Natasha Liu Bordizzo is bursting at the seams as she tries to control her enthusiasm for landing her dream role as Sabine Wren in the Star Wars galaxy. In May, the Australian actor was introduced to thousands of fans at Star Wars Celebration as he promoted the 2023 Disney+ series Ahsoka, himself Ahsoka Tano, alongside Rosario Dawson.
The path to being cast as the artistic Mandalorian warrior began when Bordizzo sent in a self-tape, and included a scene from Top Gun as well as another unrelated scene that made him remember Harrison Ford’s Han Solo. Gave it. So even though she didn’t know she was auditioning for a Star Wars project like Ahsoka, the spirit of Captain Solo was very much on her mind and she didn’t give up.
“[In the audition scene], this woman was trying to pay my character to help her, and my friends and I were like, ‘It’s almost like a young Han Solo kind of spirit.’ So it was just a perfect opportunity, and I still think about her role quite often, as energetically, as I am doing now [Ahsoka]. It’s such great energy and so inspiring,” Bordizo told The Hollywood Reporter. tells.
While Ahsoka will certainly have her own identity, Bordizzo, during preparation, couldn’t help but re-watch the animated Sabine Wren (Tia Sarkar) on Star Wars Rebels.
“It’s almost like a memory book; I think that’s what Rebels has for me. It’s just the kind of free preparation that I’ve never even had to do as an actor because it’s all done for me. Me The character’s memory is already recorded. So he encouraged [me to watch it], but obviously I watched it because how could I not see?”
Bordizzo heard the good news about her Star Wars casting while she was on set with Jamie Foxx, shooting Netflix’s most recent number-one film, Day Shift. Her role as a vampire-hunting vampire required a lot of stunt training, and it served as a nice warmup to Ahsoka’s own extensive stunt training.
“[Day Shift’s stunt training] helped a lot, especially with arms training. Everything and anything helps,” explains Bordizo. “Even if you are a physical person and have a physical Formally fit, a choreograph and the act of being in a really intense fight still gets used to something. There are things like not squinting when you’re about to get hit. A lot of little things are annoying unless you’re used to doing stunts, so this definitely helped. ,
In a recent conversation with THR, Bordizzo also discussed valuable lessons learned from Foxx and Dave Franco on the set of Day Shift.
Yeah, I guess it’s a coincidence, but I feel like my career and the timing of things are running parallel to the kind of streaming. So it’s not a coincidence like that. I’ve done a lot of projects for streamers, and I love it. I love working with Netflix. It’s always been fun working with them, and they provide a lot of creative freedom on the ground.
After starting Day Shift, how many of your Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny sword skills were still in you?
(Laughs.) Yes, Talwar has followed me in this career, hasn’t it? I had something to go for, but it was really different. Crouching Tiger was very Wuxia Chinese style, and Day Shift was very much samurai katana style. Stunt people are always full of confidence; They’re like, “Yeah, you’ve done it before. You already have that background.” But I look at every project as a start because you have to learn and leave a lot physically to take on this new role and figure out how the physicality of that role complements that character. So it’s a little bit of both. It’s an advantage, but it’s also difficult because I have so many things to forget. So it came in handy, but I don’t know why swords are a frequent thing for me.
Given the stunt training that you’re doing now for another role, which we can discuss later, were you happy to have an 87Eleven warmup on the first day shift?
Yes, definitely. This helped a lot, especially in arms training. Everything and anything helps. Stunts are a very special thing. Even if you are a physical person and physically fit, the act of being in a choreographed and really intense fight is still something that has to get used to. There are things like not squinting when you’re about to get hit. A lot of little things are annoying unless you’re used to doing stunts, so this definitely helped.