Meet The Man Behind The Mandalorian
Mandalorian suit performer Brendan Wayne reveals what it’s like to share the mask.
The opening credits of The Mandalorian and Grogu are history-making for a few reasons. Longtime fans might be unsettled to see traditional opening credits at the beginning of a Star Wars movie, but, more than that novelty, the names in those opening credits are a very big deal. During my advanced fan screening of the film, a packed audience of die-hard Star Wars fans — many wearing their own bespoke Mandalorian gear — let out a collective cheer when one name came up on the screen right after Pedro Pascal’s. That name is Brendan Wayne, the man who, as a suit performer, has played Din Djarin since 2019. But who is the man underneath the helmet, really?
“I think a lot of people like to get caught up in this game of who did what,” Wayne tells Inverse. “And let me tell you right now, there are three of us — Pedro [Pascal], me, and [stunt performer] Lateef Crowder. I think we all understand the level that Pedro’s at, but I do want to make sure that everyone understands that we’re all buddies. There’s no stress.”
“We’re all buddies. There’s no stress.”
Still, as the titular beloved bounty hunter makes his leap to the big screen, Wayne is in the spotlight more than ever, which is a big difference from where he started with the show. Back at the start of Mando, Wayne was a contractor who was basically signing up for new work episode by episode. Not that he’s complaining at all, because for this silent Star Wars hero, playing this character is a literal dream come true. “Yeah, I signed a contract every day. And there are two ways you could take that. You could be bitter, but I was grateful. It was an opportunity for me to live that life that I’d always been told I was going to lead, which was that you have to earn it every day.”
As The Mandalorian and Grogu rockets into movie theaters everywhere, Brendan Wayne — grandson of screen legend John Wayne — caught up with Inverse to tell us what this character means to him, how he brought the movements of the Mandalorian to life, and why the message of Star Wars is so deeply personal.
There are many sides to Mando. But Brendan Wayne has been crafting Mando’s moves since day one.
Can you describe how you, Pedro, and Lateef worked together on giving us Mando’s performance in the new film?
It’s a shorthand. It’s always a seamless process between the three of us. Lateef would always FaceTime me if I wasn’t on the same set with him and be like, “Bro, can I use my right hand to do this?” And that’s because I have a big thing with my gun hand as Mando. We think about all those movements to make everything consistent. I hope that if I’m doing something that Pedro doesn’t look at it at some point and go, “I wouldn’t have chosen that.” He can pull off whatever you set in front of him. He’s a superstar for a reason.
Have the three of you all hung out at the same time?
We have all hung out. But when does Pedro have the time? Has anybody worked as much as him? But Lateef and I are like brothers. We’re family. We’re in close contact a lot.
Pedro Pascal and Brendan Wayne embrace as Lateef Crowder looks on at the premiere of The Mandalorian and Grogu.
How was making the movie different from making the TV show?
You have to understand, we didn’t change Mando to make the movie. We changed everything in front of Mando to make the movie. I think more for the people who make the movie so beautiful — which is our crew — it became a lot more work in different areas. We had to change lenses because we were going to use IMAX. That said, from the beginning, the way Jon [Favreau] created the show, it was always this kind of grand spectacle. So for me, doing the movie wasn’t that different. The crew probably had a lot more work. But the way Jon built the Volume and presented it, you couldn’t help but feel like you weren’t just doing TV — you were doing something so much more intricate and beautiful.
“We were in the minutia.”
Jon probably had the vision of it way deeper than all of us, Dave [Filoni] as well, but we were in the minutia. When it comes time to film, it’s like, all right, I’m lacing up and I’m going on the field and I don’t think, oh, I wonder how this is going to look up there.
In what ways does being the grandson of John Wayne connect to your physical performance as the Mandalorian?
When I was studying Kabuki, so that I could pull off Mando and his stillness, [it] funnily brought me to granddaddy. He was 6-foot-5, 250 pounds. I’m not him. I’m six feet. But I remember having this incredible moment early on when Jon said to me on set, “Hey, slow down.” And my grandfather’s famous for saying, “Talk low, talk slow, and don’t say a lot.” And all of a sudden, with the mannerisms of Mando, everybody says, “Oh, you’re doing your grandfather.” And I’m like, “Not intentionally.” It’s an incredible thing as an actor to learn these things.
Ming-Na Wen, Brendan Wayne, and Jon Favreau at the debut of The Mandalorian and Grogu.
What does Star Wars mean to you?
We want things that we aspire to. Hopefully, we can get back into that realm of aspiring to good things, things that are positive for each other as well as our individual selves. You can go watch these movies with your grandpa, and you guys can go have a conversation in the car that might just affect your life and the way you would choose to approach a given issue at any time, because you went and saw a movie. Star Wars is that important.
“Star Wars never stopped doing that, giving us all hope.”
As a Star Wars fan yourself, what are your thoughts on the Star Wars fandom in general?
If you look at Star Wars beyond the movies and the glitz and all that stuff, and you look at the fans, there’s nothing like them. I don’t care what William Shatner says. There are no fans like our Star Wars fans. It’s because they make the world a better place because they love Star Wars. And if it’s the 501st walking into a hospital or the Mando Mercs stepping onto the field with underserved or sick children... They do it, and they don’t get paid, they don’t have a SAG contract, they don’t have anything. They’re doing it because it makes them feel like they have a value, and they’re doing it for kids who need it. Kids seeing Mando walking in changes them and brings them hope. Hope is the one thing that can bring us up and makes you better. Star Wars never stopped doing that, giving us all hope.
