Hera Flies Again: Vanessa Marshall on Returning as the High-Flying Pilot in Star Wars: The Bad Batch

In The Bad Batch episodes "Devil’s Deal" and "Rescue on Ryloth," now streaming on Disney+, we meet a young Hera Syndulla who is not yet the fully-formed leader of the Ghost crew in Star Wars Rebels, but still shows a rebellious streak and a dream of flying. Going back in time as Hera, however, meant that Marshall would need to deliver a different kind of performance. She’d never played Hera as a young girl, and Twi’leks normally speak with a French accent. (Something Hera lost along the way, but reverted to during an angry conversation with her father in Star Wars Rebels. More on that in a bit.)

“That’s the whole point of voiceover. That we can do anything. And I do play kids, and pieces of cheese, and golf balls. I get to do this all day long. It’s kind of the fun that comes with the trade,” Marshall says. “There were a couple of things going on. I’ve studied French for 14 years in school, I’m fluent in French, I had a dear friend who was French. I know the French accent. So there was putting that layer on top of it, and also making her younger. I’m well versed in that exercise, but this one was sort of two-fold in that it had to be true to the Hera that we know, with a Ryloth accent, and as a teenager. So there was a lot going on. But what I find is key for a most successful experience is to go from the inside out, as opposed to the outside in. What I mean by that is, if I’m trying to affect a sound, it’s not going to ring true. But the minute I put myself in her position, knowing all that befalls her in the future, I was really able to have fun playing with what her innocence might feel like. If I really went from her earnest desire to fly and be free in that fashion, the voice really kind of found itself.”

When the Empire seeks to establish a military presence on her homeworld of Ryloth in the episodes, Hera and her droid Chopper (who would later join her on the Ghost) are quick to take action, and it leads to conflict with her father, Cham Syndulla, a hero of the Clone Wars. In one poignant scene, they clash over how to respond to the Empire; Cham is not ready to pick up arms, while Hera sides more with her uncle, who wants to be rid of the Imperials. While Cham ultimately only wants to protect his daughter, he fails to realize that Hera is too much like him to sit things out. This conversation provides a bookend to a sequence in Star Wars Rebels, in which Hera, years later, confronts her father over their past disagreements and rocky history.

“I thought it was important to demonstrate that while she was subversive in the sense that she was still doing what she wanted to do for the cause she believed in with her uncle, as opposed to following her father’s instructions, that she did have a meek demeanor around him because she wasn’t quite the person that we see in the episodes of Rebels where she confronts him with that Ryloth accent. I wanted it to be a sharp contrast to what we see later on. I was trying to sort of lay the groundwork for what is an incredible transformation for someone who is yearning.”

While we do see the rise of Hera the rebel in The Bad Batch, the episodes also take time to show her love of flying and early attempts in the cockpit. Thematically, this desire smartly reinforces the story’s themes of fighting back against occupation; when Hera sums up why she wants to fly, she simply says, “You’re free.”

“I’ll tell you, my father most celebrates the perspective that one gets by being above all the minutia, all the petty grievances, all the very harrowing things that are going on in the world. Once one is up above those things, it’s a much-needed break that cleanses the soul,” Marshall says. “I think for Hera, there’s a spiritual element for her, as well, but there’s also a political one. If she can utilize that ability to help people, and the fact that she does so, to me is remarkable and important to note. I’m just blown away by how far she does go.”

Hera forever

At the time of this interview, Marshall has only seen “Devil’s Due.” That’s because she’s watching the series just like the rest of us: when it’s released on Disney+. And even though she plays Hera, watching the episode still proved emotional.

“I was completely crying the entire time,” she says, laughing. “It was just so great.” 

She also couldn’t help but notice how fans responded.

“I’m pleased to see that people were happy to see Hera return and that there were lines quoted. ‘Flying is a feeling,’ ‘Instruments are part of it,’ and ‘You’re free.’ It was very moving to see that, very gratifying. The fans hold a special place in my heart, so to see that they’re pleased means everything to me.” 

When you talk to Marshall about Star Wars, you come to understand that she too is a Star Wars fan. The kind that can rattle off ship names and planets and character beats with ease. (“As a Clone Wars fan, to go back to Ryloth was just the best,” she says.) So the opportunity to be on The Bad Batch was also just plain exciting for the actor.

“I am a huge fan of the show and I adore Omega,” Marshall says. “My experience of her, really, is solely through watching The Bad Batch. So for me, as a fan, to see me interact with Omega, I was completely fangirling out.”

Six years after the debut of Star Wars Rebels, Hera looms large in the Star Wars galaxy. The character has subsequently appeared in video games (voiced and performed via motion-capture by Marshall in Star Wars: Squadrons), comics, books, and now The Bad Batch. (She was also mentioned in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story to the delight of fans.) It’s a growing legacy that is not lost on Marshall.

“I’m delighted that she is still relevant. I care about her so much, and I care about what she stands for,” Marshall says. “I’m grateful that it resonates with people.”

Dan Brooks is a writer and the editor of StarWars.com. He loves Star Wars, ELO, and the New York Rangers, Jets, Yankees, and Knicks. Follow him on Twitter @dan_brooks.

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