By It probably comes as no surprise to anyone with knowledge of film production that The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal isn’t always in his beskar armor suit. In a recent interview with Vulture, actor/director Bryce Dallas Howard (she helmed the fourth episode of the series) was asked about who was under the armor and revealed that she never interacted with Pascal. In fact, one of the two people she worked with was stuntman Brendan Wayne, grandson of the Duke himself, John Wayne.
“He [Pascal] was in rehearsals for King Lear on Broadway. And so, while we were doing my episode, I wasn’t working with Pedro,” Howard told the publication. This is where Wayne came in, doing the on set acting that would later be replaced by Pascal’s vocal performance. “He [Wayne] absolutely just brought everything to that character, and we were able to find the moments and figure them out together,” Howard said.
A humble man, Wayne believes that the character of The Mandalorian is more a collaborative effort between him and Pascal. “[Pascal] would ask me, and I would ask him the same question, which is, ‘Why did you move like this during that moment?’ We would go back and forth,” Wayne said. “The great thing about him is he’s not impressed with himself. He’s just an actor. And I mean that in the good way, not the bad way. He likes to learn and he likes to collaborate and he’s very good at it.”
Wayne went on to say he collaborated with Pascal frequently on set to figure out the movements for Mando. He also quietly stated that his work has been featured in every episode of this first season and he’ll be returning for the second. What a sneaky announcement!
While news of a stunt double shouldn’t shock the world, it’s pretty fitting that a descendant of John Wayne would be the main character in a Western themed show. It’s almost as if Wayne’s own charisma is now a part of the greater Star Wars mythos, which certainly makes these episodes feel a little cooler.
