Dave Filoni Fought Disney To Get Freddie Prinze Jr. For 'Rebels'

We remember Freddie Prinze Jr. as one of the actors from teen movies like Scooby-Doo, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and She's All That. But the Star Wars fans also remember him as Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus, one of the Jedi who survived Order 66.

As we know, Kanan Jarrus is a Jedi who joined the crew of the Ghost, and after four seasons of the animated series Star Wars Rebels, he sacrifices himself before the finale of the series to save his friends from the Empire. However, he also has a voice cameo in Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker. But all of this could have happened with a different actor if Dave Filoni, the creator of the animated series, didn’t convince Disney that Freddie Prinze Jr was the right actor to play the role and give his voice to the Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus.

In an interview with Collider, Freddie talked about how he landed the role of Kanan Jarrus in Rebels, saying:

"I went inside and saw the artwork on the wall, and I was like, 'Oh, wow, this is Star Wars. They're just lying.' So then, I was looking at the role way different. I knew what they wanted. It was like Han Solo with a lightsaber. So, I was one hundred percent certain what the show was, I read the lines and gave a real strong audition, felt great going out, and they called Seth Green to see if I was a good guy. Disney did not want me. They wanted someone else, but Dave wanted me. So, later that day, I got the call saying, 'Hey, you're gonna get the role.'"

Also, Freddie was enthusiastic about reprising his role in the Star Wars movie. In another interview with IGN, he said that he received a call from Dave Filoni asking to record some lines for Kanan, just weeks before the premiere of the movie. He was only aware of his own character's role and did not know what other Jedi were part of the scene until he sat down to watch the movie.

“I was like, yeah, whatever you guys need. I always like to do that. And they were like, ‘okay, but this one might be a little different. And so right away I was like, ‘oh, it's for the movie!’”

“JJ came in and kind of broke down the scene, and what was happening, and what was going on with Rey and what she was needing from the Jedi at that point, because the Force provides you with what you need - not the Jedi per se, it's the Force kind of dictating that."

Some of the characters who have appeared in Star Wars animation have made his way to the life action, mostly within The Mandalorian series, where Filoni is executive producer, writer, and director. Ahsoka Tano, the memorable padawan of Anakin Skywalker, had a voice cameo by Ashley Eckstein alongside Freddie Prinze Jr. in The Rise of Skywalker and later appeared in full on The Mandalorian played by Rosario Dawson. She will have her own series on Disney+ simply titled Ahsoka. Furthermore, Ezra Bridger, Kanan's apprentice, is rumored to be making an appearance on that series.

Like the first movie in 1977, Star Wars keeps us very excited with new stories from the galaxy far, far away. With Filoni as a creative, and all the characters in different eras, the franchise of Star Wars has no end anytime soon. Because no matter whether the story be focused on Jedi or users of the dark side, fans always want more, and Star Wars will be a family tradition to pass on from generation to generation. May the Force be with the fans, always.

Written By Carlos Rojas

Source(s): CBR, Cheatsheet, IGN

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