Martin Scorsese’s cameo in Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu was a “dream come true” for director Jon Favreau.
While Favreau originally thought he had no chance of landing the legendary filmmaker to voice a four-armed, fur-covered food truck vendor in the new movie, convincing him was a surprisingly “painless process” once Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy got involved.
Favreau admitted to Variety, that he originally thought: “Why would [Scorsese] even consider this?” but “[Kathleen Kennedy] called him, and she said, ‘Yeah.’ That was it.”
He went on: “[The casting was] a dream come true. To be able to sit there with one of my idols and work a scene out and have him get laughs…”
Favreau revealed that Werner Herzog was also considered for the role before Scorsese signed on.
Meanwhile, Iron Man director and Avengers star Jon Favreau admitted he felt a huge responsibility about being the filmmaker to bring Star Wars back to the big screen after seven years.
He explained: “People care a lot about Star Wars. Star Wars has been around for 49 years; it’s about to be the 50th anniversary, and it’s been around because people care, and people feel emotionally connected to it.”
And, Favreau is hopeful that fans will be on board with his vision.
He explained: “I think about Space Mountain when you get off, and the tears are streaming back towards your ear. It doesn’t matter if it’s the first time you’ve been on it, and if you’ve been on it a lot, you want to go on it, but you want to bring somebody who’s never been on it. That’s what Star Wars felt like to me when I was watching it when I was young, and there’s something fun about sharing things with others and turning them onto something you think they might be into. Star Wars’ is a live experience, and hopefully we capture that.”
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu takes place after the events of both The Mandalorian season 3 and Ahsoka season 1, where The Mandalorian and his sidekick Grogu are working as bounty hunters for the fledgling New Republic.
Pedro Pascal voices The Mandalorian, also known as Din Djarin, with much of the physical performance done by Lateef Crowder and Brendan Wayne.
