As hardcore Star Wars fans already know, it takes at least three people to make The Mandalorian‘s Din Djarin the man he is.
Of course, Pedro Pascal has been billed as the man under the shiny beskar helmet since the first season of the Disney+ show, but things were very different for season 3, he tells The Hollywood Reporter.
When Din’s bucket is on, Brendan Wayne — grandson of icon John Wayne — was underneath, providing Din with his gunslinger swagger. If there’s any fistfighting or Darksaber dueling to be done, that goes to martial artist Lateef Crowder wearing the costume.
There were scenes in seasons 1 and 2 when Din had to remove his helmet, revealing Pascal’s face — a no-no to the character’s code — but that didn’t happen in season 3, and it wasn’t because of Din’s beliefs.
It was because Pascal wasn’t there, he tells the trade.
The actor was busy filming HBO’s The Last of Us when Mando‘s third season was underway, which means he only provided Din’s gravelly voice.
Pascal says of the first two seasons, “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. But I was in it. I was in it a significant amount, an elastic amount.”
He adds, “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 says he wouldn’t change either of the other actors’ performances as his stand-ins, who were given top billing in the show’s credits for the first time this season.
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