Rosario Dawson Surprised by Mark Hamill's Return as Luke Skywalker on The Mandalorian Set - Star Wars Celebration

Rosario Dawson’s portrayal of Ahsoka Tano in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett has been a major highlight for Star Wars fans, but even she wasn’t prepared for one of the most shocking moments in recent franchise history—Mark Hamill’s surprise appearance as Luke Skywalker.

What many didn’t know until now is that Dawson was completely kept in the dark about the big reveal. While speaking at Star Wars Celebration, she revealed that she had no idea Mark Hamill would be appearing on set until he actually walked in—making it one of the most unexpected and unforgettable moments of her career.

To protect the massive secret, showrunners Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau used Jedi Master Plo Koon as a clever decoy throughout production. In the script, any scenes involving Luke Skywalker were written with Plo Koon’s name instead, ensuring that even cast members wouldn’t suspect anything. For Dawson, this led to genuine confusion.

"I was like… I don't know… but people disappear and then they come back, so maybe it's possible?" Dawson recalled. "And then Mark Hamill was on set and surprised me—it was surreal. He even said, 'Plo Koon? That wouldn't even make sense!' And I'm like, 'I know it didn't make sense, but I still had to think it made sense because I got the script and everything!'"

Filoni and Favreau admitted they felt terrible about the mix-up, saying, “That was bad on us!” Filoni added with a chuckle, “We thought you’d already been told the real details. We were too deep in it.”

Favreau explained just how crucial those secrets were during production: “There were two reveals we knew we absolutely had to protect—one was Grogu’s debut at the end of the first episode, and the other was Luke Skywalker at the end of season two. Everything else leaked at some point, but somehow we managed to keep both of those under wraps.”

Unfortunately, in the process, they forgot to loop in one of their own.

Dawson took it all in stride, laughing off the situation: “I love it. They know I can’t be trusted!”

Concept art of Plo Koon created to mislead potential leaks. Image Credit: Disney & Lucasfilm