‘The Mandalorian’: Brendan Wayne Says People From the Show ‘Got Really Mad at’ Him When He First Tried on the Costume
On The Mandalorian, Pedro Pascal plays the show’s main character, Din Djarin. The character also has multiple body doubles, and John Wayne’s grandson Brendan Wayne plays one of Din’s body doubles on The Mandalorian. In a 2019 interview with Vulture, Brendan Wayne discussed the auditioning process for the Disney+ series and shared that he got in some trouble while trying on the costume for the first time.
What happened when Brendan Wayne tried on the Mandalorian costume for the first time
In 2019, Brendan Wayne was interviewed by Vulture about what it is like being a body double for Din on The Mandalorian. In the interview, the actor described how he first found out about the show.
“I got a call from my agent. He was like, ‘Hey, I need you to do this favor. You need to go try on this costume.’ I’m like, ‘Do I get paid?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, you’ll get paid to go. I can’t tell you anything about it; it’s super top secret,'” Brendan Wayne said.
Once it was time to wear the Mandalorian costume, Brendan Wayne immediately recognized the suit was from Star Wars. However, because of this, Brendan Wayne got in a bit of trouble.
“So they finally called me in, and the costumers are looking at me, and it’s a different feel than when I normally go in for fittings or auditions. It’s weird. And they open a container [of the costume], and I looked at it and I said, ‘Oh my God, that’s Boba Fett.’ And to a person, they were like, ‘No, it’s not Boba Fett! He’s dead!’ And I was like, ‘No, this is Boba Fett, but I won’t tell anybody.’ And they’re like, ‘It’s NOT.’ They got really mad at me,” the actor told Vulture.
Brendan Wayne ‘suspected’ the project was for ‘Star Wars’
The Mandalorian premiered on Disney+ in 2019. While taking part in screen tests for the show, Brendan Wayne told Vulture that realized the project would be something new and original for the Star Wars franchise.
“At the screen test. I’d kind of suspected, because my brothers and I had every action figure, but Boba Fett was mine. Just the fact that I got to put it on was enough, because it meant that much to me as part of my childhood,” he said.
In the interview with Vulture, Brendan Wayne shared that he wanted to be part of The Mandalorian in any way possible.
“And I was talking to a couple of actor buddies of mine, and they were saying, ‘Oh, you’re going have to do this and demand this,’ and I was like, ‘I don’t care. They want me to play, I’ll play it. I’ll play it on fire if they want.’ How often do you get to create something? That was really cool —being a part of creating a character who had never stepped foot in Star Wars yet,” said Brendan Wayne.
Brendan Wayne did not ‘care’ that he is not the voice for Din Djarin in ‘The Mandalorian’
While Pascal provides the voice for Din, time in Din’s suit onscreen is split between Pascal, Brendan Wayne, and other body doubles.
Speaking with Vulture, Brendan Wayne shared that he does not mind not being the voice for Din.
“My agent said, ‘You won’t be the voice,’ and I said, ‘I don’t care. What am I doing though? I do not want to sit around. Get me going — let me run into a wall, whatever you want. Throw me from a building — totally fine. You know, hurt me, but don’t make me sit around all day,'” he said.
Season 3 of The Mandalorian premiered on Disney+ on March 1.
