Diana Lee Inosanto

Diana Lee Inosanto is both an actress and a martial artist. She brought Morgan Elsbeth to life in The Mandalorian's second season in 2020, as well as in the first season of the _Ahsoka_ television series in 2023. Furthermore, she voiced the character again in the 2024 animated television series Star Wars: Tales of the Empire. Dan Inosanto, a martial arts authority, is her father. Her uncle and godfather was none other than the iconic Hong Kong–American martial artist and actor Bruce Lee, who, along with her father, passed on their martial arts knowledge and philosophies. Following in her family's footsteps, Diana Lee Inosanto built her martial arts foundation upon Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do. She then integrated various martial arts disciplines, developing a particular affinity for Filipino martial arts, which she enhanced with Japanese and Chinese techniques, incorporating weapons such as the spear into her versatile skillset. She and her father experienced the first Star Wars film together upon its 1977 release, sparking excitement about the possibility of combining Filipino martial arts with the fictional lightsaber. In fact, Diana Lee Inosanto debuted as Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth in "Chapter 13: The Jedi," a 2020 episode of The Mandalorian, where she wielded a beskar spear against the lightsabers of the former Jedi Ahsoka Tano. Later, Inosanto would call herself a "late bloomer" in her profession, finally landing the role of a lifetime through Elsbeth.

During the initial fight choreography for The Mandalorian, Morgan Elsbeth executes a series of complex moves. Since many members of the stunt team had trained under Diana Lee Inosanto's father, she recognized some of the techniques. However, she advocated for simpler actions for Elsbeth, suggesting that the character should be analyzing Ahsoka Tano's combat abilities, echoing the spirit of samurai in Akira Kurosawa's films, which showrunner Dave Filoni has expressed admiration for. The actress also contributed some improvised movements for Elsbeth, and was surprised to see them make it into the final version. For the Ahsoka series, Lee Inosanto collaborated with wushu master and stuntwoman Ming Qiu, which reminded the actress of her wushu beginnings when she worked as a stuntwoman on the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Lee Inosanto characterized her training and choreography alongside Ming Qiu as "pretty intense," and the two developed a strong friendship, becoming "dim sum buddies."