Chatting With Freddie Prinze Jr. And Dave Filoni about the New Star Wars Rebels Show #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.

photo courtesy of Disney and Lucas Film Ltd.

While I was on my LA trip for the #DisneyInHomeEvent, I had the pleasure of viewing the Star Wars Rebels movie and 1 episode and it is great! I love how it is bringing back the elements of the original Star Wars movies. I know my kids are going to love the movie as well as the episodes series. The movie premieres tonight on the Disney Channel find all the info at the bottom of this post.

Disney Video

We were so lucky to sit down with Executive Producer Dave Filoni and Freddie Prinze Jr. who voices the character of Kanan. These guys were so nice as they talked with us. You could feel their excitement and love for the Star Wars Rebels show, which is so great.

When asked about how it felt to be a part of a Star Wars series Freddie let us know that he didn’t even know what he was auditioning for. Disney keeps the project a secret through the audition process by using a false name and changing elements in the script.

Freddie: I didn’t know it was Star Wars. It was titled Wolf Pack, and you’ll have to speak to him about that (pointing to Dave). I went in and I saw some Character breakdowns on the wall at Disney and I looked at them and I’m thinking, these guys are either ripping off Star Wars real bad or this is a Star Wars thing. There was another girl in the Waiting Room and she was reading for Tiya’s Character (Sabine) and she looked super nervous. And when she came out of the room, it was like this is definitely Star Wars. So I asked them and I think I said a word that I shouldn’t say, uh, at this Table. I said is this bleeping Star Wars? And then he kind of sits back and he nods his head all cool and I was like All right, give me a second. I’ve got to turn around and compose myself and then get prepared.

What made you want to create this series?

Dave: We wanted to come up with something new that represented this kind of new era of Star Wars and working with the Lucas Films Story team, we all quickly came up with the idea of Star Wars Rebels. The Story Team introduced the idea to make an A-Team like scenario and it just makes sense.

One of the greatest things I think we’ve had early on at Lucas Films are the people that Kathleen Kennedy has brought in. We’ve all gotten along really well and collaborated really well. We all feel the same way about Star Wars and even more so for people like Cary Hart, who’s Head of Story at Lucas Film. I know she feels the same way about Lucas Film that I do.

It [Star Wars] was something that was very special to us as kids growing up, when we could see that logo at the beginning of a story, we would go, “this is gonna be different, this is gonna give you the special feeling”. I can’t really put it into words. It was hopeful, it was exciting. You saw things you’d never seen before on screen and so we’re all about trying to continue that legacy now.

Talk about the strong female characters in the series.

Dave: Yeah, it’s a strange word to use but like it’s just a necessity. I think most creatives you speak to right now would say that if they had a choice to tell a story, they would use a female lead. I think some people feel that the stories have been told, with the guys, you know. So we did Ahsoka in Clone Wars.

Freddie: I was gonna say, Clone Wars is a good example where we can show good and evil, strong, powerful women at a young age to a more young adult age as far as young female protagonists. They did it in Clone Wars big time, both good and evil.

Dave: Yeah, so we didn’t want to repeat Luke so we did Ahsoka. And then we did Ezra because we didn’t want a repeat of Ahsoka. So instead we made the women characters the ones that didn’t have the force, the ones that could be tough on their own. So when we direct Hara, I say, I want you to say and be and do any of the lines you would have given Hans Solo. I don’t want you to change them in any way. You know, I want this Character as a Being that would react like Clint Eastwood when he got shot. Don’t diminish in any way or color it any way that you think has traditionally been.

There’s a fascination in the Press that seems to think that it’s a recent thing that girls like Star Wars. My Designer at ABC, she liked Star Wars as a little girl. It’s just been ignored.

Freddie: And just because Leah is in a Dress, don’t trip. She’s tougher than the guys in all three Movies. You all are in dresses (points to us) I’m sure some of you can move on us. That existed in the Star Wars World long, long ago.

Dave : It’s got to be more about your spirit, your integrity, your emotions as a Character than anything superficial so that’s what we try to work with. And like I said, my Wife is definitely the hugest influence for me there. If I’ve been successful at all creating female characters, it’s because of her, absolutely.

Talk about the Casting process.

Dave: It went so fast. We made this show very quick because we wanted to film in the time prior to Episode 7. It was gonna take time to produce so we wanted to get an animated series up ahead to kind of get kids up and going with Star Wars and in this new world. So it was one of the big challenges when we were sold. So it was gonna be very hard to cast quickly and my feelings were that you just know the right people when you hear them, when you see them. So we met everybody when they came in and we just brought in a group of people and pretty much without fail, Simon Kinberg, Greg Weisman and I always would give high marks to the same people.

We’ve been so lucky that creatively, we’ve all collaborated really well, at Lucas Film. And we’ve all pretty much agreed on the decisions. So we would pick our top people and we were like “Wow, I agree”. You can be really talented but if you’re not a good person, if you’re not gonna be collaborative, then I don’t want to work with you. Talent is not gonna outweigh that. I think that’s the important thing for young people. If you’re really talented and you’re arrogant, I don’t want to work with you. I want somebody who’s hard working. You know?

Freddie: Agreed.

Dave: You know, when I went to play Hockey growing up, my coach always appreciated the kids that put in the work, not just the talented kids. You’ve got to work for things. These guys have to become these Characters. So it has really worked out. I think an important part of being an Actor in Star Wars is you have to accept the exposure to our Fans and I want you to treat them with respect cause they’ll treat you with respect for the most part. And they’ve all been great.

Freddie: For the most part.

Dave: You passed the test.

Freddie: There have been a few though (tests).

Dave: Freddie gets the attitude. You get the swagger, my friend. That kind of Hans Solo thing.

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I enjoyed our time talking with them both. We were able to snap a quick group photo at the end of the interview with Freddie and Dave.