Pedro Pascal is a very busy man. He enjoys carrying cargo across landscapes, usually breathing, living cargo. But as a very busy man, this means his time is precious, as he can't be in two places at once—or can he? One of the internet's most hotly-debated topics has now, definitively, been answered by the man himself, who has confirmed that his role in the Disney+ series, The Mandalorian, is actually mainly limited to voiceover acting.
During a roundtable discussion for the Drama Actor Roundtable series conducted by The Hollywood Reporter, Pascal was asked if it was true that he doesn't always have to be present when The Mandalorian was shooting, and he explained that "For a lot of it," he just provides the voiceover. Brendan Wayne plays Din Djarin on set (Lateef Crowder performs the stunts for the character while wearing the suit), and Pascal even described his acting as "better," before expanding on the reasons for his absence from the physical sets.
"There was an extended amount of experimentation, being in the suit for a lot of it, and frankly, my body wasn’t up for the task as far as, like, the four months of it. But I was in it. I was in it a significant amount, an elastic amount. But now we’ve figured it out, which is super cool, and amazingly, it gave me the opportunity to be able to go and do something else."
Pascal added that he thought Wayne's performance was "great," and there were never any instances when he would watch the show back where he felt like he would change anything the character did, or how they would interact with the environment of that particular scene. Of course, Pascal has appeared on-screen as Din Djarin, in notable scenes where his helmet is required to be removed for emotional or narrative reasons.
Mando and Pedro Need Each Other
However, due to his filming of The Last of Us at the same time as the third season of The Mandalorian, Din Djarin doesn't remove his helmet during the show whatsoever—which was another telltale sign that Pascal was busy on other projects—something he noted during the interview. Being attached to the show allows him to be part of something fun, while he's able to work on additional projects. As an added bonus, the series gets his name for extra clout, in a win-win situation.
Besides, the idea of one person being inside the suit of a character, while being voiced by someone else? That's definitely something Star Wars would know all about. Check out our interview with Pascal from the start of Season 3: