ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – MegaCon Orlando is back and Star Wars fans will be happy to see the lineup of actors coming to the Orange County Convention Center from Thursday, Feb. 1, to Sunday, Feb. 4.
The pop culture convention is designed for fans of comics, horror, anime, sci-fi, gaming and all types of genres. It’s one of the largest in the southeast and brings in around 160,000 people over the four days.
The packed four-day event includes celebrities, impressive cosplay, Q&A panels, and meet and greets.
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Ashley Eckstein, who plays Ahsoka Tano in the animated movie “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and its follow-up TV series, as well as in the shows “Star Wars Rebels” and “Star Wars: Forces of Destiny,” is one of the actors expected to be there.
She established the new character in 2006, two years before the movie came out. She says she quickly realized the character she was portraying would be a trailblazer.
“Ahsoka was the first female Jedi that was a lead character in the Star Wars universe. Sure there have been female Jedi before, but you know, they were briefly in and out. Ahsoka was the first character that we saw on a weekly basis,” Eckstein said.
She says it was groundbreaking at the time.
“A lot has changed, but part of that is because Ahsoka paved the way,” Eckstein said.
She says it takes one day, four to six hours, to record an episode. The voice actors record together, which really helps them build relationships and feed off of each other.
“We really get to know each other and have that bond,” Eckstein said.
Normally they record in Los Angeles, but if they can’t get there, then they can go to any studio wherever they’re at. She says she’s definitely recorded some episodes in Orlando, where she grew up and currently lives.
Eckstein says growing up in Central Florida exposed her to acting. Her dad was a Disney cast member and she even had the chance to go to a live taping of the Mickey Mouse Club. She took acting classes at local theatres and by middle school, she says she was bit by the acting bug.
“It was my dream to eventually be an actor on the Disney Channel myself. I went to Dr. Phillips High School, I went to the magnet program for acting, and then eventually moved to L.A. to pursue acting and try to make my dream come true,” Eckstein said.
She says living in Orlando gave her opportunities to do commercials for Disney, a TV show for SeaWorld and some videos for Universal. She moved to Los Angeles in 2001 and landed the role of ‘Muffy,’ the antagonist to Raven-Symoné in “That’s So Raven.”
After that, she really wanted to get into voice acting. She says she was inspired by Jodi Benson, who voices Ariel in Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.”
“It did not come easy at first. I actually auditioned for about four years, about 400 auditions that I did not get. It was a lot of rejection, but eventually, I was cast as Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars, so I’m really glad I didn’t give up,” Eckstein said.
She says Ahsoka’s true power is kindness. As a child, she always associated kindness as a weakness. As an adult, she realized kindness and power can go together.
“Growing up, people always said, ‘Ugh, you’re too kind. You need to be tough. Stop being so nice, like you need to be strong and tough.’ And so, I never associated being powerful with being kind,” Eckstein said. “I never viewed kindness as powerful until Ahsoka, until I realized that Ahsoka’s true power is her kindness. It was like I had an ‘aha!’ moment. I’m like, you know what, I want to be like Ahsoka.”
Eckstein is celebrating Ahsoka Tano Day this weekend at Disney World. She’ll be at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for a meet-and-greet on Saturday at the Star Wars Launch Bay from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
She’s also part of this lineup of actors from the Star Wars franchise coming to MegaCon:
- Gina Carano (”The Mandalorian”)
- Cameron Monaghan (”Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order” video game)
- Alan Tudyk (”Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”)
- Anthony Daniels (Star Wars franchise)
- Ming-Na Wen (“The Book of Boba Fett”)
- Danny Trejo (”The Book of Boba Fett”)
- Daniel Logan (”The Book of Boba Fett”)
- Temuera Morrison (”The Book of Boba Fett”)
- Joonas Suotamo (Star Wars franchise)
- Diana Lee Inosanto (“Ahsoka”)
- Ashley Eckstein (Star Wars franchise)
- Matt Lanter (Star Wars franchise)
- James Arnold Taylor (Star Wars franchise)
- Dee Bradley Baker (Star Wars franchise)
Tickets are available for purchase, from single-day or passes. Click here to check out prices and options.
See Eckstein’s interview with Brooke Savage, the writer behind the Setting the Stage newsletter, below:
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