As Disney continues to dominate the weekend newsreel with announcements from their D23 event in Anaheim, Comicbook has reported that actor Eman Esfandi has been cast in the Star Wars: Ahsoka series over at Disney+. In story first sourced by The Hollywood Reporter, Esfandi has been cast as Ezra Bridger, a character that originated in the animated series, Star Wars: Rebels.
According to Comicbook, Ezra Bridger was created for the 2014 series as a common thief who found himself joining the ranks of the Resistance under the guidance of Kanan Jarrus. Originally voiced by Taylor Gray (The Wheel, Thunderstruck), Bridger gradually became aware of his Force abilities, serving on many missions across the galaxy in efforts to debilitate the Empire’s rule. His character was suspected to have made the ultimate sacrifice in battle. However, scenes from the series finale featuring Ahsoka and fellow Jedi, Sabine Wren, allude to him possibly still being alive, lost in the galaxy far, far away.
Esfandi joins the series with Rosario Dawson (DMZ, Marvel’s Jessica Jones) as Ahsoka Tano, whom she’s played in both The Mandalorian and its other spinoff, The Book of Boba Fett. Other cast members include Ray Stevenson (Punisher: War Zone, RRR), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Braindead, Kate), Ivanna Sakhno (The Body Tree, In From the Cold), and Hayden Christensen (Life As a House) reprising his film role as Anakin Skywalker. Christensen recently returned to the Star Wars lore as Darth Vader in the limited series, Obi-Wan Kenobi, starring Ewan McGregor (Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of Harley Quinn).
Before this announcement, speculation had two other actors rumored in the role. According to Comicbook, Rahul Kohli of The Haunting of Bly Manor fame teased fans in 2020 about him possibly portraying Bridger. Then the next year, fans had all but confirmed Aladdin actor Mena Massoud to be taking on the iconic role. Massoud played along with fans but never defined the rumor as true. Massoud celebrated Esfandi’s casting on social media as the news broke, jokingly posting he was “Glad the rumors will stop now.”
Esfandi recently appeared in last year’s Oscar-winning film, King Richard, and follows that role with this year’s The Inspection starring Jeremy Pope (Hollywood, Pose) and Gabrielle Union (Cadillac Records, Being Mary Jane).