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From Ky. to 'The Clone wars'

By Rich Copley rcopley@herald-leader.com

From Abraham Lincoln to George ­Clooney, Kentuckains have plenty of affirmation that you can be a Bluegrass State native and grow up to be anything, even president or a movie star. But a Jedi Knight?

Ashley Eckstein has that distinction all to herself.

Starting Friday, you'll be able to hear the Louisville native voicing the part of Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker's Padawan apprentice, in the new animated feature Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The movie premiered Sunday in Los Angeles.

The new film is set between Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones and Episode III — Revenge of the Sith. It tells the story of the war between the Jedi Knights' clone troops and the droid army of the separatists controlled by the evil Sith.

On the front lines of this war are Jedi Anakin and Obi-Wan, along with Ahsoka, who is impressed into service because the Jedi are running a little short on warriors.

Originally, Eckstein auditioned for Padme, the character played by Natalie ­Portman in Episodes I through III.

”The first line that came out of my mouth, they stopped me and said, "No, you don't sound anything like Natalie Portman,'“ Eckstein says. ”But they said, "We'd love for you to audition for another role.'“

On her first day at work, she didn't know she would be playing such a pivotal role in the story.

”They just told me I was playing a new character,“ says Eckstein, who has previously acted on the series Blue Collar TV and That's So Raven under her maiden name, Ashley Drane. ”When I found out who it was, I couldn't believe they were entrusting me to create this new character.“

The character will carry into a new Cartoon Network series starting in September. And it has introduced Eckstein to a world of which she was previously unaware: the hard-core Star Wars fans.

”I definitely had watched all the movies,“ she says. ”But I tell the Star Wars fans to be patient with me on all of the expanded-universe stuff because I am still learning.“

Eckstein's expertise lies a bit closer to the company that's synonymous with animation: Disney.

She was born in Louisville to a dad who graduated from the University of Kentucky and a mom who graduated from Georgetown College.

Her dad's work eventually took him to Orlando, Fla., where he was a food and beverage contractor for Walt Disney World.

”It doesn't sound very interesting until you hear him talk about how he would order shrimp in the millions of pounds,“ Eckstein says. ”He always had some fun stories for us.“

And she always had free passes to Disney World.

”It was a pretty cool childhood,“ she says.

Eventually, Eckstein fulfilled her dream of having her wedding reception in Disney World when she married David Eckstein, the shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays

Vacations take many families to Orlando, but Eckstein always traveled to Kentucky, to visit aunts, uncles and grandparents, and she still does. Louisville is the Ecksteins' Thanksgiving destination, and Ashley says her new project will probably play a part.

”The Star Wars video games come out in November,“ Ashley says. ”Every Thanksgiving, my brother and David, and my two uncles create some kind of tournament. The first year, it was an all-out ping-pong tournament. The next year it was cornhole.

”This year, I think it's going to be ­lightsabers on Nintendo Wii.“

The guys had better watch out, what with a Jedi in their midst.