Stories of Light and Dark: Interview with Catherine Taber

Stories of Light and Dark is a celebratory collection of some of the most memorable moments of The Clone Wars told from the points of view of everyone’s favorite characters—written by an amazing ensemble of authors. What makes this anthology extra special is the return of the series’ original cast to narrate the stories for the audiobook—including the one and only Catherine Taber, voice of our beloved character Padmé Amidala.

“It was such a welcome surprise and took me off guard, actually. I hadn’t been away from Padmé long. I had just finished doing E. K. Johnston’s audiobook Queen’s Peril, and before that I had done Queen’s Shadow. But it was kind of out of nowhere that our producer Nick Martorelli said ‘I have something else for you, and it’s a Clone Wars book,’ and I was like ‘A Clone Wars book?!’ It was just really exciting,” Taber shared in an interview with TatooineTimes.com. “Even though we weren’t all in the studio together, I just felt a sense of them all being there. It was just cool to be able to revisit it for the fans, to give them something else.”

Catherine Taber’s deep-rooted connection to Star Wars did not begin with the inspiring senator of Naboo. In fact, her very first Star Wars role—also her first voice over job and her second voice over audition ever—was for the 2003 game Knights of the Old Republic, where Taber played the Rutian Twi’lek scoundrel Mission Vao. “The reason I booked it was because I was a Star Wars fan. I kind of was like ‘Oh, she’s like a young Han Solo,’ that’s really how I played her,” Taber shared. “It’s funny because that one audition and that one job changed the trajectory of my life. I am just blessed to have been a part of this amazing franchise.”

From Mission Vao to one of the most iconic characters in Star Wars, Taber has been a voice of inspiration through Padmé’s righteousness and hope.

“I just love her character so much … it’s personal to me. I get to play a lot of characters, but there’s something very special about my connection to Padmé. Originally, I wasn’t even on the list to audition for the role because I was so new and the casting director didn’t know me. My agent actually called them and said ‘No, she is Padmé, you really have to see her.’ All these years later, I get to continue to bring her to life, and with authors like Anne Ursu I’m able to really show her courage, her diplomacy, her true sense of trying to see and believe that there’s good in everyone—which is something that is lacking today and just in general,” Taber said.

Pursuit of Peace—based on The Clone Wars episodes Heroes on Both Sides and Pursuit of Peace—features one of Padmé’s most defining moments as she attempts to restore peace between the Republic and the Separatists and stop a bill to deregulate the banks—which would open a gateway to additional troops and prolong the war.

“Pursuit of Peace has always stuck out for me very strongly, because I think it’s such an important part of who [Padmé] is. She is still friends with [Mina Bonteri] who is a separatist and for Ahsoka that’s shocking and unheard of. I think it’s an important lesson that we could all learn today. It doesn’t mean she agrees with her or that they will ever see eye to eye on that, but they’re still friends. I would like to imagine that over the course of time, she was probably trying to convince her friend to come over to her side. I wish that she had been able to—things probably would have turned out better,” Taber explained. “I rewatched parts of it because I wanted to make sure that when I was doing character voices within it that I was doing justice to what was done originally.”

The book’s version of the two episodes dives deeper into Padmé’s perspective and thought process as events unravel in the story—something that could not be fully achieved in the animated series. Stories of Light and Dark brought even more insight into Padmé’s optimism as the last lines in Pursuit of Peace give a glimpse of the reasoning behind her love for Anakin, despite the darkness inside him. “As Ursu so beautifully wrote, ‘And just because something good has darkness in it doesn’t mean you abandon it. Just because there is darkness in something does not mean you do not love it. You show it love, you show it light, and you hope it chooses the light.’ I love that line. It is just so beautiful and full of grace. It is just so Padmé,” Taber explained.

The actress added that just like Stories of Light and Dark expands upon the characters’ in-depth perspective from the animated series, so did the show itself that was based upon the prequels—elevating the storytelling mechanism. “We were able to go back to the relationship between Anakin and Padmé and really see things that you just never got to see in the movies. It was just such a great honor to be a part of filling in those gaps.”

Stories of Light and Dark does not just recount familiar tales from The Clone Wars, but it also includes Bug, an original story by E. Anne Convery featuring the world of the Nightsisters of Dathomir. Taber shared her intimate connection with the Dathomirian witches and her experience narrating the story. “I played a Nightsister in The Clone Wars named Karis. I will never forget it, because I often play light characters. I remember that day Dave Filoni was like ‘I’ve got something really fun for you!’ Then getting to read this story about Nightsisters that his wife Anne wrote was so cool,” Taber said. “It had just that perfect amount of magic and mystery. It had that character that you root for—that sort of Cinderella character with a modern twist, and the Nightsister lore in and of itself is so fascinating that I think all of us are always excited to be able to get more of that. What a great first foray into writing for Star Wars.”

Fans of The Clone Wars will fall in love with their favorite characters once again with Stories of Light and Dark. From Padmé Amidala to a unique tale of the Nightsisters, Taber truly brings these stories to life while inspiring generations of fans through her iconic voice acting.

Share your favorite moments from Stories of Light and Dark by leaving a comment below or on our social media outlets and make sure to follow and engage with Catherine Taber on Instagram and Twitter.