Peter James Mann
Our Third and Final Story from our Panel coverage series is special for me. I’ve been a Star Wars fan since I first watched Episode IV at Five. It was, by far, my earliest introduction into popular cinema. It made me fall in love with films.
And not one Star Wars fan was not super cool each time I had a chance to speak with them. Seeing them pack a room like that in all different kinds of robes and armor and THERE WERE SO MANY TWILEKS like how did they even do that? I got to speak to two amazing Star Wars cosplayers, which we have video of! I’ll post the link here once it’s live on our YouTube channel.
THIS IS THE WAY: THE CAST OF THE MANDALORIAN
The biggest panel of Day 2 was by far was this one for The Mandalorian. There was also enough Beskar Plating on display from various costumes to make any bounty hunter drool. That was something that Emily Swallow, who played The Armorer, really enjoyed. Some male cosplayers even had fur pauldrons inspired by her costume. One couple proudly displayed an incredible handmade replica of her helmet high in the sky.
The cosplayers showed up to this one.
When asked the same question as the Clerks cast was asked in the previous panel, about if they took any props home, they had a very different response. Carl Weathers was quick to point out that, especially from this production, any theft from the set would have gotten someone in big trouble. Also, as Gioncarlo Espositio echoed, the props are so specific to the show and universe that to take one would not only cost more money to replace, it would have been disrespectful to the artists who would have to recreate that unique piece again.
An unexpected injection of humor came from someone who just wanted to say how much he and his family loved his character in Happy Gilmore, Chubbs. Mr. Weathers lit up with joy talking about his role, which offered him a role with physical comedy and humor he never thought of. He couldn’t speak highly enough of the cast and crew of Happy Gilmore. But what really sold him on the script? The scenes with Bob Barker, of course!
When thinking back on their favorite scenes to shoot, Emily described what it felt like to enter the world of Star Wars breaking up a fight with two men using only her words and power as a strong, feminie powerhouse like The Armorer. To her, it showed not only how powerful The Armorer really is, but how much reverence and respect the culture has for its code, laws and people.
Giancarlo Espositio described himself as a little boy at heart, because his favorite scene was being shot down in his own Tie Fighter. There were other children-at-heart moments described at the panel as well. Omid Tabahi could not get the first few takes with Grogu, at the time known as Baby Yoda, because he could not stop saying “Oh my God, hi!” He simply could not take the adorableness.
That general reaction to Grogu was echoed by the rest of the cast. Carl Weathers said that, initially, it was just a puppet sitting there. He had worked with other creatures over the years so, in that regard, it wasn’t that special to him initially. But the first time animatronics were going, there was something so lovable about it and so adorable that he told the crew, “Oh man, I want to be more with the baby.” Because, he went on to say, audiences were going to love this thing. If you wanted to be alive, you needed to be in scenes with this baby!
Giancarlo agreed with heavy laughter, because he also had the exact same thought and told the crew something very similar. Clearly, their strategy worked splendidly. “He’s the star of the show,” he remembered telling the puppeteer. “There’s no doubt in my mind.” He went onto add that the scene Moff has with Grogu in the cell, where they are “playing” with the Darksaber, has improvised dialogue!
“And that whole be careful you might lose your eyes, that’s all me!” he said with his trademark smile. “I told them, hey I respect what you wrote and they said we respect what you do and we want you to do that. And so ‘hey you might lose an eye,’ like all the stuff your parents say to you as children, that’s all me.”
The biggest dream come true moments for the cast on stage all involved the now infamous production set Stagecraft, dubbed “The Volume.” According to Techcrunch.com, “it’s 20 feet tall, 270 degrees around, and 75 feet across — the largest and most sophisticated virtual filmmaking environment yet made.” But as much as they could say, all echoed the same point: you have no idea what it is like unless you step foot into it.
Carl Weathers offered a behind-the-scenes take on a scene from Season 2 of The Mandalorian. They were setting up a boat going down a lava river in a tunnel. While everything is still, you see it only like a photo. When they yell action, the lava began to flow, the animatronic puppets and props, including the boat, interacted with the environment, and the scenery moved past them as if they were moving. It allowed him to really act as though it was happening, because it was. Then, when they yelled cut, he had to hold the side of the boat, because it felt like they had really been moving. Everything in his body told him he was on a boat.
Mr. Esposito revisited his Tie Fighter scene, and revealed that he was 40 feet up in the air hanging on scaffolding that controlled and rocked the Tie Fighter. He really felt nauseous filming the crash, but it was such a powerful experience to feel like he was crashing in his own ship. And before they shot, as they moved the scenery around to position him in the right spot, it froze on a beautiful view that he found breathtaking. His favorite thing was a scene he shot right before Christmas. The crew instructed him to look outside and they surprised him with Santa and his reindeer.
And when speaking on their favorite characters, Omid Tabahi, Emily Swallow, and Giancarlo Esposito were drawn to the Skywalkers. “I’m really drawn to Anakin’s arc,” Omid said. “Where he started and where he ended.”
Emily was drawn to Leia since she was really one of the first heroines and warrior princesses. “Sometimes she wanted to be treated like a princess and that got her in trouble and sometimes she acted too much like a princess and that got her in trouble. We all have that identity crisis of who we are and who we want to be and we can all relate to that.”
When speaking on Luke Skywalker, Giancarlo spoke in great detail about the hero’s journey and how Luke’s arc is not only defined by that journey, but that is what makes it such an identifiable role for so many fans and explains why so many people love and root for Luke.
Both he and Carl Weathers honed in on what made Star Wars so accessible for everyone. I think Mr. Weathers said it best. “I think Carlo expressed it well, that there are a multitude of personalities that we exhibit. But underneath that it spoke to the humanity in us, the light and the dark, all of it, the stars are for all of us.”
It was a beautiful end to a great day of panels. It was an honor to be in attendance with all of the panelists and guests alike. Even if it’s digitally, I think I’ll be attending more of these kinds of panels in the future.
