SAN LEANDRO — After lending her voice to 3D film “Walking with Dinosaurs” in 2013, Indian American actress Tiya Sircar has now been cast as a key character in animated television series “Star Wars Rebels.”
Sircar is the voice of Mandalorian weapons and combat expert Sabine Wren, who is also a graffiti artist. Sabine sports paint-flecked clothes and hair with purple and orange highlights.
Besides Sabine, the “Star Wars Rebels” crew includes leader Kanan (Freddie Prinze Jr.), 14-year-old Ezra Bridger (Taylor Gray), ace pilot Hera Syndulla (Vanessa Marshall) and “muscle” Zeb Orrelios (Steve Blum).
The group travels on board a starship called the “Ghost” during a time when a rebellion against the Galactic Empire is taking shape.
The show, written by Carrie Beck and Simon Kinberg of “X-Men” film franchise fame, is set 14 years after “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” and five years before the original film “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.”
The 32-year-old actress, who is a native of Austin, Texas, said it was “a big deal to join the ‘Star Wars’ universe.”
Sircar has acted in TV shows like “Witches of East End,” “The Vampire Diaries,” “Numb3rs,” “Hannah Montana” and “House M.D.”
Along with a prominent role in Keira Knightley-starrer “Laggies,” a dark comedy that released earlier this year, Sircar has appeared in films like Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson-starrer “The Internship,” “Friends with Benefits” and “17 Again.”
Sircar, also a talented Indian classical, jazz ballet and can-can dancer, is experienced with voice work, having lent her voice to Disney’s “Phineas & Ferb.”
“Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion” premiered as a one-hour movie Oct. 3 on the Disney Channel and Oct. 6 on Disney XD.
After its first 30-minute episode, titled “Droids in Distress,” Oct. 13, the series airs on Mondays at 6 pm PT on Disney XD.
It has already been renewed for a second season.