The Mandalorian's cast is usually decked up in wild makeup and costumes,
so it's hard to see what the actors really look like when they're off the clock.
Here's what your favorite characters look like in real life, without all the special effects.
In one of the very first sequences in The Mandalorian, we meet Mythrol,
a bright blue alien with a bounty on his head who the titular character is charged with bringing in.
Mythrol reappears as more of an ally in a later episode.
We're willing to bet you didn't recognize this creature — but it turns out,
he's actually played by a relatively well-known comedy actor: Horatio Sanz.
Sanz made a name for himself on Saturday Night Live,
before going on to take on roles in films like Bachelorette, Boat Trip,
Year One, Road Trip, and much more. He's also well known for his many comedic voice roles.
Comedy legend Amy Sedaris has appeared in more than 100 projects,
including Strangers with Candy, Puss in Boots, Elf, BoJack Horseman, and many more.
While Sedaris' resume is a long one, many of her roles have been pretty small.
As she explained in a 2004 interview with Believer,
"I'm not ambitious when it comes to my acting career. [...] I always
want small parts and my agent gets so mad at me."
"I love my job. I have no dreams. I love my job. I have no dreams."
The Mandalorian is no different. However, while her character's time on screen may be brief,
it's definitely memorable. Her role as Peli Motto, the gruff mechanic with a heart of gold,
is definitely one of the best small roles on the show.
As Sedaris explained to BuzzFeed, her work in The Mandalorian definitely made an impact,
and she was soon trending on Twitter. She told the site,
"People were freaking out 'cause I was holding Baby Yoda."
Natalia Tena portrayed Xi'an, an old colleague of the Mandalorian who turns
against him in a tense episode in Season 1. With her extensive makeup on the show,
you may have not realized that Tena was responsible for the role.
The actress behind Xi'an is actually a pretty well known actor,
especially in the fantasy realm. In 2007, she appeared in Harry Potter and the Order
of the Phoenix as Nymphadora Tonks, who eventually ends up with Lupin. And,
from 2011 to 2016, she played Osha in Game of Thrones, who helped protect Bran Stark.
By the sounds of things, Tena loves the fantasy genre, so this show was probably right up her
alley. As she told San Antonio Current, both Harry Potter and Game of Thrones were very
special experiences. No wonder Tena jumped at the chance to join the Star Wars world, too!
You probably recognize Rosario Dawson from Josie and the Pussycats or Zombieland: Double Tap,
but you may have missed her in The Mandalorian. After all, she had blue and white appendages
where her hair otherwise would have been. Dawson portrayed Ahsoka Tano, a Jedi who studied with
Anakin Skywalker and appeared in the animated Star Wars: Rebels and Star Wars: Clone Wars,
though Dawson didn't voice her on those shows; voice actress Ashley Eckstein did.
Dawson and Dave Filoni, the writer of her episode in The Mandalorian, spoke
to Vanity Fair about her appearance on the show. Apparently, she was actually "fan-cast" online;
Dawson retweeted it and got the producer's attention. Soon, she featured in the concept
art for Season 2, and not long after, she was cast in the role. Filoni added,
"When I met Rosario, I just knew she was right for Ahsoka."
Sounds like this casting was pretty much destiny. And her appearance was so popular,
in fact, they even commissioned a whole new spin-off series focusing on the character.
One of the strangest and most intriguing aspects of The Mandalorian is that we almost
never see the face of the main character. He follows a strict code, never revealing his face
in public — this means our hero spends most of his time stomping around wearing a huge helmet.
"You haven't shown your face to anyone since you were a kid?" "No."
However, if you've seen the rare episodes where we get to glimpse the Mandalorian's face,
you'll know that the actor, Pedro Pascal, isn't exactly hard on the eyes.
In fact, Pascal was actually named as one of People's "Sexiest Men Alive" in 2020.
What a shame he spends most of this show hidden under a helmet.
As the actor told The One Show, rumors that he hoped to get rid of the helmet
in future seasons weren't legit. He explained,
"It's a really wonderful way of telling the story, it's always been a very clear creed for
the character. What I want is for them to make the best show possible however they get that done."
Giancarlo Esposito was introduced into The Mandalorian at the end of Season 1 as Moff Gideon,
the main villain of the series set on kidnapping Baby Yoda for some scientific experiments. Moff is
hardly the actor's first experience of playing a villain — in fact, Esposito has practically
made a career out of freaking us out with his disarming, treacherous, on-screen villains.
Perhaps most notably, in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul,
Esposito played the terrifying Gus Fring. As Esposito explained to Fatherly, he has a pretty
nuanced view when it comes to approaching villainous characters. He told the site,
"I realized that there are no clear-cut answers or clear-cut visions or views of a villain.
It's all dependent upon what they want in their life,
what they're trying to achieve in the story, and where they're going."
In fact, as Esposito told the Hollywood Reporter,
he doesn't really buy into the concept of villains at all. He said,
"I believe that humans have their dark and their light side."
Maybe this intelligent approach is why Esposito is the ultimate bad guy.
In The Mandalorian, Carl Weathers portrays Greef Karga, a character who gives out jobs
to bounty hunters and who eventually becomes an ally of the show's titular character.
Chances are, you've come across Weathers before, as this actor has had a seriously long career,
ranging from Rocky to Arrested Development.
"Whoa whoa whoa. There's still plenty of meat on that bone. You take this home,
throw it in a pot, add some broth, a potato, baby, you've got a stew going!"
In fact, his career has been so prolific that Weathers was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at
the Arpa International Film Festival in 2017. As Weathers joked in an interview on the red carpet,
"How strange is that? I have so many miles to go before I sleep."
By the sounds of things, working on The Mandalorian was another
career high for Weathers. As he told Entertainment Tonight,
"I've been involved in some projects that have done really well
and obviously that have fans around the world, but the Star Wars fans and
the Mandalorian fans are just crazy — and I mean crazy in a good way."
Ming-Na Wen played Fennec Shand in The Mandalorian, an assassin who eventually
becomes an ally. Wen has an impressive resume, having played plenty of other warrior-type roles
in big shows like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. However, if you listen closely, you may
actually know the actress's voice: in 1998, she voiced Mulan in the original Disney film.
While Wen loved playing Mulan, and even called it her "destiny," she also loved stepping into
the Star Wars universe. As she told Slash Film, it was a "lifelong dream" as she'd always been a fan.
It turns out, Wen will be bringing her voice acting talents to the Star Wars
universe in the animated series Star Wars: The Bad Batch, when Fennec will reappear.
In one standout episode in Season 1 of The Mandalorian,
Mando and Baby Yoda come across a remote farming village where they stay with a charming family.
The mother in that family may look a little familiar to you: she was played by Julia Jones,
an actress with more than a little experience in the fantasy genre. In fact, she's appeared
in both the Twilight series and Westworld, so The Mandalorian was clearly right up her alley.
In an interview with Whiskey + Sunshine, Jones opened up about some of her bigger projects.
While Twilight, Westworld, and The Mandalorian were all very different,
they all had one thing in common. She told the site,
"You always sort of feel like you have a family when you're working on a film,
but [with these franchises] it's like you're joining a family, a huge family."
Jones even compared the experience to joining a "traveling circus."
Sounds like she had a phenomenal time.
The character of Bo-Katan initially appeared in The Clone Wars as an animated character,
but with The Mandalorian, she got her live-action debut. Katee Sackhoff portrayed the character,
and if you didn't recognize her, we don't blame you. For the role, she sported a full Mandalorian
suit and a striking red bob. However, you may have seen her in Battlestar Galactica or The Flash.
What you may not have realized, is that the same actress voiced the character in The Clone Wars.
As Sackhoff told Entertainment Tonight,
taking on the iconic role was a huge privilege. She told the outlet,
"This character has been such a part of my life for so long and it is incredibly special
and rare to have been able to actually be able to play her in live action."
It's clear that reprising her role for The Mandalorian was incredibly
special for Sackhoff — and we can't think of a better casting decision.
The final episode of Season 2 of The Mandalorian featured a pretty awesome squad backing up Mando
on his mission to retrieve Baby Yoda from Moff Gideon. In that episode and an earlier Season 2
ep, Sasha Banks portrayed Koska Reeves, credited under her real name, Mercedes Varnado. If you
didn't recognize her, there's a pretty good reason why: the actress is primarily known as a wrestler.
Banks spoke to WWE's The Bump about how her role on the show came about, saying,
"It's so exciting, I cannot believe it. I can't believe this is my debut
in Hollywood and I got to save Baby Yoda and I'm in Star Wars."
Banks went on to explain that she actually got the role when a casting director "slid into her
DMs" and said that showrunner Jon Favreau liked her and wanted her to be on the show.
Boba Fett is without a doubt one of the most iconic Star Wars characters to appear in The
Mandalorian. Actor Temuera Morrison actually played Jango Fett, a Mandalorian bounty hunter,
in the 2002 movie Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones.
His character produced an army of clones, and he kept one clone as a son, who became Boba Fett.
In an interview with the Star Wars website, Morrison opened up about how happy he was
to make his return. Apparently, he'd lost hope of returning until 2019,
when he had a meeting with Jon Favreau and writer Dave Filoni. He told the site,
"I got there quite early because I was excited, I didn't want to be late. While I was waiting, I was
looking at some of the conceptual drawings on the wall, and I suddenly saw an image of a guy that
looked like me. I said, ‘Jeez, I’m sure that’s me there.’ But I didn’t want to get too excited."
Chances are you know Bill Burr from his stand-up. The comedian has produced many
stand-up specials since the '90s, and has appeared in several comedic films.
To that end, the Star Wars universe is probably the last place you expected to
see him — especially since he's quite well known for making fun of Star Wars!
"This is like a cheesy self-help book, put in outer space, with, like, Muppets."
Burr spoke to Pardon My Take about his role in The Mandalorian, saying,
"I saw a bunch of people enjoying something and as a comedian that's just the layup.
So, I was forever making fun of people, 30-year-old people going down to the movie
theater, dressing like Chewbacca and all that."
But as Burr went on to explain, he changed his opinion when he met Jon Favreau at a party,
and found out that Favreau was writing a part for him. Burr then mentioned that
he's known for being a Star Wars hater, to which Favreau replied,
"I know, I listen to your podcast, I think that would be funny."
The rest is history, and apparently Burr ended up being a huge fan of The Mandalorian in the end.
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