One of the most fascinating thing about The Mandalorian was the casting of Werner Herzog in a supporting role. Herzog stars on the first live-action Star Wars series as a mysterious villain known only as “The Client.” Normally, joining a big franchise like Star Wars necessitates doing due diligence on everything that’s come before. But apparently, Herzog hasn’t seen a single film set in a galaxy far, far away.
While speaking with Variety, Herzog insisted that his lack of prior Star Wars knowledge “doesn’t really matter.” In fact, he doesn’t hang out at the multiplex as often as people might think.
“You see, it was a very lively exchange, man-to-man so to speak, between Jon Favreau and myself,” said Herzog. “I was not tossed into unknown territory [and] I was very well briefed. I knew what was expected of me, I knew the interior landscape of the character… You shouldn’t feel upset that I haven’t seen the Star Wars films; I hardly see any films, I read, I see two, three, maybe four films per year.”
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That last bit is definitely surprising, given Herzog’s storied career in filmmaking. And despite his praise for Favreau as a showrunner, he still doesn’t know what other movies Favreau has directed. Regardless, he noted that the technical aspects that attracted him to The Mandalorian in the first place.
“I do not know how the Star Wars films were shot,” noted Herzog. “I can say that filmmaking — and that’s Jon’s great achievement with The Mandalorian — is brought back to where it always has been. As an actor, you see where you are, the planet on which you’re moving, and the camera could even be on the shoulder of a cinematographer and move around, and that’s how filmmaking has been and should be. As an actor, I knew it immediately this was good stuff. You feel it when the camera doesn’t have to be motion-controlled and you don’t have to act like a robot.”
What do you think of Werner Herzog’s performance in The Mandalorian so far? Let us know in the comment section below!
