Episode 3 of The Mandalorian behind-the-scenes documentary reveals secrets of the live-action Star Wars show's cast - including Pedro Pascal's Mandalorian, Carl Weathers' Greef Karga, and Gina Carano's Cara Dune. The streaming service has proved to be a huge success for the House of Mouse, with Disney+ passing 50 million subscribers worldwide already. In part, that's because of timing, as the coronavirus pandemic means a lot of families are stuck at home eager to keep the kids entertained.
Star Wars has been the biggest draw so far for Disney+ subscribers, and Lucasfilm has been responsible for a constant stream of original content. The first season of The Mandalorian was the most popular streaming show in the US in December 2019, and it was swiftly followed by the eagerly-anticipated - and critically acclaimed - final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Now, Lucasfilm has moved to a behind-the-scenes documentary on The Mandalorian, revealing some of the show's greatest secrets.
The first two episodes focused upon Lucasfilm's Dave Filoni, showrunner Jon Favreau, and the team of directors Favreau has assembled, with discussion of everything from George Lucas to the freedom each director was given on the project. The third episode, however, is all about some of the stars - Pedro Pascal himself, Carl Weathers, and Gina Carano. Here are the biggest reveals from Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian episode 3.
Pedro Pascal's Performance - And His Stunt Doubles
"The most important aspect of all this is the love of Star Wars," Pedro Pascal observes in episode 3 of The Mandalorian BTS documentary. For Pascal, the center of storytelling is in the relationships between the characters, and the interaction between them; but that became a lot more difficult because of the Mandalorian's helmet. Other actors found themselves changing the way they perform around the masked Pascal, unable to read the emotion in his eyes, and instead focusing on every nuance of his voice. Pascal had to learn how to be very still, so every subtle movement felt important and carried emotional weight, and his slightest gesture had power.
Ironically, in Pascal's view the armor is what makes the Mandalorian relatable. "We're all kind of covered in our own armor," he points out, "and we're terrified of taking it off. That's the thing that crosses him over and makes him a character we can all follow. We're going to project our own emotions onto his experience." The helmet becomes a symbol of the Mandalorian's learning to become vulnerable; he considers taking it off in The Mandalorian episode 4, and then it is finally removed - albeit only for a moment - in episode 8.
Pascal is supported by a team of stunt doubles, and they divide the work between them. Brendan Wayne takes care of the gunslinger aspect of the Mandalorian, handling everything from grapples to guns. Lateef Crowder is the martial artist, taking on the hand-to-hand scenes. The directors insist they can tell the difference between the three Mandalorians, but they're really not visible on-screen.
Carl Weathers' Greef Karga Was Almost Very Different
Greef Karga (played by Rocky actor Carl Weathers) was almost very different to the final version of the character seen in The Mandalorian season 1. Lucasfilm originally intended the character to be an alien, and they planned to have Weathers - who had come on board as a favor - in full prosthetics. A concept artist created a sketch of what he would look like, though, and Favreau realized plans had to change. "We can't cover you up," Favreau told him; "I figured as much," Weathers quipped in response. Meanwhile, the role expanded as well; Greef was originally killed off in The Mandalorian episode 3, but plans changed, in part because Weathers was willing to stick around a while longer.
Gina Carano Didn't Have An Audition At All
Unlike the other stars, Gina Carano didn't even need to have an audition for The Mandalorian. Lucasfilm had heard of her reputation, Jon Favreau checked out a few tapes of her, and they decided she was the perfect fit for Cara Dune. Carano's biggest advantage is that she really has been in fights; she knows how to punch, and she knows how to take a hit, and as a result she brings a level of physicality and authenticity to the role Favreau clearly finds delightful. "The way she takes a hit - that's what made Harrison Ford a star," Favreau points out. "He didn't play it like a superhero."
There's a sense in which the casting of Gina Carano is a smart homage to George Lucas. As Favreau points out, when Lucas created Star Wars he was mining a pre-existent popular culture for ideas, characters, and tropes. Specifically, he was referencing the Greatest Generation films, and he treated action the way those films did. "The way they would cast the action heroes back then," Favreau observes, "especially with westerns - they would be people who really knew how to ride, knew how to shoot. That's how people became movie stars sometimes." As Favreau notes, it's the same kind of approach seen nowadays in the martial arts genre. As such, the casting of Gina Carano as Cara Dune feels so very appropriate for Star Wars.
Every Star Wars Character Needs Their Own Silhouette
"The thing about Star Wars characters," Jon Favreau notes, "they always have a silhouette. You can see them from a distance, and you just know who they are." In context, Favreau's statement was made when talking about Gina Carano's Cara Dune, but his comment is actually quite significant. It points to just how important costume design is for Star Wars, because every character needs to have a unique and distinctive silhouette. This is also important in terms of character evolution, because for all a costume may change during an arc - say, Rey's during the sequel trilogy - they need to maintain a recognizable silhouette.
It will be interesting to see how The Mandalorian season 2 handles this. It looks as though the upcoming season will feature a number of other characters whose silhouettes are very similar to the titular hero's; Temuera Morrison will be appearing as Boba Fett, Katee Sackoff will be reprising her Clone Wars role of Bo-Katan, and it's therefore reasonable to assume there will be a number of other Mandalorians as well. No doubt this is going to be something of a challenge in ensuring the silhouettes of each character remains at least somewhat distinctive.