After months of speculation, Mena Massoud finally talks about the rumours that he’s been cast as Ezra Bridger in the upcoming Ahsoka live-action series.
Back in March of 2021, Mena Massoud posted an image of himself on Instagram with an interesting caption – “Hey, just so you know, when I escape I won’t hurt any of you”. The caption was a line from Ezra Bridger taken from an episode of Star Wars: Rebels and instantly fans began speculating that Massoud had been cast in the role.
Massoud’s Instagram post came a month after now defunct Star Wars YouTubers Kessel Run Transmissions reported that Massoud had been cast as Bridger for the upcoming live-action Ahsoka series. So naturally the Star Wars fandom went into overdrive upon seeing the Aladdin star’s Instagram post.
However that wasn’t the end of the rumours. In July, lead of the Ahsoka series, Rosario Dawson, shared a fans Instagram story celebrating Mena Massoud being cast as Ezra Bridger and Lars Mikkelsen being cast as Grand Admiral Thrawn in the upcoming Mandalorian spin-off. The fans post stemmed from unconfirmed rumours, but regardless Dawson shared the fans post to her own Instagram story.
Many speculated that Dawson had just made a mistake and wrongly assumed Massoud and Mikkelsen were cast in the role after seeing internet rumours, but to me it seems unlikely. The Clerks star knows how the industry works and just how secretive Lucasfilm is. In the Spring of 2020, the internet was rife with buzz that Dawson had been cast as Ahsoka for the second season of The Mandalorian, but when asked about the rumours Dawson said, “That’s not confirmed yet, but when that happens I will be very happy. We have no confirmation. So I’m very excited for that to be confirmed at some point. It’s a possibility. If it happens it down to the fans a million and one percent.” which we all know is her giving away that she’s been cast, but as it hasn’t been confirmed she cannot speak on it and I tend to think she made another little slip-up in regards to the Massoud and Mikkelsen casting.
Yesterday Massoud spoke with Screen Rant regarding the rumours of him being cast as Ezra. The interviewer only asked about Massoud’s Instagram post and failed to bring up Rosario Dawson adding fuel to those rumours, which would’ve been a fantastic question. Massoud said that the Instagram post was him attempting to manifest himself into the role. Massoud told Screen Rant, “Yeah, just manifesting you know. Just manifesting. Trying different things. Yeah, there’s not much more I can say about that. You know I had heard murmurings that this role was coming up and this was a real thing so I just wanted to throw my name in the ring and just part of manifesting what you want.”
Massoud went on to talk about how social media is helpful for actors being able to put themselves out there and being able to create opportunities for themselves in regards to getting roles. As you can see, Massoud doesn’t deny being cast as Ezra Bridger and claims that the initial Instagram post was just him attempting to throw his hat in the ring for the role, which could very well be genuine, but it’s the the line, “Yeah, there’s not much more I can say about that” which I find most interesting. At least to me it appears Massoud is unable to talk anymore about the role, but why? Probably due to an NDA. Massoud could be cast as Bridger, or he could still be going through the selection process. Either way, Massoud is not allowed to discuss being cast as Ezra Bridger.
Personally I really like the casting of Mena Massoud as Ezra Bridger, if he lands the role. I’m also extremely excited for the Ahsoka series and I hope we get more news regarding the series soon ahead of it filming next year.
