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

Mark Hamill's surprise appearance as Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian remains one of the most electrifying moments in Star Wars history. Rosario Dawson shared an astonishing tale from Star Wars Celebration about how she was completely in the dark about Hamill's cameo until he walked onto the set of The Book of Boba Fett. This unexpected twist left Dawson, who plays Ahsoka Tano, utterly astonished.

To maintain the secrecy of Luke Skywalker's cameo, showrunners Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau cleverly used Jedi Master Plo Koon as a decoy in the scripts. This tactic was designed to throw off potential leaks, and it worked—except Dawson was also caught off guard by this ruse. She remembered reading about Plo Koon's supposed arrival in the script, which bewildered her as much as it would any Star Wars fan, given that Plo Koon had met a tragic end in Revenge of the Sith.

"I was like... I don't know... but people disappear and then they come back, so maybe it's possible?" Dawson recalled. Her confusion was only cleared up when Mark Hamill himself appeared on set, leading to a memorable moment. Hamill humorously remarked, "Plo Koon? That wouldn't even make sense!" to which Dawson replied, "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 expressed their regret for not informing Dawson earlier, admitting, "That was bad on us!" Filoni added with a chuckle, "We assumed you'd gotten told the right information. We were in it so much."

Favreau explained the high stakes of keeping these secrets, stating, "There were two secrets we knew we had to keep on the show. One was Grogu's reveal at the end of the first episode, and the other one was Luke Skywalker at the end of season two. We were biting our nails all the way through, and we somehow miraculously made it cleanly to both of those because everything else leaked. But, unfortunately, we didn't fill in our partner here."

Dawson took it in stride, jokingly saying, "I love it, they know I can't be trusted." This anecdote underscores the lengths to which the Star Wars team went to preserve the surprise of Luke Skywalker's return, adding yet another layer of excitement to the beloved franchise.

Concept art of Plo Koon made to throw off leaks. Image Credit: Disney & Lucasfilm