The Mandalorian and Grogu isn’t just Star Wars’ return to the silver screen, but also a return to one of the most fan-favorite Star Wars series. That fandom is well represented across Fan Expo Denver this year, as cosplayers sport Mandalorian armor in all shapes and sizes while statues of Grogu litter the booths. I even got into a packed room later in the day to see Brendan Wayne and Jonny Coyne discuss their time in a galaxy far, far away, and the end result was equal parts informative and hilarious.
The panel opened with both actors discussing their experience seeing Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. “I was 18 and pretending to fly something, so they did right,” Coyne quipped. Wayne also revealed that while Han Solo was his favorite character, he hated the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO. He even joked that this made him the perfect fit to play Din Djarin, who starts out hating droids because of a tragedy he suffered in the past.
Both men also discussed their time working on The Mandalorian and Grogu, with Wayne saying that wearing Djarin’s helmet is far harder than it looks. When Djarin is staring at someone, it’s actually Wayne tilting his head. Coyne revealed that he kept delivering takes during the moment when Djarin comes face-to-face with his Imperial warlord, causing director Jon Favreau to remind them to take things seriously. Despite this, both men had nothing but respect for Favreau, with Wayne naming Swingers as one of his favorite films and revealing that he partly landed the role of Djarin through stunt work on Cowboys and Aliens, which led him to do more stunt work on The Mandalorian. “Disney, you owe me a lot of money!” he joked.
Wayne and Coyne also talked about some of the hardest moments in their careers. “I play a lot of villains,” Coyne admitted, saying that this also leads to some brutal deaths. Once, he played a character in a soap opera who was in a coma…and wound up getting a call from his agent one day to learn that said character died. For Wayne, one of his toughest moments came during Season 1 of The Mandalorian, particularly the episode where Djarin fights a mudhorn. Being covered from head to toe in Mandalorian armor and caked in mud wasn’t a delight, yet Wayne soon learned to fight and move in a way that showcases what Djarin is feeling.
The panel closed with a Q&A, where Wayne was asked how it felt to see his name alongside fellow stunt performer Lateef Crowder in the credits for The Mandalorian and Grogu. While he said it was exhilarating, he also felt strange, given that it was the first Star Wars movie with opening credits. Personally, I feel it’s well deserved. While Pedro Pascal is the face (and voice) behind the Mandalorian, it’s Wayne who helped bring him to life – and guys like Coyne who give him a challenge.
The Mandalorian and Grogu is now playing in theaters. Read our review here.
