The Mandalorian star Giancarlo Esposito on what it means to play a non-white Imperial in the Star Wars universe.
If you look back throughout the history of the Star Wars universe, focusing on all of the villains that have appeared in the movies and TV shows, you’ll notice an ongoing trend: the vast majority were played by male white actors. You don’t need to look further than some of the most iconic villains, like Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, Director Krennic, General Maximilian Veers, General Hux, and most recently Kylo Ren. This puts The Mandalorian star Giancarlo Esposito (Moff Gideon) pretty much on his own, and the actor recently revealed what it means to him to play a person of color among fascist villains.
Esposito didn’t show up as villain Moff Gideon in season one of Disney+ Star Wars spinoff The Mandalorian until the penultimate episode. Having only shown up for two episodes, he already looks to be a formidable foe for Mando (Pedro Pascal), wielding the famous Darksaber. It has also already been teased that season two will look to give him a much larger role.
Speaking to IndieWire, Esposito revealed what it means to him to play Gideon, and recalled his “crowning moment” when Jon Favreau called him up to offer a role:
"“Well, it means a lot to me because I’ve strived in my career to be colorless.I am of mixed race, half Italian, half African American, and I grew through the period of time where I was relegated to playing thieves and thugs. I learned how to do a Spanish accent, to play Spanish street characters, who were murderers, killers, robbers, the like. So for me, it’s a crowning moment when I could get a phone call from Jon Favreau, to say, ‘I wrote a role for you.’”"
I don’t think there are many actors that would turn down a role offered by Jon Favreau, who has a stunning filmography ranging from Star Wars to Marvel blockbusters and almost everything in between.
Esposito also discussed the idea of fascism within the Star Wars universe, something the article notes is that George Lucas took inspiration for the Empire from the fascism across Europe in the 20th Century. “Fascism, communism, for me, can be colorless, because it really boils down to power and money,” the actor said.
For fans excited to see more of the Darksaber in season two, you might be in luck. While he plays coy as to how much we’ll get to see it in action, he confirms that we will get more clues as to how he came to possess the unique black-bladed saber, which was crafted by Tarre Vizsla (aka the first Mandalorian). “It is certainly to be revealed, and I don’t know how it will unfold, but I do know we get some more inklings of how he got this saber,” he said.
And finally, he teases what exactly Gideon’s motivations are, especially with the Child (Baby Yoda):
"“There may be some surprises because we have an Empire that’s fallen, and we have wardens of those Empires, of which Moff Gideon is one, but he’s a special warden because he happens to know more than any other. And we don’t really quite know, does he want what he wants in terms of the Child? In essence, knowing what the Child is made of, to further humanity? Or does he want it to take control of all of humanity? We don’t quite know that yet.”"
All questions will be answered when The Mandalorian season 2 airs on Disney+ this fall. You don’t want to miss it!
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