Home TV News Giancarlo Esposito Recalls His First Strange Meeting With The Mandalorian’s Baby Yoda

The Mandalorian’s Moff Gideon actor Giancarlo Esposito recalled working with the show’s Grogu puppet and knowing it would be the star of the show.

Lucasfilm / Disney

The Child. Baby Yoda. Grogu. Call him what you will, but the diminutive force-wielding character is, without doubt, the star of The Mandalorian. That is something that Moff Gideon actor Giancarlo Esposito knew the moment he first encountered the practical puppet used during many of their scenes together in the Star Wars series. While appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Esposito recalled his surreal first experience with Grogu, saying:

“We walk by a table, and he said, casually, ‘Hey, you want to take a look at the Child?’ And he pulls off the canvas, and I look at this practical child. And he explained to me, it was going to be this, it was going to be that, CGI… And I said no, this is perfect, and then the puppeteer walked by at that very moment. And the puppeteer said, ‘Do you want to see and talk to him?’ I went, ‘Ok…’ And the Child opened its eyes, turned its head, wiggled its ears, and I… You can’t take your eyes off of this Child. Grogu is fascinating, mysterious, and smart, and I looked at Jon, and I said, ‘Jon! This is the star of the show.’ And he stood back, and he scratched his chin, and he said, ‘Do you think so?’ And I said, ‘I know so. And every scene that I’m in has to be with this Child.”

Related: The Mandalorian Season 3: An Insightful Look Through Giancarlo Esposito’s Eyes

Will Moff Gideon Cross Paths With Grogu Again in The Mandalorian Season 3?

Lucasfilm

The third season of The Mandalorian will arrive on Disney+ later this year, but what will become of Giancarlo Esposito’s Moff Gideon is not yet known. After having his plans to steal away Grogu in the finale of season 2 thwarted by the arrival of Din Djarin, Bo Katan, and Luke Skywalker, Moff Gideon is now in the custody of the New Republic, but according to the actor, it will not be long before he is out of his shackles and waging war again. Speaking previously about working on the series, Esposito said:
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“What I love about this show, it is about our army, is about all of us who are starting to understand, once again, it’s for the people and by the people. And if we stand up and allow our voices to be heard, and understand there’s strength in numbers, we can then recreate the world as it should be in peace, harmony, and creatively, scientifically, and politically, a way for us to understand that there are no borders anymore. The Mandalorian exemplifies all of that. This season is off the chain. You’re going to love it.”

Fans have certainly been waiting patiently for the third season of The Mandalorian, and like previous seasons the show could well break several records on its release. With the hype already beginning to build, the new season of The Mandalorian is expected to kick off on Disney+ on March 1, 2023.