With The Mandalorian smashing it on Disney Plus and lighting up a fandom that at times can be difficult to please, it’s good to know that the man at the heart of the show, Pedro Pascal, has a very personal and specific connection to the show. Discussing his relationship with the series, Pascal evocatively vocalises just what it was like to be child of the 70’s when Star Wars was the be all and end all before the blockbuster era of the mid 80’s began.
Q: When you first stepped on one of those sets, how exciting was it to be a part of the Star Wars universe? What’s your history with the franchise?
A: It was a very surreal experience. I was born in 1975, so the first movie came out when I was a child. It’s weird to have that movie be some of the earliest memories you can carve out from the recesses of your mind — that incredible desert landscape, the floating vehicle, the hologram of Princess Leia, a terrifying trash compactor. I had that stuff getting into my childhood imagination so young and marking it.
So when Jon Favreau asked in our first meeting whether I was a fan of Star Wars, I asked “do I have a choice?” Not in relation to getting the job, but just in terms of how I grew up. They were the biggest movies of my childhood and, of course, with the movies came the merchandise. Those first three films dominated my childhood.
During the excellent Yahoo interview Pascal was asked a very pertinent question relating to the popularity of The Mandalorian as opposed to the mixed reaction gained by The Rise of Skywalker.
Q: When that Star Wars craziness was happening, there was your show getting this great reaction on one side and The Rise of Skywalker getting a more divided reaction. What was it like to be on one side of that fence?
A: I didn’t feel that at all. The virtue of being neck deep in work. Once you’re in this world of Lucasfilm, you’re only touching on the positive. You just deposit something. I saw no fence.
