Warning: The article contains minor spoilers for Ahsoka episode 6.
Star Wars’ shows have truly brought animation to life whenever the actors voicing the key characters in their animated form got to reprise them in their live-action form as well. But not everyone has been getting the Grand Admiral Thrawn and Bo Katan treatment, certainly not Taylor Gray when it comes to Ahsoka.
While Lars Mikkelsen has finally debuted as Thrawn after voicing the villain in many episodes of Star Wars: Rebels and Katee Sachoff got to do the same for Bo Katan, Ahsoka (voiced by Ashley Eckstein) and Sabine Wren (voiced by Tiya Sircar) were recast for their live-action appearances. And the same happened when it was time to bring the Jedi Ezra Bridger into the fold.
Back in Rebels, Ezra’s presence was established by actor Taylor Gray’s voice throughout all its four seasons. The actor is also known for being the voice of Bucket in the Nickelodeon series Bucket & Skinner’s Epic Adventures and Young Micah in Netflix’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Though his acting resume is limited — Thunderstruck, The Wheel, Walt Before Mickey — his presence as Ezra in the Star Wars universe is profound.
Apart from voicing the character in the YouTube series Star Wars Forces of Destiny and the videogame Disney Infinity 3.0, he played Ezra in Rebels right up until the young Jedi went missing during the Battle of Lothal in his attempt to suede the evil Thrawn once and for all. So, when Ahsoka made her live-action appearance in The Mandalorian, intent on finding Ezra, the character leaving the confines of the animated world behind was inevitable.
But even though hardcore Star Wars fans always want the voice actors to play the character’s live-action version, it often doesn’t happen, which sadly included Taylor Gray being replaced by actor Eman Esfandi when it was time for Ahsoka and Sabine to find Ezra in the flesh.
Was Taylor Gray ready to play the live-action Ezra Bridger in Ahsoka?
When the arrival of Ahsoka was confirmed and Sachoff got to add her live-action presence to the character she had been voicing for years, Gray shared his desire to play Ezra in the then-upcoming series as well during a chat with Geek to Me Radio.
“That is definitely a character I would love to play in live-action. I mean, just because my background IS live-action. That’s where all my training is. And so the further development of Ezra would only, I feel like, make more sense and go even further into what I have, sort of, in all my character journals for the backstory of this character.”
The revelation that Eman Esfandi would be playing the character in Ahsoka was made much later and at the time, Gray, who felt “inextricably tied” to Ezra, wanted to “continue his journey” in the franchise.
Why wasn’t Taylor Gray cast as Ezra Bridger?
Probably for the same reason Eckstein was not brought on as the live-action Ahsoka or why Clancy Brown got the chance to play Lothal’s ruler, Ryder Azadi, in live-action as well — not every voice actor fits the requirements for the live-action adaptation of a character. But we can surely expect Gray to become the character’s voice once again whenever Ezra makes his animated appearance in a Star Wars project in the future.