Image Source: Everett Collection
The Mandalorian has quickly become one of the most iconic characters in the Star Wars franchise. Pedro Pascal is credited for playing Din Djarin/the Mandalorian, but did you know he isn’t always in the suit? During the 2022 Star Wars Celebration event, Pascal joked that Grogu has “two other daddies” because it takes multiple people to bring the character to life. So, who’s really wearing the helmet? Well, it’s actually a combined effort between Pascal and his doubles Brendan Wayne (who is the grandson of John Wayne) and Lateef Crowder, who both bring their own unique skills to the Mandalorian character.
In the 2020 docuseries “Disney Gallery: Star Wars: The Mandalorian,” Pascal explained that Wayne and Crowder are behind a lot of the character’s mannerisms and stuntwork. “I’m modeling my performance around their physicality in a lot of ways, and I wouldn’t be able to do it without them,” he said.
Who Created the Mandalorian’s Mannerisms? Brendan Wayne
In “Disney Gallery,” Pascal shared that Wayne is in charge of the Mandalorian’s “gunslinger aspect.” Since the Mandalorian is basically a space cowboy, Wayne modeled the Mandalorian’s mannerisms after his grandfather’s iconic cowboy roles over the years. “I noticed that in the screen test that they wanted a very Western kind of feel. So I just slowed everything down. All my walks, everything. It’s about your core. I know it’s gonna sound like a workout video, but it’s about just holding the strength of your core,” he told Vulture in 2019. “My grandfather was so graceful, even though he was a six-foot-five, 260-pound guy, and it was because he was so strong. It allowed him to move in a certain way. Plus he had tiny feet. He was six-feet-five-inches and his feet were as big as mine, which are 10s. And so he walked with his toes, like a dancer. So I picked it up. It was really fun to find that pacing.”
Wayne added that he worked with Jon Favreau to get the Mandalorian’s head movement just right. “Because if I’m not careful, especially in that costume, I look like a bobblehead,” he said. “And so Jon taught me the importance of a slow look versus a quick look versus an unfocused look.”
Image Source: Getty / Alberto E. Rodriguez
Who Does the Mandalorian’s Fight Scenes? John Crowder
In “Disney Gallery,” Pascal described Crowder as the show’s “capoeira, jiu-jitsu warrior who can basically do anything” since he’s usually the one doing Mando’s fight scenes. “I’m always training. Whether it’s martial arts, whether it’s stunt training, whether it’s weight training, just physical fitness,” Crowder said about his work on the show.
According to Variety, one example of Crowder’s scenes happened in “The Mandalorian” episode titled “The Rescue,” during which he and Giancarlo Esposito (who plays Moff Gideon) had a darksaber duel. Crowder told the publication he trained with bamboo sticks before filming the actual fight scene. “We were utterly exhausted [by the filming of that sequence], but we made it out alive,” he said about working with Esposito. “Those that were there will remember the tension and real danger involved in that fight – just ask the darksabers. We did everything we could to keep it safe.”
Who Voices the Mandalorian? Pedro Pascal
While Pascal is sometimes wearing the beskar armor himself on camera, since the Mandalorian almost always wears a helmet, that also makes it easy for Wayne and Crowder to stand in for Pascal whenever he can’t be on set due to other filming obligations. Bryce Dallas Howard, who directed the show’s “Sanctuary” episode, told Vulture in 2019 that she didn’t work with Pascal because he was rehearsing “King Lear” on Broadway at the time. Although she primarily worked with Wayne for her episode, she said Pascal went in and added his voice for the Mandalorian afterward, making the character “a real collaboration.”
So, at the end of the day, the Mandalorian isn’t just one person, but a team made up of Pascal, Wayne, and Crowder.