Freddie Prinze Jr. On Voicing 'Star Wars Rebels' Character
- Details
- Category: Interviews
- Created: Friday, 03 October 2014 00:33
- Published: Friday, 03 October 2014 07:38
- Written by Ethan Falk
We all know Star Wars: Episode 7 is currently being filmed in a galaxy far, far away and won’t be ready for our enjoyment until sometime next year. The anticipation is making fanboys all across the world yearn for “the force” more than ever before. Well, good news. The Empire is ready to strike back again a bit sooner with a new animated series coming to Disney XD called "Star Wars Rebels" At a recent press event Freddie Prinze Jr.. said it best, “We’re the appetizer for the next main course that’s getting ready to happen.”
Disney decided to spoil the reporters by giving us the opportunity to hang out and take selfies with C3P0 and R2D2 (images below). It made us adults look like giddy little children with light saber toys connected to our belt straps! That same childlike excitement is what Freddie Prinze Jr. (She’s all That) felt while voicing his character Kanan Jarrus, one of the last remaining Jedi's. The now salt and pepper haired, ex-teenage heartthrob, confessed that the scar on his chin was caused by playing Star Wars as a kid. According to Freddie, he’s completely aware of the pressure and responsibility that comes with playing a character within the Star Wars universe given the magnitude of the fan-base.
“There’s pressure. For guys around my age, its sort of in our DNA. You said, “May the force be with you” quite often in your childhood. You want to make it special.”
For creator and executive producer Dave Filoni, his passion for Star Wars is no different than Freddie Prinze Jr’s. As a child, his brother and him would sit in the back of their father’s car imagining it was the Millennium Falcon, blasting cars as they went by. Filoni conquered a lifelong dream when he was asked by George Lucas to helm the animated series The Clone Wars as Supervising Director. As he continues onto this new Star Wars series, he’s ready to continue on the tradition of making great stories for kids that the whole family can enjoy.
“Some people ask me about Rebels and say, “Are you making this for kids?” My answer is, absolutely. Lucas films have been very good at making it a story that older fans and younger fans can both enjoy. I know that’s what George always intended Star Wars to be.”
Filoni says that this time around, George Lucas wasn’t involved in the production of Rebels at all. After working with him extensively on The Clone Wars, Filoni considers Lucas’s mentorship the greatest gift he’s ever been given in his creative career.
A couple of weeks ago, the team showed some of the finished product to Lucas and he loved it!
“For all of us in the new Lucas film era, it was almost like a final exam for us to show George something Star Wars and have him appreciate it. I think its great for our company going forward to know we can create this stuff and continue it on knowing that the creator of it appreciates and respects it.”
Cinemovie concluded the press conference by putting the panel on the hot seat asking them what their all-time favorite Star Wars character is. Here’s how they answered:
Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger): Jabba the Hut.
Vanessa Marshall (Hera Syndulla): As far as female icons go, I have to go with Leia. Her moxy and class make her a really positive role model.
Steve Blum (Zeb Orrelios): Love R2, hate Jabba.
Tiya Sicar (Sabine Wren): I really appreciate so many things about Leia, like her strength and ability to kick butt. She doesn’t take crap from anybody. So I look to her as inspiration for Sabine. But, I really, really love Han Solo. He’s hard not to love.
Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus): The correct answer is Boba Fett.
Dave Filoni: I don’t know if I have a favorite character. Growing up, I was obsessed with odd characters. I loved the AT-AT driver (All Terrain Armored Transport). He piloted “The Walker.” The giant-robot-dinosaur thing. I drove my mother nuts looking for that action figure. I found it!
I love those guys that sit there and seemingly do nothing. Fans knew every name of every bounty hunter on the Death Star destroyer in Empire, yet they’re never named in the movie. We all knew the names because we played with the toys. I was in a unique position when I did “The Clone Wars,” because all of a sudden I could make a character that didn’t do anything, do a lot of things. I liked a toy I had as a kid called “The Imperial Transport,” so when I put this show in the right time period, I put it in.
Freddie Prinze Jr: It makes you jealous, rigghhht!
"Star Wars Rebels" will continue the epic tradition of the legendary Star Wars saga when the one-hour movie premieres Friday, October 3rd on the Disney Channel. The “rebel ride” will then continue when the series debuts on Monday, October 13th!
