The Mandalorian actor and renowned comedian Amy Sedaris is open to returning to the series, as long as the action comes to her and not vice versa. Introduced in season 1’s “The Gunslinger,” Sedaris’ Peli Motto usually is seen puttering around her Mos Eisley ship-repair facility issuing orders to her droids and doting on little Grogu.
Initially beloved by fans, the character began earning unfair comparisons to Jar Jar Binks when she appeared in The Book of Boba Fett outside her typical setting. Motto even participated in an action scene in that series, but the showrunners’ reliance on her character to pepper comic relief into situations that didn’t call for any — plus the less-than-stellar writing of Book of Boba Fett overall — had some fans wishing Motto would stay in her lane. Per Screen Rant, Sedaris actually agrees with them:
“It’s a lot of fun, that show, I’ll tell you. I really love working on it. There’s something I like about Peli not changing. In Boba Fett, she did leave her her garage, and you saw her in the outside world; that was kind of thrilling. But I also like people that don’t leave their environments. I kind of like that things don’t change sometimes, that the action has to come to her, and Mando needs his craft fixed, or whatever. I kind of like having my area. It’s like guys: When they’re grilling outdoors, they like to stay by that grill. That’s what they do for the whole party. They’re tending the grill. People come to them and talk to them, but it’s like, ‘Don’t, I got a job to do.’ Peli’s kind of like that to me.”
It’s interesting that Sedaris called out the exact use of Motto that most fans didn’t like, meaning she either reads internet comments (surely not what Jerri Blank does in her spare time) or simply felt she didn’t belong amid the action while filming The Book of Boba Fett.
That said, Sedaris is more than happy to host any crazy-looking alien or droid with a grudge among Motto’s scattered wing bolts and hyperdrives, saying, “Oh, wow, all of [the characters], man, bring them on. They’re all so freaky-looking, a lot of them.” She added that it would be “like trick-or-treating if any of them showed up on my set for a week.”
So there we have it: a character actor who just wants to do one job and do it well. Plans are already in motion for The Mandalorian season 4, and surely the writers can invent a reason for the Mandalorian to return to Mos Eisley for repairs. If so, we’ll likely find Peli Motto blissfully unchanged in activity or purpose, suggesting that the best comedic side characters can get a laugh just by standing there.
