The character originated in the world of animation.

While Luna is the kind of actor who huddles in the backseat of a car, hiding his Star Wars call from a probably oblivious driver, Rosario Dawson is the type who FaceTimes her friend’s eight-year-old while in costume as alien Force-seeker Ahsoka, her full blue-and-white head tails framing burnt-umber makeup and white warrior markings. “I called my friend Polina because her son Cosmo is a huge fan of Star Wars, knows every ship, every robot,” says Dawson. “He sees me and throws the phone across the room. Just freaked out. I’ve gotten ice cream with this kid. We’ve hung out. But it was too much that this character he loves was starting to talk to him and said his name. She calls me back the next day and goes, ‘Cosmo just walked into the room and told me: He’s ready now.’ I said, ‘Well, that’s very sweet, but I am no longer in costume. His moment is missed.’ ” She shrugs. “That will be a life lesson for him moving forward.”

Dawson has the same enthusiasm for Star Wars as Cosmo. Her casting as Ahsoka Tano, who previously was voiced by Ashley Eckstein and existed only in animation, was the result of a fan suggestion that Lucasfilm took seriously. Someone tweeted Dawson a piece of art depicting her as the heroine, and she responded: “Ummm… Yes, please?” That made its way to Filoni, who had been working with Favreau to include Ahsoka in both The Mandalorian and later The Book of Boba Fett. His ultimate goal was to give Ahsoka her own TV series.

In October 2021, after Dawson had shot guest spots, she read a trade report about Christensen possibly joining her stand-alone show. Anakin Skywalker had been the character’s mentor, and Vader’s memory would understandably still haunt her. Dawson took a screenshot of the headline and opened Instagram, using the characters’ nicknames for each other from The Clone Wars as a caption. “I just posted, ‘Skyguy…They know!!! See you soon, Snips.’ ” Only later did she realize that the report was just an unconfirmed rumor. Fans took her post as hard confirmation, and the powers that be at Lucasfilm were distressed. “I looked in my email, and Star Wars was like, ‘You might want to take that down,’ ” Dawson remembers. “I’m like, ‘Man, I can’t be trusted.’ ”

Ahsoka will appear on Disney+ in 2023, though Lucasfilm, eager to reclaim secrecy, still won’t confirm if Dawson had inadvertently leaked the truth about Anakin or if it really was a false report. As with every Star Wars title, emotions and nostalgia are wrapped up in this series. Filoni, who’s overseeing the show, helped create the title character with Lucas, and watched her become a touchstone to young girls who were drawn to “Snips” as the first lead female in the Jedi order. The quest Ahsoka has hinted at in her guest appearances on The Mandalorian and Boba Fett, hunting an Imperial grand admiral named Thrawn who vanished into deep space at the conclusion of the animated Rebels series, is likely to be explored further, although plot details are still being tightly held. “Ahsoka is a continuous story,” Filoni offers. “It is definitely driving toward a goal, in my mind, as opposed to being little singular adventures. That’s what I want the character to be doing, and I think that’s what fans want now. They have such a relationship with her. I’ve only recently started to understand that all those kids that watched Clone Wars are now a lot older—they’re very excited about all the things they grew up with, as they should be.”

Lucasfilm has dropped the first trailer for “Ahsoka,” showcasing the newest adventure for Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker’s beloved padawan. The trailer was released as part of London’s Star Wars Celebration on Friday.

The upcoming Disney+ series stars Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka, an exiled Jedi who was once Anakin’s apprentice before he turned to the dark side and became Dark Vader. The show will premiere in August, Disney confirmed at the event.

Kathleen Kennedy and Jon Favreau praised “Ahsoka” showrunner Dave Filoni, who was joined on stage by Dawson and Natasha Liu Bordizzo, who plays Sabin Wren, a Mandalorian warrior, revolutionary and graffiti artist who first appeared in “Star Wars Rebels.” Also surprising U.K. fans was Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who revealed she’ll be playing Hera Syndulla from Rebels.

“I’m blown away,” said Dawson. “We’ve got some great surprises for all of you, but today is really special because I’m excited to see some footage — finally! I’m like, ‘If it’s not today, when!'”

Dawson said the show was shot on LED immersive soundstage The Volume. “We are completely immersed almost all the time. The level of detail is remarkable,” said Dawson. “Even the last day, the light sabers turn on and we’re in the world. It’s only been three weeks since my heart stopped racing. I wake up every morning thinking I need to be doing something.”

Alongside Dawson, Eman Esfandi will also appear as Ezra Bridger, who’s the main character of “Rebels” and a Jedi Padawan. Other co-stars include Ray Stevenson (“Vikings”) and Ivanna Sakhno (“Pacific Rim: Uprising”).

Ahsoka was introduced in the 2008 animated film “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” which served as a pilot to the television series of the same name. “The Clone Wars” TV series chronicled her time learning from Anakin, and by the time the show concluded, Ahsoka had become a fan favorite and one of the few examples in “Star Wars” of a major female Jedi. She returned in the animated series “Star Wars Rebels,” voiced once again by Ashley Eckstein. In 2020, Dawson debuted the Jedi’s live-action portrayal in “The Mandalorian.”

During the 2022 Star Wars Celebration, Dawson spoke to Variety about how much playing the character means to her.

“Embodying a character, literally, physically, every single day, has brought on a whole other level of experience to working on a project, and bringing a character to life,” Dawson said. “It’s changing me.”

She continued: “So often, I take pieces from a character, and then I inject so much of myself in to things of my own experience and what I have to draw from. But this is absolutely going in the other direction and she is so influencing me. It’s just been so powerful to be on that journey, to be taken along with it; it’s not something I could have hoped for, or dreamed of, so it’s really out of this world.”

“Ahsoka” is set to hit Disney+ in August.