One of the toughest jobs the director of The Mandalorian has is to direct not only the human actors, but also the cast of puppet characters. It’s a whole different field of artistry, and since puppets are not human, you need to be very specific in order to make the movie magic feel real. Fortunately, one of the show’s directors, Rick Famuyiwa, managed to work his way through this brand-new challenge.
Famuyiwa has been involved in the show since season one, and was credited with a total of six episodes of The Mandalorian, including the first episode of season three. He spoke with Entertainment Weekly and revealed how he was able to direct Grogu along with the human characters. According to him, he just needed to treat and direct Grogu like the little guy was a human being.
“It’s an interesting process. But, for me, I felt like to make it easier, I just have to approach this the way I would if I was talking to a human being in front of me.”
What’s special about the Grogu puppet — and perhaps this could also be said for all the other puppet characters in the show — is that it was built to be very emotive. It’s not like any ordinary puppet. And the way this puppet was made helps Famuyiwa while directing the show.
However, directing Grogu also has its challenges, aside from the fact that you’re directing a puppet. Famuyiwa revealed that there is more than one person controlling Baby Yoda, not one. And according to the director, it was very weird at first, since the puppeteers would all respond and nod in unison.
“Once you get past the fact that you’re talking to like five people that are controlling this one character — and it’s the job of one person just to work on the hands, and one who’s just working on the brows — but somehow they’re like one unit and they’re all kind of nodding and talking to you and responding back in unison. But once you get past that, it’s like, ‘Okay, I’m just going to direct this like, I would direct any actor.'”
At the moment, Famuyiwa doesn’t seem to enjoy “talking to Grogu.” He still sees it as five guys controlling one small puppet. And if it helps him do the job, that’s great. But hopefully, things will change, and maybe he will come to see Grogu as another living being.
“I don’t really talk to him [Grogu]. I haven’t got to that point where I’m, like, talking to the puppet, but I do talk to the puppeteers and just go, ‘All right, let’s, here’s the scene. Let’s get into it.'”
Season three of The Mandalorian brings back Grogu with Mando, after an emotional reunion during the events of The Book of Boba Fett. The series showrunner, Jon Favreau, revealed that season three takes place after the events of season two due to Grogu’s training with Luke Skywalker, and the season one premiere really did show how things have changed since we last saw Mando and friends.
Chapter 17, titled “The Apostate,” is now available to stream on Disney Plus.
