Young Ahsoka Look Familiar? Here's Where You've Seen Ariana Greenblatt Before

WARNING: SPOILERS for Ahsoka 1x05, 'Shadow Warrior'

Star Wars fans are once again singing the praises of Dave Filoni following the fifth episode of Ahsoka. As part of her final lesson from former Master Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka ventures into her own past, where she is able to view two pivotal Clone Wars campaigns, The Battle of Ryloth and the Siege of Mandalore, through a new lens as she grapples with the violence in her past, where she fits into the complicated legacy that Anakin Skywalker has left behind, and what her own legacy will be.

Fans are now also looking at these scenes through a new lens, with the live-action element providing a rather uncomfortable visual reminder of just how young Ahsoka was during the war. Many are crediting the success of these flashback scenes to sixteen year old Ariana Greenblatt, who played the younger Ahsoka. The young actress is probably familiar to most viewers, although her make-up and prosthetics may have made it difficult to pinpoint exactly why.

Here's where you might have seen Ariana Greenblatt before.

Young Gamora (Avengers: Infinity War)

Her role in Ahsoka is not the first time Greenblatt has played a younger incarnation of an already loved character. In fact, the actress's breakout role was playing a young Gamora, the character made famous by Zoe Saldana in the Guardians of the Galaxy films, in Avengers: Infinity War.

Greenblatt's young Gamora appears in two major scenes. One is a flashback to Gamora's past, depicting her first meeting with adoptive father Thanos as his followers slaughter half her planet's population, including Gamora's mother. Later, Thanos experiences a vision of the younger Gamora in the Soul world after the fateful snap of his fingers that causes The Decimation.

The latter scene was originally intended as a counter balance to a scene filmed for Avengers: Endgame, in which Tony Stark sees a vision of his daughter, Morgan, as an adult following his own sacrificial snap to secure the Avengers' victory. While Thanos saw what his actions had taken from Gamora, Tony saw what he had given Morgan with his sacrifice. Unfortunately, the Tony and Morgan scene confused viewers and slowed down the final act, so it was cut.

Minnow (Love and Monsters)

In 2020, Greenblatt appeared in the Paramount/Netflix film Love and Monsters, set in a world where all the Earth's cold-blooded animals have mutated into monsters by the radioactive fallout of an asteroid passing too close to Earth. Greenblatt played Minnow, a young survivor travelling with her guardian, the grizzled but loveable Clyde, played by Michael Rooker. The pair encounter and rescue the film's hero, Joel, and teach him some much needed survival skills before he continues on his quest to locate his long lost girlfriend.

Love and Monsters has been said to have the makings of a future cult classic. Greenblatt's performance has been widely praised, largely for her ability to hold her own alongside long time fan favourite Rooker.

Koa ('65')

Earlier this year saw the release of 65, a Sam Raimi sci-fi epic depicting an alternate human history, filmed back in 2020. Ariana Greenblatt starred as orphaned child Koa, alongside Star Wars sequel trilogy star Adam Driver as Mills, a troubled space pilot from the planet Somaris, working for the money to save his gravely ill daughter. An asteroid causes Mills' ship to crash on Earth during the time of the dinosaurs. Only Mills and Koa survive, and must overcome numerous obstacles, including a language barrier, to survive the dangers of prehistoric Earth.

The film has received mostly mixed reviews.

Sasha ('Barbie')

Yes, Greenblatt even scored a role in Barbie, a film which is even now continuing to break studio and box office records. The young actress played Sasha, the teenage girl who originally owned Margot Robbie's Stereotypical Barbie, but has since grown out of the doll after developing a belief that she represents unrealistic beauty standards.

As her original owner, Barbie initially blames Sasha for her existential crisis, until a mid-movie twist reveals that Sasha's Mother, Gloria, a designer for Mattel in the throes of a mid-life crisis of her own, is inadvertently responsible. During the ensuing quest to help save Barbieland from Ken's attempted takeover, Sasha reconnects with Gloria, and develops a a new appreciation for Barbie.

With her roles in Infinity War and now Barbie, Ariana Greenblatt joins a small cohort of actors who have appeared in two movies of different franchises that have both earned over a billion at the box office. Greenblatt is clearly a star on the rise, and we cannot wait to see what she does next.