Claudia Black on Why She Can’t Return for Ahsoka’s Season 2: A Heartfelt Decision Over Pay
As the highly anticipated second season of Star Wars series Ahsoka Tano approaches, one notable cast member, Claudia Black, has announced she will not return.
In a candid interview with Bleeding Cool, Black shared, “Well, I’m going to be transparent. They picked up Season 2, picked me up with it, and then Disney, which is structuring things differently these days, could not pay me what I needed to be paid as a single mother to keep all my responsibilities going at home in Los Angeles, because they were filming in London. It was not something that they could make happen, and therefore, I had to bow out for Season 2.” A representative from Lucasfilm declined to comment.
Black expressed her disappointment, saying the decision “was very sad for me.” She noted that she reached out to Dave Filoni, expressing her gratitude: “What a ride! Everyone like me who grew up in the 70s and 80s has always been into the Star Wars universe, and it’s a very playful environment to work in.”
In the first season of Ahsoka, which premiered in 2023, Black portrayed one of three Dathmiri Nightsisters of Peridia, alongside Jeryl Prescott Gallien and Jane Edwina Seymour. The trio of witches offered their dark magic to Grand Admiral Thrawn, played by Lars Mikkelsen, after he awakens them from an ancient slumber.
Describing the filming environment, Black said it was a “fun, playful space to be in,” adding that the project held special significance for her younger son, who was passionate about The Clone Wars. “It was fun to do something that was relatable to him,” she noted.
Reflecting on the challenges, she elaborated, “They call it ‘show business’ for a reason. It’s like 90 percent business and 10 percent show. They could not, sadly, support a single mom, and I’m very sad about that, but I also understand market forces being what they are. We all had to do our sums and move on.”
During the Star Wars Celebration panel in April, Filoni hinted that production for Season 2 was set to commence soon.
