Dave Filoni Mic Drops On Creating Female Characters In Star Wars
This past Friday Disney hosted a Star Wars Rebels press event in Los Angeles. Sarah Woloski, my co-host on Fangirls Going Rogue and co-host of Skywalking Through Neverland, attended. During the press conference, showrunner Dave Filoni had some specific talking points on female characters in Star Wars.
I can’t even get into the importance of developing these female characters into multiple roles: as mentors, as combatants, as strong personalities. You want the whole range for people to look at. And as you go through Star Wars, we have so many examples of so many different characters for boys to grow up emulating. We need to broaden that. It’s just been a real goal of mine. My wife is very outspoken in all these things that she studies and researches. The most important thing I’ve done is listen to her, and any other woman who’s come up to me and said, “Hey, this is what I feel we’re missing and lacking.” It’s the same trait I took on that made me successful working with George [Lucas]. I listened to him. I don’t know the best way to tell these stories. I’m in a position where I have the authority to put that into play. So my strongest play here would be, I want to activate that. I want to create these opportunities and see how far they can go. Tiya has earned that with her performance. Vanessa [Marshall]’s performance so strongly identified with girls because they go, “Oh my gosh, Han Solo was the pilot that I knew. Now it’s Hera, and she’s an awesome pilot.” What does that mean? When Ahsoka stepped on the stage as the apprentice to what people always identified as the most powerful Jedi of all time, it was like a bomb. What? How could that be? Well, it just is. Just deal with it. Guess what that means? It means that she’s a better swordfighter than Kanan. Period. She’s just better. … You can develop these characters. It’s just so important because it makes your universe real. … She’s interesting, Hera’s interesting. I want to tell stories about compelling people.
Star Wars Rebels Season Two launches October 14th at 9:30 p.m. on DisneyXD. Later in the season, Sarah Michelle Gellar joins the cast as the Seventh Sister. Want to see more of the press conference? Check it out on Skywalking Through Neverland’s YouTube channel.
Image via Eric Goldman, IGN
- Hyperspace Theories: The Heroine’s Journeys of the MCU’s Echo and What If? Series - August 29, 2024
- Hyperspace Theories: THE ACOLYTE and Star Wars Brand Management - August 7, 2024
- Tricia Barr Talks Tales of the Empire on Who’s The Bossk? - May 7, 2024
Pingback:The Dangers of Being a Female in the Star Wars Universe | The Writing Wampa
Pingback:Hera Takes The Lead in “Wings Of The Commander” | FANgirl Blog
Pingback:Taking Off The Mask: “Blood Sisters” Shares More Of Sabine’s Story – FANgirl Blog
Pingback:Dave Filoni on the Past, Present, and Future of Female and Diverse Characters in Star Wars – FANgirl Blog