Our Interviews with STAR WARS REBELS: SPARK OF REBELLION DAVE FILONI & FREDDIE PRINZE JR.

**Disney provided me with an full expense paid trip to Los Angeles for the #VeryBadDayEvent and #DisneyInHomeEvent in exchange for my review of the events of the trip.  No other compensation is given. The opinions  in my posts are 100% mine.**  

Our Interviews with STAR WARS REBELS: SPARK OF REBELLION  DAVE FILONI & FREDDIE PRINZE JR.

When we were given the opportunity to interview Dave Filoni and Freddie Prinze Jr., it became of time of information and laughs.  Star Wars (the movie) came out in 1977, I remember that because on my brother’s 6th birthday we went to the drive-in to watch it.  He was all about Star Wars, had all of the action figures, and even had a “Star Wars” themed birthday party. So for a moment when they started talking; it took me back.  Kids everywhere loved the Star Wars characters, the movies , and the storylines.

What impressed me the most with Dave Filoni was that HE wanted to bring the idea of a storyline back so kids could experience what the kids of the late 70’s did.  The only difference is he put it in animated form and made it more exciting than ever.

How the Movie Came About & How the Cast Came Together

When asked : “Star Wars is such a legacy, a huge franchise.  How did it feel to be a part of that?” Dave kind of offered the question up to Freddie Prinze Jr.  Freddie said, ”

I didn’t know it was Star Wars.  It was — it was titled Wolf Pack.  And you’ll have to speak to him about that.  But uh, 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 Tia — for Tia’s Character and she looked super nervous.  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,  this first Table run.  I said is this bleeping Star Wars?  And then — and then he kind of sits back, he sits back there, he sits back and he kind of like nods his head all cool .  So I said  alright,  give me a second.  I’ve got to turn around and compose myself and then get prepared.  Instead of a Light Sabre, I had a Sun Sword, which Thunder the Barbarian had from Hanna Barbera.  That’s, remember that? ” We all nodded.

Freddie continues by telling us:  But they ripped off Star Wars.  They even had their Wookie.  They had Uh Klan, right?  That was the Wookie that Princess Ariel, Princess Leah but she had Manly–  Sorry,  my ’80s cartoon knowledge is on point.

The next questioned asked was, ” What made you want to do this?” Dave answered the question, and you could feel/hear the devotion he had and put into this series.

Dave said, “Well you know, we were kind of wrapping up the Series, Clone Wars with the  big Disney purchase, and it  was time for a change.  Fan felt very strongly about the show.  It didn’t air so long, so many years.  But in all honesty, it just felt like something that we probably shouldn’t continue without George.  It was just a part of him and his creation and working with him was like a very awesome experience I’ve ever had.  So we wanted to come up with something new that represented this kind of new era of Star Wars and working with Lucas Films Story team, we all quickly came up with the idea of Star Wars Rebels, carried back, uh, the Story Team introduced the idea to make an A-Team like scenario and  it just made 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.  You know, it 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, you know, 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 .  So we’re all about trying to continue that legacy now.

THE WOLF

Well I love Wolves.  The farthest back I’ve been able to trace that is the Carol Ballard Film “Never Cry Wolf”  I saw that as a kid and oddly, that’s a Disney Film so that’s kind of a strange cross over.  But it profoundly affected me and  you know, so much so that is when the Clone Wars Movie premiered. During  my time off, I actually flew up to Northwest territories of Canada and got dropped off in a Beaver Flow Plane in the middle of, uh, White Fish Lake out in the middle of nowhere and stayed out there for about a week and a half.

I’ve always just kind of studied them, their ecology,  their survival as an endangered Species. I tried to dedicate the Nations, a Charity to the International Wolf Center in Eeling, Minnesota.

He’s a big fan of Los Lobos, said Dave. (referring to Freddie Prinze Jr.)

Then Freddie speaks about what he finds interesting:  I’ve always, found it interesting that they’re a Predator, that is kind of mislabeled as just a really aggressive Creature.  I mean, they are what they are.  They’re not Domestic by any nature.  They’re an important part of our ecology.  So you know, I like things that put Wolf Pack Clone Troopers in Star Wars.  I like the Animal and I’m a big believer in Kids learning more about the world around them, not judging things at face value but really digging in and say , “well why do we have these fears and why do we have these prejudices.”

That is in so many areas of Society and the Wolf is just one of them.  Now that they’re back, you know, they’ve one Crossover in California I think a year or two ago, I think the first time in a hundred years.  It’s strange to think about but yeah, it’s interesting to see how the presence of an animal like that can affect Culture and then perhaps stories come out of that.  When you’re a Storyteller, you got to observe the world around you.  Being an Artist is about observing the world around you, not dictating but reflecting and absorbing so it’s my fun thing.  Well you know it and I do.

 Shedding Light on the Female Characters

It’s a strange word to use but  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.  We did  Soka in Clone Wars.

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 Clone Wars big time, both good and evil.

Yeah, so we didn’t want to repeat Luke so we did Soka.  Then we did Ezra because we didn’t want a repeat of Soka, so instead we made the women characters ones that didn’t have the force, ones that could be tough on their own.   When we direct like Hara,  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 make her, don’t diminish in any way or color it any way that you think has traditionally been.  You see, I get schooled on this on a daily basis at home by my wife and honestly, she’s a way better storyteller than I am.

For all of the ways that I think that representation of female characters are a hot topic in the news, I ask her opinion on all these things because I like anybody else need a greater education when we’re creating these characters.  You know how to make them well rounded, how to get them better represented right down to the costume,  and the way they look and the way they walk. The way I got around it with Soka was,  I just treated her like a Jedi.  I didn’t think of her as a girl because I’m a guy so I don’t really. The only perspective I have is my assistant at the time was a girl and I had never had an assistant before and Anakin had never had a one before.

So I related to that in trying to have this much younger girl follow me around and help me with my schedule and I’m very independent.  So I applied a lot of that to the story.  Um, even when George asked us to have her call him a Skyguy and Snips.  So I started calling my Assistant Snips just to see how that would work cause I thought that might be really weird.  You know, but um, you just try to form relationships.  I have two Nieces.  I want them to have Heroes to look up to, um like I did.  So I just think it’s a great time for it.  And I think the Audience is very ready for it but I think they’ve been ready for a long time.

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.

Just because Leah is in a Dress,  she’s tougher than the guys in all 3 movies.  So I mean a dress doesn’t make a difference.   You all are in dresses.  I’m sure some of you can move on us.  That existed in the Star Wars World long, long ago.

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.   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.

What is involved in the Casting Process

Oh it went so fast.  We made this show very quick, because we wanted to film in the time prior to Episode 7.  You know, that’s gonna be this thunderous amazing thing, but 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. In this new world and 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 was that  you 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.

Like I said, we’ve been so lucky that creatively, we’ve all collaborated really well,  Lucas Film.  We’ve all pretty much agreed on the decisions.  It’s really rare,  so we would pick our top people and we were like Wow, I agree, I heard he is really good.  So you know, and  it’s really turned out.  I like to judge things, 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’s 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, right?

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 know, you got to work for things.  We have to work hard together .  We got to get along really well.  These guys have to become these characters.  So it’s really worked out.  So it’s really more of, you know, I can see a lot of people might have the acting chops but you have the personality plus all the fans, the Star Wars Fans.  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.  I mean, they’ve all been great.

Dave said,  “Vision, to me Freddie’s kind of like a Star Wars goal, he gets it.  He gets the attitude.  He gets the kind of  the swagger, my friend.  That kind of Hans Solo thing.

Freddie interjects:   It’s a Generation thing though like it’s in your genes, it’s a genetic thing when you’re around our age like it’s just, you know, that was back when Wrestling was real.  That was back when the News told the truth.  That was back then.   So  it’s ingrained and it’s a part of you so you know, you read lines and I’m literally, like before I even talked to him,  I know exactly how he wants me to say that because I remember this from “Empire Strikes Back” when you know what I mean and like you just get the vibe of who you’re kind of summoning as you’re sort of figuring out who this sort of Rebel Jedi  is.

He’s not the normal Jedi.  He’s not together.  He doesn’t have it all figured out.  He has maybe 3 answers.  Forget all the answers and then two of them,  he’s guessing on.  You’ll literally see him sort of BS Ezra on some of these horse things that something like Master Yoda would be like, you know, there is no try, there’s only do.   Canan will be like give me your best shot.  You’re not supposed to do that.  I mean, you know what I mean?  He makes mistakes cause he was young and he didn’t get to complete  his training in the way that an Anakin or the way that Luke could, you know what I mean?

He’s not the Master that Ezra, you know, that a kid sees.  You know, growing up without a Father like Ezra, you put certain men in your life on a pedestal.  They become something to you.  They become something special and spiritual and powerful.  It’s not fair to do to them by the way because they’re just men, right?  They’re gonna have mistakes, they’re gonna get sick, they’re gonna cheat on their wives, they’re gonna do whatever it is they do that’s gonna destroy that image you have and make you angry at them, even though you projected that on them.  So they get to have that type of a relationship and you can really see it from Jump Street.  You can see Canan kind of resist, and you can see him get sucked in because the way Taylor plays Ezra is, he may be a Smart Alleck but he knows how to  show you vulnerability and — and that’s what kind of gets me.

We read together like we’re in the room at the same time.  It’s a very collaborative process.  It’s very Breakfast Clubby, you know what I mean, like we do everything in order.  It is, they shot that Movie like a Play basically.  The scenes in the beginning and end were the only things they shot out of order.  The rest of that Movie was all together and that’s — that’s kind of how we record.  You know what I mean, unless we got a big dog and we got to shoot out there.

How Freddy Prinze Jr. Got the Role

Freddie  Prinze Jr.:    It’s weird.  I’ve taken a step back from Acting when we had kids.   I didn’t want to leave Los Angeles anymore.  I wanted to be present.  Since they shoot anything in Los Angeles, that was sort of that.  So it became very easy to not work and I was starting to get kind of creatively antsy and I did a couple of voices on Video Games which these days are way more drawn out than Mario Bros.  You know what I mean?  You do a voice for Mario and it’s like ‘Hey look at me.’  Then you work on a Video Game today and it’s 6 months worth of work.  I really started getting hungry and  those Acting juices started flowing again.  When this script came around, you have to remember, I didn’t know that it was “Star Wars.”

So I wasn’t that excited.  I was like these guys are ripping this off.  This isn’t even, you know what I mean, like it’s not that good.  A Sun Sword?  That’s not cool, you know.  So you’re not hyped up and then it wasn’t until I read, I didn’t know if I  booked it.  I know I did a good job.  So you know, you kind of dissociate cause you don’t want to be like Yes.  And then like No, No.  So you know, you wait, you wait, and then I heard that I got it.  It’s just this very surreal moment, you know.  I’m sure it was different for Vanessa, for Steve, certainly for Taylor, Arden.  We’re generationally so far apart.  For me, I mean, I slipped down the Slide when I was 4 years old with a broken Flagpole cause I was Luke and my Cousin was Darth Vader.  I have to be specific, there are so many Darths now.

Back then it was only this.  But  you know, the Pole hit the ground first and it stuck in my chin and my Mom ran out and my chin blew out.  You know, she flipped and threw me in the car and took me to the hospital and they stitched this little scar I have back here.  I had 16 and it looked like I had a little Goatee and I was only 4.  So you know, those, all those images start racing back through your head and you’re reading dialogue, you know, telling a kid, come with me.  Come learn the ways of the Forest, you know what I mean?  From 4 years old to 38 years old, I mean, come on, it’s easy to know that I really care about this.

Do you have a real Light Sabre?

Freddie Prinze Jr. says:  “A real Light Sabre?  When do I get my real Light Saber?” Dave then says:   “No, you’re not ready for that. ” to which Freddie says ” I’m sure Portman’s got one somewhere.  Season Eight, I get one.” Then Dave says “Yeah we’ll see”.   “What color?  Is it gonna be blue Canan, or do I get a weird?”, says Freddie. One of the bloggers in the interview says, ” I got a blue one in my bag, to which Freddie says “I don’t need your Light Sabre”.

My Thoughts

This interview was a lot of fun, to look inside the thoughts of the person that put “Star Wars: Rebels of Rebellion” together.  Star Wars has always been a part of my life, from growing to my children, even my husband. To have Dave Filoni bring and continue the legacy of Star Wars to the kids of today, will allow the younger generation to enjoy it as much as we have and continue to.

 

 “Star Wars Rebels” premieres tonight with a one-hour movie “Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion,” FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3 (9:00 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney Channel — perfect for a family movie night!  The half-hour series will premiere on Disney XD on MONDAY, OCTOBER 13 (9:00 p.m., ET/PT).