Meredith Salenger has been waiting for over a decade to find out what happened to Barriss Offee sharing that Dave Filoni told her “there were things to come for her, but he never said what”, and all is now revealed in Star Wars: Tales of the Empire.
“I was left wondering forever just like the fans!” Salenger tells StarWars.com. “Dave [Filoni] told me there were things to come for her, but he never said what.”
“Just being in the booth with Dave Filoni is so special because he gives you such a great backstory on the character,” Salenger says. “After spending time with Dave and after becoming Barriss, I really became a much deeper fan.”
Over the course of four seasons, Salenger’s Barriss became a foil for Ashley Eckstein’s portrayal of Ahsoka Tano. The former ultimately framed Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan for a bombing at the Jedi Temple while lashing out at the Order for losing its way. “I think Barriss has been struggling with wanting to do the right thing and then truly going about it in the worst way,” Salenger says. “She was trying to fight to stop this violent military operation, and yet she used violence to make her point. Being thrown in jail gave her ample opportunity to sit and stew on her emotions and that’s where we find her at the beginning of Tales of the Empire.”
Salenger was elated to get the call to return to the role and finally experience her next chapter. “It was the most exciting thing ever to get the call to come back as Barriss. Honestly, I love playing her.”
Serving a life sentence after Order 66, the Fourth Sister offers Barriss a choice: join the Empire as a member of the Inquisitorius or rot in a cell. “Tales of the Empire really begins her story again in such an interesting, conflicted place, and it’s just the best arc of a character I think I’ve ever had,” Salenger says. “To survive, she has to make a choice she doesn’t want to make. I think she still holds on to her moral convictions. She’s presented with a path she doesn’t particularly want to take, but she knows it’s the only way.”
Read more here and stream Star Wars: Tales of the Empire now on Disney+.
