Rahul Kohli, a British actor who has been rumored to be cast as Ezra Bridger in The Mandalorian season 2, confirms that he will not be portraying the Star Wars Rebels character any time soon. Ezra was the main character in Dave Filoni's animated Rebels show, which served as both a sequel to The Clone Wars and bridged the gap between Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: A New Hope. Ezra proved to be a popular and interesting character. His journey from unknowingly-Force-sensitive street thief to Jedi Knight was a compelling and unique take on the familiar Jedi journey, and the ending of Rebels left Ezra's fate unknown.
Kohli, who recently starred in Netflix's The Haunting of Bly Manor, become the subject of rabid fan rumors after he hinted in a tweet that he might portray a live-action Ezra. Kohli mentioned that he was getting in "Lothal orphan, force sensitive, trained by Kanan Jarrus kind of shape," a not-so-subtle reference to Ezra and his Jedi mentor Kanan Jarrus. Kohli's seemingly innocent tweet was anything but to the passionate and meticulous Star Wars fan base, who picked up on the tweet and assumed Kohli was hinting at playing Ezra for The Mandalorian season 2. Once he realized what he had started, Kohli attempted to play down the tweet, stating that he was just having fun. However, he later sent out another tweet that continued to hint at his involvement in the Star Wars franchise, which served to only add more fuel to the rumor fire.
In an interview with Inverse, Kohli put the rumors to rest by confirming that he was just messing around with his Ezra tweets. Kohli, himself a huge Star Wars fan, mentioned that he had heard rumors that Lucasfilm was casting a live-action Ezra. Kohli noticed that he matched the description of the rumored casting call, so he decided to have a little fun with the Star Wars fan base and sent out a tweet seemingly hinting at his involvement with the project. Kohli soon realized what he had started, and quickly tried to stomp the rumors out.
I was trolling. I heard rumors that there was a casting call looking for a live-action Ezra that was looking for Asian actors in their late twenties, early thirties. I had watched a bit of Rebels that morning, so it was fresh in my mind. I was going to the gym and I thought I'd fire off a cheeky tweet.
On a positive note, Kohli also mentioned the warm reception he received from fans because of the rumored casting. Kohli acknowledged that Star Wars fans often have a bad reputation when it comes to the online discourse surrounding the series (perhaps wrongfully so), so Kohli was surprised by how positive the community at large treated him despite his playful trolling. The fanart, conversations, and overall excitement over the idea of Kohli portraying Ezra reaffirmed the actor's love for the franchise and its fans.
At the risk of adding fuel to the fire, nothing can ever be certain with Star Wars these days. Lucasfilm and Disney are notoriously secretive, going to great lengths to keep everyone involved tight-lipped about nearly all aspects of any given production. Ewan McGregor spent years claiming that he was not in talks with Disney about returning as Obi-Wan, while behind the scenes, they were actively working out how they could bring the character and McGregor back into the franchise. However, it is more likely than not that Kohli is telling the truth about his tweets just being jokes. He most likely would be under a strict NDA if he were actually going to appear on the show, and wouldn't risk violating it by hinting at his involvement. However, who knows what will happen in the future. Kohli does have the right look for Ezra Bridger, so it may be possible that we'll see him on The Mandalorian or another Star Wars project at some point.
The Mandalorian season 2 debuts October 30 on Disney+.
Source: Inverse