As we know, actor Lars Mikkelsen will reprise his animated “Star Wars: Rebels” role of Grand Admiral Thrawn in live-action form for the upcoming “Star Wars: Ahsoka” series.
Thrawn was a high-ranking officer and genius tactician of the Galactic Empire who first debuted in the “Heir to the Empire” novel trilogy. The character was brought into the “Star Wars” screen canon with the third season premiere of ‘Rebels’.
Both he and series lead Ezra Bridger eventually disappeared from the known galaxy after the events of the series finale. Recently Mikkelsen spoke some more about his return to the part and discussed how his character has changed since his last appearance.
Talking with EW this week, Mikkelsen says Thrawn will be familiar to longtime fans of the franchise:
“In many ways, it’s the same character. He’s based on the same material. But we needed to think: Do this right… He’s a top strategist. He’s always seven paces ahead of anybody else. And ruthless, of course. But only when it’s needed, actually. I think he also thrives with the creativity of the surroundings. I mean, he’s not using people in a bad way. He’s using their creativity to reach his goals.”
He adds he did not revisit previous ‘Rebels’ episodes to remind himself of his past work. Rather he wanted to “create something new” for Ahsoka. He did discuss how it felt to be announced as returning to the role at a Star Wars Celebration panel in early April, saying of the experience:
“It was a very emotional moment that I didn’t expect to have. But I think there’s a lot of love to be taken care of from the audience. And I felt enormous gratitude. It was amazing. Never tried anything like that. I had a hard time actually keeping my tears back. I was really tearing up. I didn’t expect that.”
Thrawn was only seen from behind in the first “Ahsoka” trailer, and with the series set to premiere in August, it means a full facial reveal should hopefully be coming in the next few weeks.
