Sigourney Weaver Discusses ‘Mandalorian & Grogu’ Character

Jon Favreau, creator of the Star Wars series The Mandalorian on Disney+, joined Sigourney Weaver on stage at the Star Wars Celebration in Japan to discuss their upcoming movie, Mandalorian and Grogu. They dived deep into the film, with Weaver eventually summarizing everything in this great way: “Well, someone asked me, ‘What is this movie going to be about?’ I said, ‘It’s about action, and it’s about adventure, and it’s about adorableness. You’re gonna love it.” Weaver continued by discussing her character.

“I play a great character. She came up as a fighter pilot,” added Weaver. “She came up in the rebellion, and now she’s trying to protect the New Republic, and I believe she is completely committed to what she does. She has had the good sense to hire Mandalorian and this sidekick. And, you know, I’m gonna find out if they’re as good as they say. I’m counting on them.”

Weaver continued to tell the audience at the event how she got involved in the film (despite not watching the series at all until she spoke with Favreau).

“Well, I just really can’t believe how lucky I got. I’ve admired the Star Wars films, and you always have such amazing actors in them. And I love being taken to another world where you can see things play out that are really important, but they are about another world, not your world.”

“I think everyone needs that escape, and it’s why I’ve consistently gone back to science fiction. I just feel it’s about the future. It’s about being human. It’s an exploration of so many things. It’s just endless. And I think science fiction fans really understand how important sci-fi is. So, having that ability to explore things that everybody’s going through, everybody’s thinking about, everybody experiences, without having to tie it to the day-to-day, is a really lovely and valuable thing.”

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“So when Jon, out of the blue, asked to Zoom with me and then starts talking about Mandalorian and Grogu, I think we’re both a little shy,” continued Weaver. “I’m embarrassed to say I hadn’t watched the show. If I’d known what it was, I would have watched it. But he said, ‘Well, just watch. Start watching.’ And of course, I just fell in love with it. How can you not?”

Jon Favreau Explains His Approach to ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’

As mentioned, director Jon Favreau was in attendance, and he delved into how he and his team were approaching this cinematic extension of The Mandalorian. “There are a few things we’re keeping in mind. First of all, we want a sense of play and adventure, right? Because that’s what it is. We always sought to not just be inspired by what George did, but what inspired George,” explained Favreau, adding:

“There’s a type of a flavor of sci-fi that has a sort of adventure that I think he also explored through Raiders. So there’s swashbuckling fun, there’s adventure, but then there’s also all of the complexity that came from the Western and the samurai films, and Kurosawa and Ford […] There’s also, you know, mid-century war films, there’s imagery that George was drawn to that we try to maintain, and an aesthetic of the lived-in world that he created that felt like there was history.”

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“And even though it’s sci-fi, it doesn’t feel like it’s set in the future; if anything, it feels like it’s set in the past and the archetypes of the past, of classic storytelling. And how do you incorporate all of those things?” Favreau added about his team’s approach to creating The Mandalorian and Grogu. “In the show, we could go on little tributaries and trajectories, but with a movie, you want it to be for everybody to enjoy, and how do you draw all of that together and put it in a package and experience that? If it’s the first time somebody’s coming to see Star Wars, they’re going to want to be here and be part of this.”

The Mandalorian and Grogu is set to release on May 22, 2026.