Giancarlo Esposito has done an excellent job as the cunning villain Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian and with Season 3 right around the corner, the actor says that we'll be getting "a good amount" of him which is always a good thing. At this rate, it's hard to imagine the character being played by someone else and unsurprisingly, creator Jon Favreau has always envisioned Esposito in the role.
During his appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the 64-year-old star recalled his first conversation with Favreau about the show and according to him, he didn't make a hefty amount for his Moff Gideon role, at least during the first season. It turns out that most of the show's budget went to the revolutionary technology Lucasfilm utilized called "The Volume".
Esposito reveals: "Jon Favreau, who called me and said ‘You wanna be a part of the show” I have good news and bad news. ‘Tell me the good news first’ [I said]. ‘The good news is I wrote a role for you of Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian‘; ‘Oh, what’s that?’ He said, ‘It’s a new Star Wars show that I’m doing’. So I said, ‘Oh, ok, tell me the bad news.’ He said, ‘The bad news is all the money is going into The Volume’, and he started talking technically, and talking about the story and all of these good things.
He'd later reveal that he nearly rejected the pay just to become part of the project. "And I said to him, ‘Jon, I wanna work with people I like. That’s the bottom line.’ I did not want to say, I came very close to saying ‘I will do it for free’. But I loved it that much."
Despite the apparent salary issues, Esposito still accepted the role but on one condition, his character must wear a cape. He continued: "And he said, ‘Are there any requests?’ And I said, ‘I have one request. Please, I must have a cape!’ And he said ‘Done deal!’That was me. It sold me on everything that I could have a cape, because, you know, this show allowed me to feel like a kid again, you know? It made me dream again, it made me be in wonder again, it made me feel like I could go any place in the universe and carry my dreams, my hopes, and my imagination with me.”
Also Read: The Mandalorian Star Admits Wanting More Screen Time
The Mandalorian's third season will premiere on March 1, 2023, exclusively on Disney+.
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