Pedro Pascal rarely shows his face on The Mandalorian, so he has to make maximum use of his voice, which can be awkward when the cameras stop rolling.
Although Game of Thrones fans got to know him as Oberyn Martell, Pedro Pascal has really shot to fame as the title character in The Mandalorian…with the caveat that he almost never removes his helmet to show his face. That’s just the way things are when you follow the Way of the Mandalore.
Without his face to convey emotion, Pascal has had to make his voice as engaging as possible. Speaking to Josh Horowitz for Comedy Central’s Stir Crazy, Pascal revealed that this has led to some awkward encounters in the real world:
“I always feel bad,” Pascal said. “A parent that I meet, they have their kid, and they’re like, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to impress my child so much. I’m introducing them to the Mandalorian. But then it’s like my face, and I don’t have The Child with me; I’m not wearing a helmet. And they look and they’re like, ‘Who’s this guy?’”
And then, if I’m going to speak to them in a Mando voice, it’s kind of strangely like a bedroom voice. Totally inappropriate. So it’s kind of just like, [awkward sounds].
Clearly, it doesn’t quite have the same effect when he’s not on set.
It might be awkward for Pascal to speak like that outside of the galaxy far, far away, but within the Star Wars universe, it works just fine. I don’t think anyone could imagine anyone different in that role.
And even though he doesn’t show his face much in The Mandalorian, Pascal’s face has still become one of the most recognizable in Hollywood. Since his breakout role on Game of Thrones, Pascal’s career has sky-rocketed. Most recently, he played Maxwell Lord in Wonder Woman 1984 as well as appearing in Robert Rodriguez’s Netflix movie We Can Be Heroes. He was even named among PEOPLE’s Sexiest Men Alive.
Speaking of Mandalorian voices, star Bill Burr kept his Boston accent to play Migs Mayfeld. You might think that’s out of place in this universe, but he’s having none of it. “‘I’ve never heard a Boston accent in space’ is what they always say,” he said on The Tonight Show. “Oh yeah? What about English? Isn’t that a little weird if you went to a galaxy far far away and you get off and somebody’s like ‘Hey! How’s it going?’” and you totally understand them.”
What about the fact that Han Solo’s talking to a Big Foot. He’s speaking Big Foot, Han Solo’s speaking English. They never break character… And that was all fine? How about C3PO with an English accent? That was okay? [Has] the guy been knighted? Huh? He’s just played Royal Albert Hall and now he’s hanging out with what’s that, Lynyrd Skynyrd? Luke Skywalker?
Point taken. Bostonians, welcome to the galaxy far, far away.
The Mandalorian is currently streaming on Disney+!
