The Mandalorian’s Giancarlo Esposito says he drew inspiration from Peter Cushing when playing Moff Gideon. A veteran character actor with numerous memorable credits to his name, Esposito achieved a new level of popularity thanks to his performance as the icily ruthless meth kingpin Gus Fring on Breaking Bad.
Having brought the chilling Fring to life so effectively on AMC’s classic series and its on-going spinoff Better Call Saul, Esposito then tackled the challenge of portraying galactic evil as Moff Gideon on Disney+’s Star Wars universe series The Mandalorian. Gideon debuted late in season 1, giving fans of wider Star Wars lore a thrill by wielding the legendary darksaber during a showdown with Din Djarin. Gideon then returned for season 2, still in possession of the darksaber and still in pursuit of Baby Yoda aka Grogu, a key to his plans for resurrecting the Empire. Gideon of course finally got his hands on Grogu, but was ultimately vanquished by Mando and company in the show’s epic – and somewhat divisive – season 2 finale.
Gideon certainly proved to be a dangerous adversary for Mando over the course of two seasons, particularly after the reveal of his droid dark troopers. In a new interview posted by Star Wars on Twitter, Esposito talked a little about his process for bringing the terrifying imperial bad guy to life and gave a shout out to Peter Cushing, who played Grand Moff Tarkin in the original 1977 movie. “I was strongly affected by Peter Cushing, who also played a Moff, many many years ago, and tried to do some research, because I knew the fans knew a whole lot more than I did about Star Wars,” Esposito said. The actor also talked a little about how his first scene as Gideon helped him find the character.
My first day of shooting, I came down in a TIE Fighter and I landed and then I’m ushered into what is a standoff with three hundred stormtroopers, and all I can think in my brain is, I’m Moff Gideon. I don’t have to do or say much to get what I want, because I’m going to get it. And so that standoff was the beginning of me finding the balance of who this character is.
It’s of course no surprise that Esposito would draw inspiration from Cushing’s performance in the original Star Wars, as the legendary British actor helped set the tone for the Empire and its array of coldly brutal military leaders with his portrayal of Moff Tarkin. The fact that Esposito would actually do research on Tarkin before going into his own performance certainly should endear him to Star Wars fans, as no doubt there are many actors who wouldn’t even bother doing that much work to become versed on the lore of the franchise.
As for what the future might hold for Esposito’s Moff Gideon, the actor recently teased that he will be back in season 3, as the character continues playing out a “long game.” Of course, Mandalorian has also teased the arrival of another villain from Star Wars lore, Grand Admiral Thrawn, who could supplant Gideon. For the short term, Gideon will likely have to deal with being a prisoner of the New Republic, as Cara Dune certainly slapped him in cuffs shortly after the epic events that played out in the finale. As long as the show still has a good use for Gideon, it would be nice to see Esposito return, as he’s solid in the role. But keeping him around just to keep him around, when his role in the The Mandalorian’s story is basically over, wouldn’t be a wise move.
Source: Star Wars/Twitter