Bleeding Cool’s Tom Chang has sat down with The Mandalorian actor, Horatio Sanz, who played Mythrol in the Disney+ series. He discusses his casting, and bringing humour back into the franchise.
When creator Jon Favreau looked to cast the character, he already had Sanz in mind from the getgo. “[Jon] wanted someone comedic to do it,” he said. “I think he wanted someone who can do it with a lot of makeup on. He liked my voice I think too, because when I came in, I asked him, ‘What kind of voice and characterizations you want?’ He was just like ‘kind of like you.’ He basically wanted him to talk like me. When you watch the show at first, a lot of my friends are like ‘I know I know that voice, but I couldn’t quite get it.’ It was my voice. Other than play emotions as a Mythrol, it is just kind of me and keeping in mind that I’m an alien and I’m a bit of a pirate.”
With Sanz’s time on Saturday Night Live translating it to his other comedic projects across TV and film, he knew he had to temper his humor a bit to appeal to a broader audience. “Being a fan of all the movies and the whole universe, I was making sure that I wouldn’t make similar mistakes,” he said. “If I tried to make an alien that had an interesting funny voice, it wouldn’t be as good as someone if I was just someone with a funny voice. I just wanted to make sure that I didn’t go overboard.” One figure the actor drew inspiration from was the franchise’s biggest star. “Because I’m a fan, I knew the kind of comedy the show needed and what kind of comedy the work would need and so it’s very reminiscent of…Harrison Ford is probably the funniest of the performers. So his comedy is really honest but big. Anyone can get it. I think that’s what they’re going for. It’s funny, but it’s also made for kids to get it and like it. I wanted to make sure Mythrol was likable for kids and also to be interesting for adults. That humor kind of has to be big. It’s something that I’m familiar with and hopefully, I got close to it.”
For the full interview, head over to Bleeding Cool.
