He took it as a sign, sending photos of himself and Ezra to his agent and manager with a message: When they cast Ezra, he was going to play him. That conviction changed Esfandi’s career and led him to London for filming Season 2, putting him in position to join “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” one of the highest-grossing movies ever. An athlete first Long before mastering his Jedi training, Esfandi spent countless hours honing his craft on the tennis court.
He won a doubles title and multiple team district titles at Alexander High School before heading to a highly competitive Laredo Community College program with dreams of turning pro. Esfandi put those dreams on hold when he transferred to the University of Texas at Austin two years later to study economics. Ironically, he discovered acting and was himself discovered while working on a project about the paths people took.
He would interview strangers in coffee shops about whether they got a job related to their degree and whether they were happy with the path they took. A friend suggested he attend an audition workshop hosted by Kim and Brad Burton because people from all walks of life attended. “I met a good amount of people in all kinds of fields,” Esfandi said. “I was at the audition workshop and they asked for volunteers.
I went up and it went really well
I went up and it went really well. At the end they asked who my agent was and why they hadn’t heard of me before.” After being asked to send a headshot, then asking what a headshot was, Esfandi quickly booked his first role. It was a background role with no lines, but he made $500 in two hours and had fun. He was making $35 per hour giving tennis lessons while dealing with student loans and financial aid, so he was eager to book more work.
“I called my mom and was like, ‘I just figured out a way to make a ton of money fast,’” he said. “I said I was going to be an actor, and she was like, ‘Si mijo! Vas a ser una estrella!’ That’s how it started, and I quickly fell in love with it.” Finding his way Esfandi worked hard to hone his craft early in his career, working on about 20 student films in his first year.
But one of his biggest early successes came behind the camera when his former doubles partner Isaac Garza asked him to direct his 2018 short “Pepito.” It was a comedic yet deeply personal story serving as a love letter to his complicated relationships with both his mother and the church while growing up in Laredo. “Pepito” was chosen two years later as one of three movies in the first Latinx Short Film Competition, earning it worldwide streaming through HBO.
After directing Pepito, Esfandi earned the opportunity
After directing “Pepito,” Esfandi earned the opportunity to work with a famous director, landing the role of Funny Guy in Robert Rodriguez’s “Red 11.” In addition to the invaluable experience, the relationship played a key role in his being cast on “Ahsoka.” While developing a side project as his rap alter ego DragonWulf during the pandemic, Esfandi returned with his biggest role yet in a full-circle moment.
After years of playing and coaching tennis, he was cast as a tennis coach named Barry in the Oscar-winning Will Smith movie “King Richard.” One with the force Esfandi came across his biggest break by chance while scrolling social media. He saw a post from artist Pandora Young showing the character Ezra Bridger aged up. He shared a striking resemblance with the character many were dubbing “Space Aladdin,” and he told himself, “I should be Space Aladdin.” It wasn’t long before another voice agreed with him.
Esfandi decided to watch Bridger in the first episode of “Star Wars Rebels.” He didn’t have Disney+, but the app was somehow signed in under the name Walker. When Ezra came on the screen, Esfandi said he felt a presence in the room and paused. “It felt almost like the older Ezra was standing right there with me,” Esfandi said. “I’ve had some interesting, intense experiences with spirits, mediums, channeling and dreams.
I get it from my momma
I get it from my momma. So I wasn’t super unfamiliar, but I was a little confused because Ezra is animated.” Esfandi said Ezra told him they were going to make a live-action version, and he wanted to play him through Esfandi. He sent photos of himself along with the art from Pandora Young to his agent and manager, saying, “When they cast for Ezra Bridger, I’m going to play him.” His agent and good friend, John Tynan, called and asked if it was one of his “woo woo” things and said he hoped it came true because he loves Star Wars.
Esfandi said he hoped it came true so he didn’t look loco. Before anything was cast, Esfandi landed another role in an A24 movie called “The Inspection.” “I feel blessed to be guided to these things,” Esfandi said. “‘King Richard’ had an Oscar performance. ‘The Inspection’ is a beautiful A24 movie. ‘Red 11’ was back to Robert Rodriguez’s roots. ‘Austin Weird’ was the first indie I did with my buddy Dylan.
I love that film.” About six months after sending the email, his agent received an anonymous audition he thought might be for the character. Esfandi looked at the character description and said Ezra was in the room again. “It’s an interesting Jedi Force ghost experience,” Esfandi said. “Somehow Ezra sent his Force ghost to me. And Ezra is the first one to go to the World Between Worlds.
I did one take of each scene, because
I did one take of each scene, because that’s all Ezra wanted to do. I sent it in, and the next day I got put on avail. Sarah Finn showed Dave Filoni my audition, and apparently almost immediately he was like, ‘Huh. Yeah, that’s Ezra. There he is.’ He said he was immediately on board.” Esfandi also received a boost from his old friend Rodriguez, who had just worked on another Star Wars series with Filoni.
Rodriguez called to talk about Esfandi, and the next day Esfandi was offered the part. The part immediately felt like home as Esfandi said he and Ezra are simpatico with similar goofy tastes. He immediately began training to perfect his lightsaber skills, but it was a nervous moment on set when he realized the blue contacts his character wears caused tunnel vision. However, muscle memory saved the day.
“We got on set and I couldn’t see anything,” Esfandi said. “But what’s cool is I realized I have incredible muscle memory. I picked up all the fighting stuff really well.” After growing up as a first-generation Iranian-Ecuadorian American in Laredo, Esfandi said he felt honored to be the first male Hispanic Jedi in live action. However, he had to sit on that news for months because Disney never confirmed his casting publicly.
Disney said the first time everyone would see
Disney said the first time everyone would see him was in the show, and he didn’t debut until Episode 6. “I was living with my dad in his studio in Santa Monica after getting evicted,” Esfandi said. “It was a slow time sitting on it waiting for the episode to air so I could be like, ‘Hey, it’s me. Put me in another movie or let me go to Comic Con!’” That has made Season 2 press for “Ahsoka” a completely new experience.
Esfandi is a known commodity and is loving the busy press tour, which included a trailer debut at D23 alongside Filoni, “Ahsoka” actress Rosario Dawson and Anakin Skywalker actor Hayden Christensen. “I almost feel like an animal let out of the cage,” Esfandi said. “I’m like Road Runner out there, beep beep! I’m having the best time in the world. I’ve become a super fan of Stars Wars and I’m in it.” Along with traditional interviews, Esfandi has gotten creative with giving lightsaber lessons to children and showing off his stunt moves during Twitch streams.
Esfandi has had a continuous out-of-body experience throughout the press tour, seeing the experience through the eyes of his younger self. “There’s the me from Laredo watching it happen in awe, and there’s the me who is in the moment with it,” Esfandi said. “All of this is so fascinating, just like it was walking on a Star Wars set and looking around for the first time.
I get to talk about a project I
“I get to talk about a project I poured my heart and soul into, lived in another country for and prioritized a year of my life with research and training. It’s a great feeling getting to share the love we poured into it.” The trailer that debuted at D23 showed off a new experience. They traded the Volume for filming on massive sets, and Esfandi is a regular fixture from the first episode.
The trailer showed him wielding a lightsaber and a blaster, and he was seen flying in a space battle. “To fly a starship is one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had,” Esfandi said. “Seeing it in that trailer looked so good. My heart sank to my stomach when I saw it. I knew it conceptually, but until you see and hear it, it doesn’t hit you like that.” Esfandi also was thrilled with the opportunity to work with Mary Elizabeth Winstead for the first time.
Ezra and her character Hera will team up throughout the season. “She is such a talent,” Esfandi said. “I’m so impressed. Her resume speaks for itself, but working with her and seeing it up close, I took a lot from it. It was also such a fun time. We were laughing the whole season. It was really beautiful.” Popping into another mega franchise During the filming of Season 2 in London, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” was filming next door and was looking for someone to play the boyfriend of Zendaya’s character MJ.
Ahsoka’s casting director passed his name along,
“Ahsoka’s” casting director passed his name along, and Esfandi performed an NDA audition with a fake scene without knowing what the project was. However, he loved the experience even before getting the part. “I really wanted to do an in-person audition in London,” Esfandi said. “It was a cool first. That casting director in London, Reg Poerscout-Edgerton, was one of the best audition experiences in my life.
It was like an acting school. He was coming up with things to try. We did the scene seven or eight ways, and I left a better actor.” A few weeks later, Esfandi’s agent called to tell him he was hopping next door to be in “Spider-Man.” It gave him a chance to learn even more from actors he looked up to, working with Tom Holland, Zendaya and Jacob Batalon, along with director Destin Daniel Cretton.
“Tom was the first to welcome me to set,” Esfandi said. “He was like, ‘Welcome to the team, mate.’ I was like, ‘Wow, Spider-Man just welcomed me to the team!’ That was the ‘pinch me’ moment. “Destin was great, and I worked with Zendaya and Jacob,” Esfandi said. “Zendaya is really good at acting. Seeing her do take after take and how she changes things was interesting.
Jacob is really calm and looks like he’s
Jacob is really calm and looks like he’s floating.” Despite the small part, Esfandi dealt with intense scrutiny. His character was credited as “The Boyfriend,” but many speculated he was a notoriously hated character named Paul from the comics. Esfandi said he had fun with the fans at first until it turned dark. “People started to use the hate for Paul as an excuse to be racist towards me with death threats, AI of me getting killed,” Esfandi said.
“It became online violent, so I had to come out and say I wasn’t playing Paul. What actor in their right mind would take a character that is so obviously hated?” Business has continued to boom for the movie. It set the domestic opening weekend box office record and was already the third-highest-grossing domestic movie through three weekends, along with surpassing $2 billion worldwide.
Between the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars and Spider-Man, Esfandi is now connected to three of the top four highest-grossing franchises in history, missing only Harry Potter. “I feel really grateful and excited and honored to be in that,” Esfandi said. “I feel blessed being in one of the biggest movies ever which I loved so much, and in a really heartbreaking but important moment of the movie, while on the heels of ‘Ahsoka Season 2’ coming out during the 50th anniversary of Star Wars.
I feel like I’m in a rocket ship,
I feel like I’m in a rocket ship, and by the time Jan. 20 comes around, I’ll be in hyperspace.” Esfandi also said he felt honored to join Thomas Haden Church and Rogelio Ramos as Laredo actors to appear in “Spider-Man” movies. “I loved that tidbit when I found out,” Esfandi said. “It goes to show that talent is everywhere. Sometimes you have to either leave where you are to go where the looking is, or you have to stick to your guns and know that where you are doesn’t dictate your progress in a craft.” Full circle moments continue Esfandi has continued to see his various endeavors cross paths over the years.
During a Comic Con event, he agreed to do a Star Wars podcast, not knowing it was hosted by Story of the Year bassist Adam Russel and Yellowcard lead singer Ryan Key. They hit it off, and Russel invited him to perform two shows in San Diego and at Warped Tour. Russel suggested Esfandi bring a lightsaber in San Diego, and Esfandi jumped at the opportunity. It wasn’t turning on during his first verse, but it lit up at the start of the second verse and he took full advantage.
“People went crazy,” Esfandi said. “Then I put the mic down and went nuts with the lightsaber during a crazy part of the song. What Jedi has ever gone on stage at a rock concert and gone nuts with a lightsaber? Ezra Bridger would be the guy.” As he prepares to continue a blockbuster career, Esfandi tied a bow on what started it all last year. During college, he was approached by Persian filmmaker Bita Ghassemi, who heard he was a Persian actor and wanted to cast him someday.
Esfandi said he was intrigued and became eager
Esfandi said he was intrigued and became eager after watching her intro to film class short film premiere. They finally teamed up last year for the short film “Firewall,” with Esfandi playing Baba. His character is the father of an Iranian American girl in Texas named Ani, played by Ayla Farmand. “It was an honor in some ways to my own Baba and my upbringing,” Esfandi said.
“It’s a very impactful film, and very relevant in some ways now. I was just happy to help. I’m so proud of the film. The lead actress, it was her first time acting, and she was such a pro. What a sweet, talented girl. “It felt like me saying goodbye to that indie actor chapter and saying hello to this blockbuster chapter.” Esfandi teased more big things ahead, but none he can speak about yet.
Season 2 of “Ahsoka” debuts Jan. 20 amid the 50th anniversary celebration of Star Wars. “This season is going to be bigger, and it looks so big already,” Esfandi said. “It’s so exciting. It feels like the first season was getting warmed up, and Season 2 it takes off. I’m so excited about that. I’m already known as the character and I don’t have to hide.”
