AHSOKA
COLLABORATION, A SPACE FANTASY
by Maria Sandoval | Department Head Hair &
Alexei Dmitriew & Cristina Waltz | Co-department Heads Make-up
Photos © Lucasfilm Ltd.
It is rare to be presented with the opportunity to bring onscreen life to something that already has such a rich history and fan base, and rarer still to be able to do so with the actual creator, Dave Filoni, at the helm.
The beloved character of Ahsoka Tano came to all of us from Star Wars animation with a cast of incredible characters in tow, and it was our job—Maria Sandoval (Department Head Hair), Ashleigh Childers (Assistant Department Head Hair), Sallie Ciganovich (key hair), Alexei Dmitriew (Co-department Head Make-up), Cristina Waltz (Co-department Head Make-up), Gabriela Quiñonez (key make-up), and Alan Scott (prosthetic designer)—to collaborate and bring them all out of 2D and into a 3D world.
AHSOKA TANO:
Alexei Dmitriew/Gabriela Quiñonez/Ashleigh Childers
AD: Having already established this character in The Mandalorian Season 2 and The Book of Boba Fett, we aimed to refine her look for this show. Ahsoka (played by Rosario Dawson) had to be in make-up almost 90 times during filming, so it was important for the process to be as smooth as possible.
The first thing we did was rebuild her forehead appliance to fit better, sculpting it down her brow bone and swooping it up around her crow’s feet for more movement and less tension. Allan Scott and the Legacy Effects team redesigned the lek’ku (the blue and white headdress she wears) so that it includes a 3D-printed skull cap that had to be carefully placed during her hair wrap, which was done by Ashleigh Childers. The make-up application process took about an hour each day and was done by Gabriela Quiñonez and myself.
Skin preparation was crucial, especially with daily applications, so we used Skin Saver Barrier lotion, Spackle primer, and MAC eyeshadow primer, ensuring each layer dried effectively. We laid the forehead down while keying it to the skull cap, and custom creams were applied around her eyes, nose, and lips before airbrushing. We used Skin Illustrators and ProAiir paints to achieve varied effects through misting and spattering.
Developing a robust solution for her white outfit in the show’s latter half, we crafted a durable paint blend using Silicolor and creams. The delicate white markings on her face were meticulously applied using a Vacuform template and airbrush technique.
In Episode 5, we tackled the thrilling challenge of creating a younger Ahsoka. Crafting two distinct looks to showcase her at ages 13 and 16, we drew inspiration from The Clone Wars animated series, meticulously working with filmmakers to tweak the sizes of her iconic white markings and using eyeliner and highlights to enhance her youthful eyes. The make-up process mirrored Rosario’s but required reimagined elements, like her forehead prosthetic.
Early discussions with the make-up and hair teams addressed each department’s needs and challenges, and so Legacy Effects overhauled how the prosthetic (headpiece) was made and how Rosario would wear it. Their goals were to make the whole thing lighter, more organic, seamless, securely anchored for stunts and fights, and easily removable.
The team at Legacy, overseen by Alan Scott, engineered a double-layered skull cap and under skull system to support the lek’ku. Our hair team helped create a repeatable process for pinning the skull cap to her hair without glue or tape, and this cap anchored the foam latex headpiece, which was designed using 3D scans.
Initially designed in ZBrush, the foam latex head prosthetic was 3D printed and then hand-sculpted for detailed, organic textures. The under skull, printed in lightweight nylon, was flexible and tunable, with strategically added weights for natural movement. Final paint combined rubber cement and silicone for durability.
This same process was used later for Hera and young Ahsoka, adapting it for different sizes and limited fitting sessions.
THRAWN:
Cristina Waltz/Ian Goodwin/
Ashleigh Childers
CW: One of the biggest make-up challenges we faced in creating the character of Thrawn was achieving the correct shade of blue. A variety of formulas were tried and tested under camera and lights on various stand-ins, with collaboration and notes from Dave Filoni. Once we had actor Lars Mikkelsen in the chair, we amended even further until we felt we had the right tone.
The final shade was a spattering of four different custom tones combining PPI and EBA. The forehead appliance blended just above Lars’ natural eyebrow and was sculpted and molded by Ian Goodwin, while Crystal Gomez ran the silicone in our Prosfab Workshop. Using a stencil, I dusted in a subtle gray shadow to trace placement and painted each brow hair individually using Stila’s liquid eyeliner pen. Deep Red translucent scleral lenses were painted by Jessica Nelson, and a navy kohl was lined on his waterline to remove any pale flesh tone. A full custom wig was ventilated by Anneliese Boies and applied by Ashleigh Childers using Copic alcohol markers daily to give the lace a subtle blue tint.
SABINE WREN:
Maria Sandoval/Alex Perrone
MS: This was the first time we were going to see bright fashion colors represented in the Star Wars universe, so I rewatched Rebels and noted that the tones of Sabine’s hair—although bright—still felt dusty and muted, and I wanted to replicate that for her live-action debut. While in prep, I had Wendy Southard strand test every brand of fashion color in addition to many fabric dyes, narrowing the choices down until we could test them in Stagecraft (the LED volume that we film in) to see how they would look on camera.
A total of four wigs were made for Sabine: two fully custom hand-tied pixie wigs (ventilated by Anneliese Boies) using hair dyed with a combination of permanent hair color at the root and fabric dye on the ends, a long pale blonde wig custom colored by me with a combination of fashion colors and fronted by Dawn Dudley, and a mid-length wig (also fronted by Dawn) colored by me to be used during the haircut scene.
To alleviate some of the discomfort of wearing a wig every day, we were able to come up with a wrap that allowed us to use ZERO toupee or snap clips. A self-adhesive ACE bandage was used along with GOT2B glued gel on the hairline, and double ponytail “smush” wrap allowed for the wig to be held on with only KD adhesive and a few hairpins.
CW: Actress Natasha Liu Bordizzo was transformed into the fan favorite edgy character of Sabine Wren by make-up artist Alex Perrone. With strategic emphasis on her eye shape, a combination of warm brown eyeshadow and flecks of blue shadow were applied and then subtly intensified after Sabine cuts her hair.
ANAKIN SKYWALKER:
Maria Sandoval/Cristina Waltz/Gabriela Quiñonez
MS: What an honor it was to be able to recreate the classic Anakin look from Revenge of the Sith for Episode 5! We knew that VFX would be needed to “de-age” our actor, so it was imperative that the hair match perfectly to the original film footage. For this look, Raquel Bianchini fronted a wig that I custom colored and added weft to the back of for fullness. For The Clone Wars flashback hair, Raquel created an integration piece that worked seamlessly with Hayden Christensen’s own hair to mimic the look seen previously only in animation, taking into consideration Hayden’s own curl pattern and what his hair would be like at that length.
Cristina and Gabriela took turns doing the make-up, which was directly referenced to the original footage and included a custom rigid collodion scar and subtle changes from “dark side” Anakin to “light side” Anakin, including custom contacts for the “dark” look.
MORGAN ELSBETH/NIGHTSISTERS
Maria Sandoval/Alexei Dmitriew
MS: A custom-fronted Cal East wig was created for Morgan (again ventilated by Anneliese Boies) and colored by myself for Season 2 of The Mandalorian, styled with mini-crimping and a combination of a fishtail braid and multiple bubble ponytail with leather wrappings. My final design for her change incorporated more mini-crimping, two fishtail braids crisscrossing the center of her head, and two buns in the back. A piece of chain was placed along the center part, and I used a thin section of her real nape hair to create a seamless hairline.
AD: I set out to elevate Morgan’s look from The Mandalorian, Season 2, which featured subtle nude eyeshadow and light mascara. For Ahsoka, we amplified the drama with vibrant shades of purple, black, and brick red from a Viseart palette. Collaborating closely with Maria, we ensured her forehead tattoo was perfectly placed.
Morgan’s transformation into a witch unfolded dramatically as dark powers were bestowed upon her. Using a cast of the actress’ face and a custom-made Vacuform stencil, we applied a lighter foundation to give her a ghostly complexion, while cream contour colors and airbrushed soot and black added depth and texture, and custom contact lenses helped bring her mystical character to life.
For the Nightsisters, we used brow covers and custom-made finger cups with nails. Again, cream contour colors, airbrushed soot, and black added depth and texture, and custom contact lenses were used. These make-ups were applied by Cale Thomas, Scott Stoddard, and Mike Mekash, and the lenses were applied by Christina Gonzalez.
EZRA BRIDGER:
Ashleigh Childers/Cristina Waltz/Maria Sandoval
CW: For actor Eman Esfandi playing Ezra, we created a small cheek appliance scar (which the character carried through the animated series), and Jessica Nelson painted his deep blue lenses.
MS: This version of Ezra is not one we had ever seen in animation, and he has been in self-imposed “exile” for years. Actor Eman Esfandi grew his hair out in record time, and Ashleigh styled it with R and Co RODEO STAR mousse and a diffuser, finishing with Bumble and Bumble grooming cream. On the last day of filming, I cut his hair short for the “hologram” look to match the look of younger Ezra Bridger from the last few seasons of Rebels.
SHIN HATI:
Cristina Waltz/Cale Thomas/Ashleigh Childers
MS: A collaboration between showrunner Dave Filoni, Ashleigh Childers, and actress Ivanna Sakhno resulted in a “Joan of Arc” warrior-inspired look for Shin Hati, who is an apprentice to former Jedi Baylan Skoll. A wig was fronted by Dawn Dudley with directional knotting so we could create a fringe. Ashleigh did a custom color, including a slight shadow root and let the wig have its natural texture. A Padawan braid was sewn in, with elements from Baylan’s costume incorporated as beads to show her allegiance to her master.
CW: I collaborated with Ivanna Sakhno to bring out the brooding warrior that is Shin Hati. We started with the idea that Shin would be a little more strategic but using worldly elements like coal for the eye, berries for the mouth. Visearts Chroma palette has a perfect brown/black shadow that achieved a perfect smokey look, and I hooked the shadow into Ivanna’s eyelid crease right above her tear duct. I then buffed in a dark petrol Maqpro Fard shade to define her cheekbones and used Givenchy Rouge Vinyl to give her lips that slight berry bite of fuschia.
HERA SYNDULLA:
Cristina Waltz/Sallie Ciganovich
CW: The process of defining Hera’s green skin was similar to our approach with Thrawn: a lot of testing. Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead has a naturally warm undertone, so I started with a green correction primer to cool down her skin and then a custom variety of green shades were airbrushed onto her face to create a balance of tone that read as skin on camera. A mix of soft creams were used around the eyes to match the green tone, keeping the eye area soft and blendable. I used MAC Driftwood to desaturate her natural lip color and airbrushed a custom soft pale pink blush onto her cheeks to bring a touch of flush overall. Aquamarine lenses painted by Jessica Nelson finished the look.
Legacy Effects built a custom understructure that Sallie mounted onto the head and secured with strategic braids and pins. Once Cristina placed the helmet and secured it to the understructure, the foam latex head tails were mounted within the back of the helmet. Legacy also created a hollow lek’ku and designed a very lightweight spine that allowed for the lek’ku to have lifelike movement and bounce.
STUNT PERFORMERS:
MS: A team of four wigmakers were responsible for fronting all of the stunt wigs, including Morgan Sellers, Jessica Mills, Sasha Camacho, and Samantha Weiner. Face replacement was often used, so the stunt wigs needed to be perfected so that the fronts matched the hairlines of the actors (or the wigs the actors were wearing) and adjustments needed to be made to ensure that head shapes looked similar enough to go undetected.
The unique challenges this project presented were equally matched by the amazing moments we shared with the cast and crew. So many personal “bucket list” items were fulfilled on this project, and every day was filled with creativity, learning, and—most importantly—collaboration between all departments. •
