Star Wars Rebels Episodes Start Tonight on Disney XD! Talking with Vanessa Marshall & Tiya Sircar #DisneyInHomeEvent

I was invited for an expenses paid trip to LA by Disney to cover the #VeryBadDayEvent and #DisneyInHomeEvent in exchange for my posts of the trip experiences. All opinions are my own.

I hope you all had a chance to tune into Star Wars Rebels movie a little over a week ago on The Disney Channel. My son was seeing it for the first time and LOVED it as much as I did! We are both looking forward to the episodes that premiere tonight on Disney XD.

I have already seen the first episode and it is great! I am just loving how this new series keeps all the elements from the original Star Wars movies. It’s great.

Hera and Sabine Disney Video

While in LA on my #DisneyInHomeEvent trip I had the pleasure of sitting down with these 2 gorgeous and very sweet ladies from Star Wars Rebels. Vanessa Marshal (voice of Hera) and Tiya Sircar (voice of Sabine). They were an absolute delight to talk to. Both are so down to Earth and sweet and give off such a positive and happy energy.

What was it like auditioning for the role that you had? Was it nerve racking?

Tiya: Not, not as much as you might think, we didn’t know what we were auditioning for. So, that helped in that probably you weren’t freaking out. I was under the impression I was auditioning for a new animated series on Disney called Wolf. It wasn’t until I actually got the phone call that I had gotten the job, which was great. And they said “by the way, it’s Star Wars”. And I was like, it’s like doubly exciting, ’cause I got a job and it’s way more exciting than I even realized.

Vanessa: Well, I didn’t know what it was, but everything’s a Star Wars metaphor for me. I’m a huge Star Wars fan. So, I felt that there were elements of Star Wars within the piece of copy that I read.

They said that my character was a strong leader against the tyranny, and I’m like, hmm, well, all right, well, alliance. So, I actually sort of transposed what I know about Star Wars onto the little copy [she laughs], and I got a callback.

Because I’m such a huge fan. I — if I really thought about it, I’d probably have a heart attack. But I’m also a professional, so I was able to do my job and I showed up and I did a good job clearly and then I got the call. Then I hyperventilated. And my agent was literally afraid for my life [She laughs] She was like, “honey, do I need to call a paramedic?”

Talk about the Strong Female Characters that you both play.

Vanessa: Well, Hera is the leader while she is fierce, she’s a great fighter and a great pilot. She’s also very nurturing, and she sort of plays a maternal role within the crew. I think she sets a really great example, and she does a lot of mentoring to Sabine. Now, I will also say parenthetically as a Star Wars fan, she is a Mandalorian. So I personally bow down to her character.

I do think it’s really wonderful that Star Wars Rebels embodies two female characters that we all can aspire to act like them. Whether we’re adults or children or even little boys or little girls.

I’ve said before that the empire universally oppresses all races and all gender to where it sort of neutralizes elements. These aren’t good women or good female characters. They’re all good people. So that we’re not even thinking in terms of gender or class. We’re united towards doing the right thing. So, while they are strong, female characters, it’s also kinda cool that there’s this different element that even transcends those distinctions.

Tiya: In my own personal opinion, there are so many female personalities that they may be famous not for a specific skill or talent but just famous for the sake of being famous. And maybe not for the right reasons — if you know what I mean.

I don’t have kids, but it makes me cringe to think like all little girls, this is what they have to look up to and to aspire to be, and it’s worrisome for me. So, to me it’s such an honor to get to play this female character. Sabine’s a teenager and yet she is so intelligent and not even concerned about the superficial stuff whatsoever.

Talk a little bit about how you guys, record your lines all together as a group.

Vanessa: I love it. Oftentimes in animation and animated series, they try to get the entire group together but the previous Star Wars video games that I’ve done, I’ve been in a room by myself on a quote unquote Jedi counsel talking about people.

Tiya: Me, too.

Vanessa: You know, I mean, luckily, I know enough about the different places and things in the Star Wars universe, but it’s so much easier to interact with people. We all love Star Wars, but that collective energy in the room is something that I think viewers will feel. I think it’s a real advantage. The writing of the scripts is so great. It’s really not that hard to do.

Tiya: Right. It doesn’t feel like work certainly for me.

Vanessa: I mean obviously, it’s a job and we do work very hard. We research and all that. But I think working as a group, is a part of why it bristles with so much love and energy.

Tiya: We’ve like created this bond as a crew. The five of us really have embodied these familial dynamics as we have on this show. Vanessa was saying she kind of is this maternal figure making sure I am not hungry, do I need a snack? Am I cold? Do I need to borrow her cardigan? It’s just the best. And then, Taylor is the youngest, and so we’re always kind of giving him a hard time. Freddy is like the big bro and making sure everything’s cool and under control. And Steve is like the, the clown that’s cracking us up making crazy noises.

Vanessa: The prankster. He is hilarious.

Who are your favorite characters in the Star Wars universe?

Vanessa: We both love Princess Leia, because she’s a strong female character, but I also don’t wanna forget Ahsoka from the Clone Wars, because Ashley Eckstein is so wonderful and she’s also a wonderful character that we watched grow from being a young Padowan towards becoming a Jedi. I think it’s the women who are strong on so many levels, they’re really inspiring.

Tiya: And I have a soft spot for Han Solo, but who doesn’t? I mean – [she laughs]

Vanessa: Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Tiya: But as inspiration, Leia. For my own viewing pleasure, Han Solo.

Vanessa: You know, it’s hard to choose. I sort of believe that I love Chewie, but I think that’s born on the fact that it was my first action figure that I got. But, you know, in terms of things that have really touched my heart, I would say Leia.

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It was a great interview and I loved hearing how much they love Star Wars Rebels and are so grateful to be a part of the show.

For our group photo we had a few additional guests join in the picture. Some storm troopers and Chopper! It was very fun!