Star Wars: Thrawn creator shares his thoughts on Lars Mikkelsen’s casting

Following the news that Lars Mikkelsen will play Grand Admiral Thrawn in the Ahsoka series, the creator of the iconic Star Wars villain has shared his thoughts on the casting. 

Despite being one of the most popular characters in the Star Wars universe, Thrawn is yet to appear in any of the franchise’s live-action movies or shows – until now. 

At this year’s Star Wars Celebration Day, it was revealed that as well as showing up in The Mandalorian, Thrawn will make an entrance in the upcoming standalone Ahsoka show. What’s more, he’ll be played by Lars Mikkelsen, who also voiced the character in Star Wars Rebels.

Though the fans are excited by the casting, does Mikkelsen get the seal of approval from the character’s original creator, Timothy Zahn? Read on to find out. 

Grand Admiral Thrawn creator Timothy Zahn shares his thoughts on Lars Mikkelsen casting

In short, Zahn is very much in favor of Lars Mikkelsen taking on the role as Thrawn, describing him as the “perfect cast.”

Speaking at the Paris Fan Festival 2023 with quotes shared by CloneWeb, the author of Star Wars’ Thrawn trilogy book series said: “I visualize the characters in terms of attitude, not so much in time as voice or appearance. 

“Lars Mikkelsen did a wonderful job with the voice. The actor is Danish. He doesn’t really have an accent but he has a particular vocal cadence when he plays Thrawn which gives him a little alien side. He’s the perfect cast.”

Zahn also expressed his desires for Admiral Thrawn in his live-action debut, adding: “The danger is that the screenwriters write it badly. He is a tactician, always ahead of his enemies. 

“Dave Filoni showed in Rebels that he understood the character. So I think everything will be fine, as long as Filoni and Jon Favreau remain at the helm. And I am of course available to help them if needed. 

“We only talked briefly about all this but Dave promised to meet the writers and discuss with them in the near future.”

The Mandalorian Season 3 is available to watch on Disney+ – you can read about Moff Gideon’s fate in the finale here. Ahsoka launches on the platform this August, which you can read more about here.