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Credit: Inside the MagicThe truth about Pedro Pascal in The Mandalorian has been admitted and confirmed by the actor himself; Pascal is not Din Djarin.
The Mandalorian is heavily dubbed by many as the savior of Disney’s Star Wars. When The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, all eyes were on what the House of Mouse would do with the beloved franchise. The Star Wars universe returned to the big screen in 2015 with Kathleen Kennedy’s Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens, and catapulted the galaxy far, far away back into the moviegoing experience.
That said, the story of Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) would eventually split the fandom with the release of Rian Johnson‘s Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi (2017), and the sequel trilogy finale, Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker (2019). The latter seeing the return of The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams at the helm.
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Even the reprise of Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) couldn’t stitch the Star Wars galaxy back together. But, a lone Mandalorian apparently could.
Pedro Pascal first appeared as Din Djarin, AKA the titular bounty hunter in Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian Season 1, which debuted with the launch of Disney+ in November 2019. Favreau and Dave Filoni’s The Mandalorian, which has now spawned the wider “Mando-Verse”, is one of Lucasfilm’s most popular assets.
The Mandalorian also provided the backdrop for actor Pedro Pascal to skyrocket into superstardom. Having appeared on Game of Thrones as Oberyn Martell and on Netflix’s Narcos, Pascal’s turn as the grumpy bounty hunter who becomes the guardian of a little green Child (Grogu, AKA “Baby Yoda”) saw him attract legions of fans. And this lone wolf and cub trope reached new heights when Pascal starred as Joel in HBO’s The Last of Us alongside Bella Ramsey (Ellie).
While Pascal is credited with bringing Din Djarin to life, it is his “face” underneath the helmet after all, there are actually others that embody the Mandalorian. And Pedro Pascal just admitted the truth, confirming he is just the voice of the character, with his body replaced by others.
Speaking at the Drama Actor’s Roundtable with The Hollywood Reporter, the Mandalorian star told his fellow actors the truth behind the production.
“There was an extended amount of experimentation, being in the suit for a lot of it, and frankly, my body wasn’t up for the task as far as, like, the four months of it,” Pascal said (via Collider). “But I was in it. I was in it a significant amount, an elastic amount. But now we’ve figured it out, which is super cool, and amazingly, it gave me the opportunity to be able to go and do something else.”
Pedro Pascal may carry the emotional weight of the character, but the actor’s admittance that he is pretty much just the voice of Din Djarin gives more credibility to Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder. It has been known for a long time that Wayne and Crowder perform a lot of the physicality of Din Djarin (they have been on-set since Season 1, after all), but this is a rare occasion of Pascal actually speaking on the topic outright, and confirming his own role in the series.
It also lends to the idea that The Mandalorian could and most likely will carry on for the foreseeable future. Favreau has said there is no current end for the Star Wars series, and at this year’s Star Wars Celebration Europe, Kathleen Kennedy announced that Lucasfilm darling Dave Filoni will helm a “Mando-Verse” crossover movie, likely pulling together The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and Skeleton Crew.
So, even with Pascal’s continuously rising star power where Hollywood just can’t get enough of casting the actor, the confirmation that he is primarily only voice of Din Djarin means he is unlikely to be stepping away from the franchise any time soon.
Related: ‘Star Wars’ Officially Debuts Gina Carano’s Cara Dune Replacement
That said, The Mandalorian Season 3 offered many new threads while wrapping up things that have existed since Season 1. The co-lead status of Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan Kryze, as well as the character’s ownership of the Darksaber, called into question just which Mandalorian The Mandalorian is about. For now, it seems both will still share the screen in equal amounts.
Does it bother you that Pedro Pascal is not in suit the whole time? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!