The second season of The Mandalorian has landed on Disney+ , and as audiences navigate through
the haze of excitement surrounding a new set of space western adventures, let's take a
moment to consider the important questions like, "Who was that one-eyed guy at the beginning,
and where have I heard his voice before?"
"It's uncouth to talk business immediately. Just enjoy the entertainment."
In the opening scene of season 2's premiere, Mando and his young ward visit a shadowy underground
fight arena full of colorful alien characters. There's a Twi'lek at the door. There's a Zabrak
chilling ringside. A pair of Gamorreans rock and sock one another in the center of the
arena.
But the star of the scene is undoubtedly Gor Karesh, the cycloptic crime boss Mando goes
to meet. He's a member of the Abyssin species, a race first spotted in the Mos Eisley cantina
in A New Hope, distinguished by their single eyes and ability to heal from almost any injury.
That ability might come in handy. After Mando refuses to swap out his trademark Mandalorian
beskar armor for information, Gor sets his goons on our hero, only to watch his staff
get taken out one by one. A brief chase ends with Gor hanging upside down from a streetlight
like so many low-level Spider-Man villains before him, as ominous red eyes close in from
the shadows. He's scared. He's enraged. And his voice is the guy who played the live-action
Luigi.
Star Wars has become infamous for its celebrity cameos in the last few years, with Daniel
Craig and Jason Sudeikis making almost unrecognizable appearances as stormtroopers and Simon Pegg
taking on a role as a junk-dealing, man-sized big toe. Naturally, a semi-CGI cyclops gangster
is prime real estate for a sneaky movie star appearance.
And the voice of Gor Karesh was provided by none other than John Leguizamo, who you might
know as Sid the Sloth from Ice Age, Tybalt in Romeo + Juliet, and most infamously, Luigi
Mario in 1993's live-action adaptation of Super Mario Bros. He has more than 150 acting
credits on his IMDb page, rising to stardom in the early '90s thanks in large part to
his role in Carlito's Way. He even landed a Golden Globe nomination for his work in
To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar.
Luckily, the high-profile 1993 failure of the virtually unwatchable Super Mario Bros.
didn't end his career. He went on to land roles on some of the hottest TV shows of the
decade, including medical drama ER and childhood staple Sesame Street, on which Leguizamo donned
the costume of the iconic Captain Vegetable.
Ever the restless performer, Leguizamo also took time to get back to his stage roots,
starring in the 1991 off-Broadway production Mambo Mouth, the 1998 Broadway run of his
own one-man show Freak, and the 2001 Broadway debut of his second autobiographical one-man
show Sexaholix... A Love Story. If you're one of those high-brow Mandalorian aficionados,
it's certainly possible you recognize Leguizamo from one of those performances.
Although his recent Mandalorian appearance marks Leguizamo's debut in the ever expanding
Star Wars universe, the actor has been a mainstay of genre films and TV shows for some time.
He played Clown, a.k.a. Violator, in 1997's gritty adaptation of Image Comics' transgressive
Spawn series.
"I'm...the Violator! Rawwwwr!"
He also portrayed the O.G. wish-granting genie of the lamp in 2000's Arabian Nights miniseries.
Aside from lending his voice to just about every version of the prolific Ice Age animated
franchise, he also voiced Jack Sprat on three episodes of Shrek spin-off Puss in Boots.
The man clearly has no problem applying his talents to anthropomorphic creatures of every
shape and size, so a towering space cyclops really isn't too far out of his wheelhouse.
In recent years, he could be seen in the critically acclaimed miniseries Waco, for which he was
nominated for a Daytime Emmy, and in the John Wick franchise. On top of that, he's also
continued doing voice acting work on animated series like BoJack Horseman, where he played
Mr. Buenaventura in the episode "Planned Obsolescence" and Elena of Avalor in the role of the bat
Tziloco.
While the rest of the upcoming guest cast of The Mandalorian is being kept under wraps,
it seems like a sure bet that we'll see more celebrity cameos. Be sure to check back for
the latest news on the stars behind the aliens in the series' star-studded second season.
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