

Of course, the challenge with introducing animated characters to live-action is to make them look similar to their cartoon counterparts while also allowing the actor portraying them the flexibility to perform the role. So, how was this iconic transformation achieved? You asked, and we're answering. Here are all the details of how Dawson prepared for the demanding role of Ahsoka Tano, from her diet and workout routine to the hours spent in the makeup chair.

Once upon a time, before there was any talk of a live-action portrayal of Ahsoka Tano, audiences rallied together to fan-cast their ideal actress to portray Anakin Skywalker's Padawan — and it was none other than Rosario Dawson. She revealed at the Star Wars Celebration in 2022 that a fan tweeted an edited photo of her as Ahsoka on their X account (formally Twitter). The image was released by BossLogic in 2017 and gathered significant attention, causing Dawson to take notice. Once she did, she retweeted it with enthusiasm in portraying the character, even talking about her interest on Good Morning America. Luckily, this got the attention of "Ahsoka" showrunner Dave Filoni, and when it came time to cast the character for season 2 of "The Mandalorian" she was a frontrunner.  

Dawson shared how honored she is to portray this iconic character, sharing at Star War Celebration:  "It's just been such a thrill and honor to bring this character to life and to feel the energy of everyone wanting to see her come to life." And the feeling is mutual, as years later, when it was revealed that not only would Dawson be portraying Ahsoka Tano, but that it's thanks to fan art. BossLogic posted their surprise and excitement to their X account, "It's still so surreal to think about it, that this actually happened, it's amazing to live in a day and age where this is possible."

Prior to landing the role of Ahsoka Tano, Rosario Dawson had a life-changing experience that altered her diet. Sitting down with EatingWell, Dawson explained that her father's diagnosis of pancreatic cancer changed her view on food and healthy eating — specifically with gut health. "I learned a lot about gut health with my dad's cancer treatment," said Dawson. "Gut health is emotional health, physical health, etc."

Her gut-health diet is plant-based and will change depending on the season, as Dawson likes to incorporate seasonal veggies into her meals. She includes oats, salads, stir-fried veggies, oatmeal, and avocado into her diet — depending on the season, of course. For dinner, Dawson shared that she loves including turmeric and ginger in her meals. However, there are a few staples that she likes to stick with, mainly food that's high in fiber and rich in probiotics, such as vegan yogurt or fermented vegetables like sauerkraut and kimchi.

Aside from her dedication to healthy eating with her gut health diet, Rosario Dawson has always enjoyed a positive relationship with exercise — but perhaps not in the way that you think. Dawson shared with EatingWell that she's never been a big fan of working out in the traditional sense of a gym. "I'm not a big workout-y person ... but as a born-and-raised New Yorker, I'll walk 100 blocks and not even think about it." As an environmental activist, Dawson argued that nature and access to green space is the best form of exercise one could ask for, and while not everyone has access to that if they live in a big city, her family puts value on finding time and space to do so when she was young. That's why she works with the Get Into Nature Campaign to give children access to the natural world, a mission she holds to be incredibly critical.

Per EatingWell, Dawson shared her daily routine of laying out in the sun for 15 minutes. While this gives her a daily dose of vitamin D, it also gives her the chance to detach from the tech world and meditate outside. "Spending time on our screens all day isn't natural. We're not computers, we're not robots, we are alive and need to be in the alive world around us," explained Dawson.

Jedi Knights are known for their incredible physical talents. As they've been trained since childhood to push the limits of their bodies, most of what they do can seem impossible. Never has this been more apparent than during the animated "Star Wars" series "The Clone Wars." The animation style allows audiences to see the Jedi truly push those boundaries as they can jump and move with superhuman skill — something that makes a live-action series difficult to emulate.

As Rosario Dawson is tasked with bringing the animated Ahsoka to life, she's also responsible for keeping the character's physical spirit alive. Per The Direct, Dawson reflected in a Rotten Tomatoes interview that she trained for two hours a day, seven days a week, in prep for the grueling role. "I have to say it was really interesting, because, you know, we were doing two hours of training a day, seven days a week. And then, you know, we start filming, and I'm having to do training while we're filming." The importance of her training could not be overstated, as one wrong move could result in Dawson getting hit in the face with a lightsaber. 

Ming Qiu is a stunt coordinator with a specialty in Wushu (Chinese martial arts). She has competed in martial arts competitions worldwide, even winning a gold medal for China during her tournaments. In 1993, Qiu turned her eye toward Hollywood when she landed the role as a double for Nia Peeples in "Walker: Texas Ranger." Following that, Qiu has enjoyed a successful career with roles in "Charlie's Angel," "Kill Bill," "Mission Impossible 3," and "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Her work on another "Star Wars" property, "The Book of Boba Fett," gives Qiu insight into the type of dedication it takes when working on a series in the galaxy far, far away.

Qiu took responsibility for training Rosario Dawson to become Ahsoka Tano. As per The Direct, Qiu sat down with Total Film to praise Dawson for her dedication to the role, sharing that she's "very coordinated. She's very flexible. And she works very, very hard." However, the biggest challenge in Dawson's training was combating how busy she was. Qiu was cognizant of the fact that Dawson took little breaks but refused to go easy on the actress, explaing that "[Rosario Dawson] always mentions that I'm very tough on her, but she takes the pain!" 

Rosario Dawson took the task of becoming a Jedi to heart. Knowing that Ahsoka Tano has showstopping abilities was all the incentive Dawson needed to light a fire under her. She told The Wrap, "The training was really important to me. I wanted to train seven days a week. They weren't trying to get me to train seven days a week, they wanted me to take the weekends off. And I was like, 'Absolutely not!' Two hours every single day. And I started months before we were supposed to start training because I just knew that that's such a dynamic part of this character."

For Dawson, performing the physicality of this role is something that can't be faked and she wanted to get it right. Well, according to "Ahsoka" showrunner Dave Filoni, that's something that Dawson nailed. "She respects the fans and their love of the character," said Filoni. "That's a lot of pressure on someone. And to wield lightsabers not just with one but two hands...she did it." Ahsoka is a character that means a lot to Filoni as he created her with "Star Wars" creator George Lucas. So, it was important to him to have someone portray her properly. And luckily, he believes that Dawson was perfect for the role.

Aside from the physical requirements to portray Ahsoka Tano, there was also the task of transforming Rosario Dawson to look like the character. Ahsoka is one of countless alien species in the "Star Wars" galaxy. She is a Togruta, a species most recognizable for their head tails, known as montrals, that grow with age, white facial designs, and colorful skin tones. Luckily, Dawson was up for the challenge.

Per Entertainment Weekly, Dawson would meet the makeup team at 4 a.m. to get started before the crew would arrive at 6 a.m. The process was so long that the team would take to timing themselves to see if they could beat their longest attempt. Initially, the process took three hours when filming "The Mandalorian." However, since then, the team has managed to cut that time down to 90 minutes.

In fact, Dawson was so proud of her team's work that she posted a time-lapsed video to her X page (formerly Twitter) in January 2021 to detail how much time and effort goes into bringing Ahsoka Tano to life.

The Togruta species have various skin tones showcased in "Star Wars." However, when looking at just Ahsoka, her skin color has an orange hue with white markings on her face. Although the transformation from Rosario Dawson to Ahsoka Tano may seem subtle, it's a deep process that requires 1 hour and 43 minutes of makeup time.

Makeup artists Brian Snipe and Samantha Ward are responsible for transforming Dawson into the iconic Jedi Knight. The team would test various shades of paint and makeup to ensure that Dawson looked good at different times of the day. For example, the LED technology used on set creates a realistic background for the actors to work in. When it's daytime, it acts as though real sunlight shines on Dawson; therefore the colors used on her skin need to be adjusted for those scenes.

When it comes to placing Ahsoka's white markings on her face, the makeup team used a stencil and airbrush to ensure that they are placed in the correct spot each time. Dawson posted on her Instagram page a video of the team removing her Ahsoka makeup, stating that a hot towel and an oil rub have become her new go-to move at the end of a shooting day.

The final, and perhaps most iconic step to completing Ahsoka Tano's look are her iconic montrals. The Togruta montrals are a huge visual indicator for their species. The older a Togruta gets, the longer their montrals become. Because Ahsoka is now older than her animated appearances in "The Clone Wars" and "Rebels," her montrals have grown longer. In fact, previously, the longest audiences have ever seen them was during the Mortis arc in "The Clone Wars." During that arc, Ahsoka saw a future version of herself that warned of darkness taking root inside her thanks to the darkness of her Master, Anakin Skywalker.

In the "Ahsoka" series, Rosario Dawson is given longer montrals than audiences saw in "The Mandalorian." One reason could be that Ahsoka has aged a little bit since that series. Another reason is likely because the technology to create Ashoka has evolved since filming "The Mandalorian." Dawson told Entertainment Weekly, "[The montrals are] all 3D-printed, and it moves completely differently. It's lighter. That technology literally didn't exist when we were first doing the character in Mando, so it's been really cool to see how it keeps evolving."

In order to wear them, printed montrals are placed on Dawson's head like a hat. Her real hair is hidden underneath with a wig cape. Out of sight, out of mind.