Original Thrawn actor won’t play him in live-action Star Wars series
By Dan Selcke
Disney is currently building out a Star Wars television universe. It started with The Mandalorian, which is airing its third season right now. The second season of The Mandalorian introduced us to a live-action version of Ahsoka Tano, a Jedi character made popular on the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. Ahsoka since showed up in The Book of Boba Fett and will have her own show, Ahsoka, later this year. It’s all connected!
In that season 2 episode, we learned that Ahsoka is after someone named Thrawn, aka Grand Admiral Thrawn, an antagonist from Rebels. Thrawn is a military leader who united remnants of the shattered Empire to wage war against the New Republic. Ahsoka also has a person score to settle against him after the events of Rebels.
Thrawn, a member of the Chiss race with blue skin, is a popular character among Star Wars fans, who have long wanted to see him in live-action. Given the setup, it’s all but certain that he’ll feature on Ahsoka. But who will play him?
Lars Mikkelsen won’t reprise his role as Thrawn in live-action Star Wars shows
In Rebels, Thrawn was voiced by actor Lars Mikkelsen (Mads Mikkelsen is his younger brother, if you’re wondering). The 58-year-old Mikkelsen is a talented actor who won an Emmy for his work on the Danish TV series Herrens Veje. Will he get to play the live-action version of the character he brought to life in animation?
It doesn’t sound like it. Speaking to Streaming Guide, Mikkelsen addressed rumors that he could reprise the role of Thrawn in live-action. “Well, I’ve heard that, but I haven’t heard anything about it yet,” he said. “Then they should have approached me, but they haven’t. So it must be someone else, unfortunately.”
This makes some sense. After all, Ashley Eckstein voiced Ahsoka Tano in the animated series, but she didn’t play her in live-action; that honor went to Rosario Dawson. It follows that Disney would find someone new to play Thrawn as well, even if fans would get a kick out of seeing Mikkelsen make the jump from animation to live-action. Mikkelsen agrees that it “could have been fun,” but it seems like this is one dream fans will have to put aside.
We still don’t know who will play Thrawn in Ahsoka. The show is set to air on Disney+ later this year, so we could find out soon.
Next. The Last of Us: 8 biggest changes from the video game in season 1. dark
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels
