With Star Wars Celebration kicking off tomorrow and Obi-Wan Kenobi premiering on May 27, it's the perfect time for Lucasfilm to launch a new series of shorts for Star Wars Kids everywhere. Actress and designer Ashley Eckstein, who is beloved in the fandom for originating the voice of Ahsoka Tano in The Clone Wars, has written and directed a new project called Star Wars Mindful Matters to improve the mindfulness and emotional health of kids and adults alike.
Eckstein has remained a part of the galaxy of Star Wars since her character's introduction in 2008, and she has seen Ahsoka go from a Jedi padawan rejected by fans to a fan-favorite icon of the animated side of the franchise. Now that Ahsoka has made her live-action debut, first in The Mandalorian and soon in her own Ahsoka series, Eckstein continues to celebrate the character's legacy in various forms.
Screen Rant spoke with Eckstein not only about crafting Star Wars Mindful Matters, but also about how she plans to spend Celebration weekend, as well as about the launch of a new Star Wars-inspired line for her incredible fashion brand called Her Universe.
Screen Rant: What a way to kick off Star Wars Celebration weekend! What is your weekend looking like? Who and what are you most excited to see?
Ashley Eckstein: Oh my gosh. My weekend at Star Wars Celebration is jam-packed, and I cannot wait. I'm going to be doing a little bit of everything from hosting panels to meet-ups – we have our Ahsoka Lives meet-up – to signing autographs, photo ops, doing special breakfasts.
But I'm most excited to just connect with Star Wars fans. I think after the past two years that we've had, we all need connection more than anything, and that's what I'm most looking forward to.
If it were somebody's first time at Celebration, what advice would you give them on how to navigate the weekend?
Ashley Eckstein: If you are attending Star Wars Celebration for the first time, I highly recommend checking out the Star Wars Celebration app because everything is either ticketed or scheduled. You're definitely going to want to check out the schedule on the Star Wars Celebration app.
But first and foremost, just immerse yourself in the community. The best part about Star Wars Celebration is just Star Wars fans. There are all sorts of Star Wars fan meetups. We have an Ahsoka one on Saturday at 3pm, outside at the Star Wars fountain. If you're an Ahsoka fan, just come and meet fellow Ahsoka fans, and then also shop the exhibition floor.
Her Universe has a brand new fashion collection inspired by the Star Wars and Lucasfilm archives. I'm very excited to debut that at Star Wars Celebration. Just immerse yourself in the fandom and the community at Star Wars Celebration.
You go out on these stages all the time. This is kind of your world. What are your tips for not getting anxious, nervous, stressed out?
Ashley Eckstein: The biggest thing I do before I go on stage is practice deep breathing. I've always done that. I think, subconsciously, I started doing it as a kid. And then as I became an adult, I actually found out that is a mindfulness practice - to connect with your breath - and also a very important lesson that Jedi Master Yoda and Luke Skywalker teaches in Star Wars.
Just slow down the moment, bring yourself back to the present moment, and just connect with your breath, and so that's what I do. I practice deep breathing. I also do this with my fingers [pumps fingers]. I feel like it gets the blood pumping. I take some deep breaths, and just really pump my fingers. I'll dance around in place and just kind of calm the nerves.
For people interested in more of what you're talking about, you're doing this really cool series called Star Wars Mindful Matters. Tell me more about this project and how it came to be.
Ashley Eckstein: This is a passion project of mine that I have been dreaming about for the past five years. Star Wars fans, especially kids, always ask me how they can be a Jedi, or how they can be like a Jedi. If you go to Disney World, or Disneyland in the past, they would have the Jedi Training Academy, which is where you could train with your lightsaber.
But Jedi Master Yoda teaches us that a Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind, telling us that training our mind is just as important as physically training our body. There are so many important mindful lessons that we learn throughout Star Wars.
I wanted to take some of the most important mindful lesson - for example, confronting fear, or managing our emotions, or grounding ourselves and feeling The Force - and combine those lessons with clinically-based mindfulness exercises in very short two-to-three minute videos. [I’m] teaching fans how to do these exercises and lessons, and that if you just do these, it only takes a minute. They'll make a powerful difference in your day, because being mindful matters.
And where can you find them?
Ashley Eckstein: You can find them on StarWarsKids.com, or the Star Wars Kids YouTube channel. But I want to stress that these are not just for kids. These are for Star Wars fans of all ages. We wanted to put them on the Kids page and the Kids channel, so parents knew that these are safe for kids; that they're appropriate for kids and relatable to kids.
But we know that, being a Star Wars fan, these lessons are for everyone. Star Wars is for everyone. These lessons are really timely and they're more important now than ever, especially after the two years that we've just been through.
What is your favorite lesson that Ahsoka has taught you?
Ashley Eckstein: Oh my goodness. My favorite lesson that Ahsoka has taught me is to be kind. I would say Ahsoka gets her power - and she's one of the most powerful characters in Star Wars - but she really gets her power by being kind.
Growing up, I often looked at kindness as a weakness, because people would say, "Oh, you're too kind." I thought, "Okay, I need to be tough," and that does not associate with being kind. Well, in fact, it's the opposite. Ahsoka teaches us to help others no matter what, and she shows her power by being kind and helping others.
I strive to be a real-life version of Ahsoka Tano and do things like this Star Wars Mindful Matters series. But every single day, I ask myself, what would Ahsoka do? And the answer is always that she would be kind.
You talked about the meetup on Saturday, and I'm sure it gets bigger and bigger each and every Celebration. What does it mean to just see how much people embrace her even more year after year?
Ashley Eckstein: Well, it's incredible. This meetup was organized by the fans, and it's still being organized by the fans, which is incredible. It started with Amy Ratcliffe and Johnamarie Macias; they founded it several years ago, and I was tagged in the meetup this year. This year was once again organized by the fans, and I'm excited to attend.
It started as an Ahsoka Lives Day photoshoot. And really, it was just because we were excited that Ahsoka lives. But now, I like to say that Ahsoka lives in all of us, because we all take a piece of Ahsoka into our hearts; into our souls, and we take her with us throughout our everyday life. She guides us, she inspires us, and she encourages us. I'd like to update the name of this meet-up to be an "Ahsoka lives in all of us" meet-up. Because she's a part of us now, and she lives inside all of us.
What does that mean to you to see the character make the jump to live-action? How did you react when you saw Ahsoka getting this whole live-action series?
Ashley Eckstein: I think it's absolutely incredible. I was honored to help originate this character back in 2008. She was this snippy little character that, to be honest, a lot of fans did not like. She was met with mixed reviews.
To be here in 2022, celebrating this character, as her legacy continues and she's getting her own series - it's such an exciting time to be an Ahsoka Tano fan. It's absolutely surreal. I'm just honored to be a small part of a giant team of people that it takes to bring this character to life. It's just surreal, and it's an exciting time to be an Ahsoka fan.
Have you and Rosario met yet? Or do you think you might meet this weekend, if she's there?
Ashley Eckstein: Oh gosh. No, we haven't met yet, and it's definitely a dream of mine. I've been throwing that dream out into the universe and I hope to one day meet her because she's a very important member of Team Tano. That's what I call it, Team Tano. That's what these shirts are, designed by the amazing Daniel Kennedy.
I definitely hope to one day meet her and, hopefully, maybe this weekend will be the day.
That'd be amazing. I want to see you make the jump to live-action, because when The High Republic covers were released, you looked like one of the High Republic Jedi. Has anybody ever pointed this out to you?
Ashley Eckstein: The fans have pointed this out. I'll be honest, I read about how Rosario was fancast as Ahsoka; how the fans started asking for her to play Ahsoka. I mean, if the fans want to ask for me to play this character, that would be incredible. I would be honored to make the jump to live-action for the High Republic.
Hey, it worked for Ahsoka! Maybe it will work for me to be in The High Republic!
I'm gonna get it going. Everybody, Ashley looks like Avar Kriss.
Ashley Eckstein: I would love it. You heard it here first.
And what is next for Her Universe?
Ashley Eckstein: Well, I'm thrilled to debut this Lucasfilm Archives collection at Star Wars Celebration. We got to go to the archives at Skywalker Ranch; we got permission from George Lucas himself via the amazing Lynn Hale. We got to go to the archives. We got to see all the original costumes from the original Star Wars series and the Prequels, and then we got to design wearable pieces inspired by the archives.
These are not replicas. As with Her Universe, we make fashion-inspired pieces. These are wearable pieces inspired by the exact costumes in the archives, and I cannot wait to launch this collection.
You can watch Eckstein's Star Wars Mindful Matters video series on the Star Wars Kids site.