Actor Pedro Pascal's star has risen precipitously in the last half decade. He wowed audiences as fan favorite Oberyn Martell in season four of Game of Thrones, delivered stellar work as Javier Pena in Neflix's Narcos, and will soon be battling the Amazonian Queen herself as Maxwell Lord in next year's WONDER WOMAN 1984. Currently, you can catch the Chilean actor on Disney+'s The Mandalorian where he is captivating STAR WARS fans as the nameless (at the moment) bounty hunter.
While audiences have thus far been exposed to daring blaster fights and the ultimate cuteness that is Baby Yoda, we've yet to see the eponymous anti-hero without his helmet on. I assume that at some point this season that trend will end. However, it begs the question, when we see the Mandalorian on screen now, how often are we actually seeing Pedro Pascal? If Bryce Dallas Howard is to be believed, the answer is not that much.
Howard had the opportunity to direct "Sanctuary," the fourth episode of The Mandalorian, and while the actress/director enjoyed her time in a galaxy far, far away, there was one person who was noticeably absent on set – Pedro Pascal. In a recent interview, Howard said she never got to work with the forty-four year old actor as he was doing rehearsals for King Lear on Broadway. Instead, Howard worked mostly with stand-in Brendan Wayne, who it turns out has been spending the majority of time in front of the camera this season. However, Wayne (who is the grandson of screen legend John Wayne) was quick to point out that Pascal and he consistently worked in tandem on this first season:
“[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. 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.”
While it's nice to know that Pedro Pascal is a down-to-Earth, unassuming fellow, it's more than passing odd that he's not the one on camera most of the time. Obviously, he's proven he possesses the physicality to do roles like this, so I'm slightly perplexed here. On the other hand it's not like I ever thought James Earl Jones was underneath the Vader suit and that never took away from my enjoyment of the films. The same probably holds true for most viewers here.
What's your thoughts on this? Are you disappointed that that's not the Red Viper of Dorne underneath the armor? Does it bother you in the least? Were you hoping it was actually Jar Jar Binks? Let us know in the comment section below!