Benedict Cumberbatch is not interested in playing Grand Admiral Thrawn on The Mandalorian. After emerging as one of the most popular new characters in Star Wars Legends material, Thrawn was integrated into official franchise canon with a supporting role on animated series Star Wars Rebels, debuting in season 3. Since then, Thrawn has appeared in several novels and comics over the years, but Lucasfilm has even bigger plans in store for the villain moving forward.
The Mandalorian season 2 revealed Ahsoka Tano is on a mission to find Thrawn. During Disney's Investor Day event last December, it was officially announced The Mandalorian was getting a series of spinoff shows, including Ahsoka and Rangers of the New Republic. The idea is the series will eventually crossover in a major event, seemingly with Thrawn as the main antagonist. This has viewers wondering who would play the character in live-action. Benedict Cumberbatch is a popular fan choice, but the actor would pass if it was offered to him.
In an interview with Collider, Cumberbatch was asked about his willingness to portray Thrawn. Upon hearing it would require him to spend several hours in a makeup chair in order to sport Thrawn's blue skin, Cumberbatch had this to say:
That’s a straight no from me, right now. There’s no way I want to be turned blue. I turned the air blue, very recently. No no, seriously, I have precious time with my children and I think sitting in a makeup chair and being painted blue, and the amount of time it would take to do that and then take it off at the end of the day might just… it’s not the right time in my life for that.
This'll be disappointing for those who wanted to see Cumberbatch play Thrawn, but his rationale is understandable. Going through a transformation via makeup and prosthetics to become Thrawn would be a time-consuming process, both before and after shooting. It sounds like he might have been open to it if the opportunity presented itself earlier, but now he's trying to balance family life with his career. Additionally, Cumberbatch is keeping busy with his Marvel role as Doctor Strange. He's currently filming upcoming sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and will also be in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Perhaps Cumberbatch's feeling is a commitment to one mega franchise is enough for now. It'll be interesting to see who eventually gets cast as Thrawn.
While Cumberbatch is passing on Thrawn, that doesn't mean he couldn't appear in any of the multitude of Star Wars projects in development. Lucasfilm is working on a number of new TV shows and movies that will be coming out over the next handful of years, including Patty Jenkins' Rogue Squadron, Taika Waititi's movie, and a new trilogy from Rian Johnson. There will be plenty of Star Wars roles up for grabs, and Cumberbatch could have the inside track on one of them given his history with Disney. Star Wars is famous for giving unknown actors a rise to prominence, but Lucasfilm isn't averse to casting familiar faces. Considering Cumberbatch's talents (he could play either a hero or villain), he'll surely be on the studio's radar for something down the line.
Source: Collider