Eman Esfandi knew he would play the role of Ezra Bridger in Star Wars six months before auditioning for Ahsoka and joining the cast alongside Rosario Dawson and Natasha Liu Bordizzo.
The actor told The Hollywood Reporter that he didn't grow up as a fan of the Star Wars franchise but was confident he could bring Rebels' beloved Jedi Ezra Bridger to live action. He reached out to his representatives six months before the casting process for Ahsoka started knowing that the role would come up.
"I wasn't a Star Wars person before the show. I just didn't grow up on it. But after we shot the show, I inhaled all of it," Esfandi told the outlet while discussing his casting. "I emailed my agent and manager six months prior to my audition and was like, 'Hey, when they cast for Ezra Bridger, I'm going to play him. So use these pictures.'"
When an audition came up for a character called "Riz," Esfandi and his team quickly deduced that it was for Ezra. "The anonymous sides tracked with Disney, so did the character description, and then the character's name was Riz," he said. "So we were all pretty sure that it was him. We were like, 'Yeah, that's got to be Ezra.'"
Esfandi submitted a self-tape audition for the role, and it wound up that he fulfilled his own Star Wars prophecy. "I only did one take for each of the scenes, and it just felt right," he said. "It felt natural. It felt like Ezra was really there, and I sent it in feeling pretty confident about them seeing Ezra right away. And they did."
Ezra Bridger was first seen in the galaxy far, far away in Star Wars Rebels, the hit animated show that followed a rag-tag band of rebels during the rise of the Rebel Alliance, before making his live-action debut in Ahsoka. The character emerged as one of the series' most important characters, opening the door for a future return.
"If I do a second season, I'll be happy," Esfandi said of potentially reprising the role. "If we also do a movie, I'll be so happy, and I would never need more than that. I'm like Harrison Ford in that way where I don't need Ezra's story to just live forever. I'd rather his story be concluded in the most appropriate way for his character. So if it ends at the movie, I'll wash my hands and thank God and move on."
Lucasfilm has not yet confirmed whether a second season of Ahsoka will happen, but that hasn't stopped Star Wars fans from sharing their theories about what could come next for Ahsoka and friends. Some have shifted their focus to Dave Filoni's Star Wars movie and the big screen crossover event it promises to deliver.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X @AdeleAnkers.
source https://www.ign.com/articles/star-wars-eman-esfandi-predicted-playing-ezra-before-ahsoka-casting