As Star Wars Resistance heads into its second and final season on October 6, Kazuda Xiono and his team have to deal with even bigger threats from the First Order. While he grapples with the challenges of leadership, he must also reconcile himself to Tam’s defection, which has deeply wounded him. Voice actor Christopher Sean shared how Kaz deals with the changes, who he was most excited to work with, and how honored he is to be the first Asian American lead in the Star Wars universe.
We saw the first two episodes, great job. Going from season one to season two, what are you most excited to explore with your character?
Most of our protagonists, like Luke or Rey, grew up poor and in the desert. Kaz comes from a wealthy family, but now a lot of that is gone. His family’s on the run; he can’t go home again. Is that going to have a major effect on his going forward?
Christopher Sean: Kaz finally starts to take a leadership position, and he’s aware of the consequences of his actions from season one. Whatever you do, it can not only hurt yourself, you’ve got no one to help you. There’s no more safety net; it’s time to grow up. You can hurt a lot of people by making bad choices.
So, in season two, it’s not Kaz making the worst decisions; it’s Tam. There’s a definitive line between good and bad here, and he’s aware that his family member, someone he loves, is making bad choices. He has hope that she’s not completely bad. But the coolest thing is that we get to watch as the consequences of her actions unfold in season two, and him trying to fix that. It’s really cool.
Is a part of Kaz’s journey going to be that understanding that there’s a bigger fight? Does he get that he put people in danger last season? He tends to be kind of a lone gunman sometimes, but you mentioned that he’s growing up.
Christopher Sean: The loss of family is always hard for anyone. The loss of home? no one really understands what that is, because home is typically where the heart is. But when your home has been destroyed, all you have left is those around you, you have to make a new family.
Everything’s been taken away from Kaz. So again, he’s got to grow up; he’s got to mature. So, for him to be in a position where it’s time to mature; it’s time to be you; it’s not time for you to listen to other people, it’s time to be heard – it’s really fun to watch him.
In a sense, Luke had nothing, and Rey had nothing, but everything’s taken away from Kaz. So, he’s got to lose it all. Sometimes, by having nothing from the beginning, you appreciate it anymore. But to have everything, and then have it all taken away and try to rebuild it again, can be so much harder. Because you’ve never had to deal with nothing. For Kaz, it’s a very hard, uphill struggle. But it’s nice to watch. It’s really fun to watch a person come into their own, to find value and morality.
Which character are you most excited to see Kaz interact with this season?
Christopher Sean: That’s the thing; he’s always had people to bail him out. Old habits die hard. Kaz is coming into his own, but the layer of goofball, spastic Kaz is always going to be there. But now, there’s a new layer of leadership and mentorship qualities that he’s coming into his own and finding. He’s still young; still going to make mistakes.
And that’s what’s great about this series is, you know, you don’t just all of a sudden become a hero. You’re still finding yourself every single day. Even me, I’m not even on the show, and I’m always trying to learn who I am and trying to love myself; to find out who I am and be me. That’s what’s great about Star Wars; it’s so relatable.
How did you think he feels about Tam specifically? What is his journey going to be as far as Tam moving over to the First Order? How that’s affecting him?
Christopher Sean: I’d say it was really cool to work with Yoda. I’m just kidding. No, I’m really excited. It was cool, because they hinted at Kaz’s family. Tzi Ma; that dude’s awesome. He’s a huge voice in the Asian American world, so that was really cool to work with him. Really excited to see Kaz [work with] Lucy Lawless and Joe Manganiello; they announced many other big names. It’s really exciting to watch Kaz interact with them; to be able to be in the room with them. Like, “Aah!” I fanboy quite a bit.
This show doesn’t have Force users in it, so they’ve captured the clumsy learning curve element. Is that something you like about Star Wars Resistance, or that you lean into?
Christopher Sean: Well, the thing is, you never want to give up on family. And the minute you lose hope, what really is life then? The greatest strength that Kaz has is his hope. He really, really believes heavily in Tam. He knows who she is deep down; that’s why he’s not giving up.
It’s nice to watch Kaz fight for that, even if she isn’t aware. Maybe she is aware. It’s nice to watch Kaz for her.
Everybody has a favorite personal part of Star Wars, since the universe is so vast. Is there anything you really love about Star Wars that you haven’t gotten to see on the show yet?
Christopher Sean: I absolutely love it. I’m a big goofball myself, so I really get to see myself in Kaz, which is so much fun.
There are moments, like, he says some silly dad joke. He’s like, “Oh, I bet they couldn’t stomach it,” and everyone’s laughing. And they’re like, “Gosh, that’s such a Kaz joke.”
That was written dialogue, but what they didn’t know was that the next scene, they’re like, “Oh, man. The gravity’s out. I hope everyone’s okay.” “I bet they can’t stand it,” was how it was supposed to be written. But I read it as, “I bet they can’t… STAND it.” Everyone’s like, “No, no, no, we have to rewrite the line.” I was like, “No, it’s great. It’s great. Hit me with another!”
For me, I absolutely love the comedy. I try to put more comedy in. But they do a really great job of balancing comedy and drama in the series, and action-adventure and drama and love and family.
They’re going to be offended by his very being. He’s the anti-Force; Jar Jar in human form.
Christopher Sean: I can answer that knowingly after recording the whole season. Without spoiler context, I would say I’m really hoping for Kaz to deal more with force-sensitive people
Do you think Kaz could make the jump to live action?
Christopher Sean: He’s Jar Jar mixed with Poe. He’s cool at times, super cool and cocky, and then he’s just foot in mouth. He’s great. I’m so honored to play Kaz.
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Christopher Sean: I would hope that if Kaz did jump to live action, they would allow him to work out and butt up a little bit. Then I could portray him. And that this brown eyed Kaz would have contacts that he would take out, and then I could play him.
I hope that’s the case. That would be really cool to be able to portray Kaz in a live action. Don’t get me wrong, just being able to be an Asian American lead in a Star Wars franchise? I’m the first Asian American lead of a Star Wars series, that’s huge in itself. So, I’m honored. If there was any opportunity to continue to live on through the character? Yeah, that would be huge. But I’m happy with what I have.
