It’s not an overstatement to say that Pedro Pescal’s career has skyrocketed in the last five years. Sure, he played Oberyn Martell on Game of Thrones in 2015. Sure, he got his start on Buffy the Vampire Slayer back in 1999. Sure, he’s been in some of the best TV shows of the last two decades like Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Special Victims Unit, Nurse Jackie, Homeland, and The Good Wife, to name just a few.
However, none of that holds a candle to the type of fame Pascal has seen since 2019 after signing on to play Din Djarin aka the Mandalorian in Disney Plus’ The Mandalorian. Since then, he’s continued to appear in blockbuster projects such as Wonder Woman 1984 and most recently, HBO’s The Last of Us. Once an established actor with a solid resume, he’s now become a household name whose reputation precedes himself.
All that to say, the people want to know more about Pedro Pascal, especially since he’s doing double duty on The Last of Us and The Mandalorian, two of the most popular TV shows on two of the biggest streaming platforms. After two and a half years of waiting, The Mandalorian‘s highly anticipated third season finally hits Disney Plus on March 1. Meaning, Mando and Grogu will be united once more, and Mando will atone for the sins of his past, i.e. the removal of his helmet in season two.
Until that fateful moment when Mando revealed to Grogu his actual face, audiences had never seen Pascal inside the Mandalorian suit; they’d only heard his voice and assumed it was his body inside the bulky armor. But now, it begs the question — is that even Pascal’s body inside the Mandalorian suit? Are the only shots with Pascal the ones where Mando speaks? Here’s what we know.
Is it a body double, or is that really Pedro Pascal in there?
There are plenty of scenes in The Mandalorian when Mando doesn’t speak. There are also plenty of times when Pascal’s schedule outside of The Mandalorian conflicts with the show’s filming. As such, the show supplies two body doubles, or stunt doubles, to fill Pascal’s place should he not be needed or available. They are Lateef Crowder and Brendan Wayne, the latter of whom is actually the grandson of the legendary actor John Wayne.
The entire fourth episode of season one, titled “Sanctuary,” was filmed without Pascal on set at all, according to Vulture; he was starring in King Lear on Broadway. However, that doesn’t mean Pascall is never in the suit. On the contrary, actually.
Ahead of season three’s premiere, Pascal sat down with Empire to let off some steam, sharing how challenging it can actually be to spend entire days filming inside the Mandalorian suit. “It’s like putting on a head-to-toe glove with weights on it,” he said, planting in our heads the mental image of Pascal wearing a five-fingered doctor’s glove on his head. “It’s ironic that you can’t see any facial expression because it puts you in the world so completely, and instantly makes the character feel real – but you can’t see sh*t!”
So, yes, that is Pascal inside the suit. Although, it’s not like you needed us to tell you that. Just take a look at his body language in The Last of Us. Ever noticed how Joel pops his knee out just like Mando? Well, now you will.
Don’t believe us? Find out for yourself when new episodes of The Mandalorian third three premiere on March 1 on Disney Plus.
