Star Wars Villain Actor Hints At Surprise Return
For anyone who is a fan of Breaking Bad, you’ve known for years that Giancarlo Esposito is capable of playing the ultimate villain, portraying the unassuming yet cold and psychopathic drug kingpin Gustavo Fring. So when Giancarlo Esposito entered the Star Wars universe as Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian, you just knew that he was more than capable of portraying the leader of a remnant of the fallen Galactic Empire and a man evil enough to want to capture Grogu and subject him to brutal treatment.
While speaking at a panel at Comic-Con in Los Angeles on October 5, the versatile actor revealed his main source of inspiration for his take on the Star Wars evildoer and even teased the possibility of his dramatic return to the role.
Doesn’t Know Gideon’s Future
As part of The Mandalorian panel at L.A. Comic-Con, Giancarlo Esposito was asked about his future as a Star Wars villain, to which he explained that while he would be more than happy to continue his character’s story, he hasn’t been told much about any plans to reintegrate Moff Gideon into The Mandalorian. “I know they’re making a film, I don’t know if they’re going to return to the show or not, but anything is open,” he said.
Multiple Gideons Running Around
Despite the vague answer, Giancarlo Esposito noted the appearance of his character at the end of Season Three, which mystified The Mandalorian showrunner Jon Favreau. After shaving off his thin mustache that Moff Gideon had sported throughout the show, the actor hinted at the possible explanation. “And so it leaves it open with all of those clones that there’s a possibility that Moff Gideon is still hiding out somewhere, waiting to come back and take over. I can almost guarantee it,” he said.
Inspired By The Best
In addition to pondering the future in the Star Wars universe, Giancarlo Esposito was also asked about some of his primary influences regarding his character and how he chose to portray himself as the contemptuous Moff Gideon.
Giancarlo Esposito was quick to point to a few iconic Star Wars villains, such as Grand Moff Tarkin and, of course, Darth Vader. “I went back and I watched Peter Cushing’s performance. His Grand Moff performance was very interesting to me,” he revealed, alluding to Cushing’s portrayal of the icy and calculating Grand Moff Tarkin, a man capable of hiding his emotions while ordering the death of millions of innocent people.
Forging His Own Path
Not to be outdone, Giancarlo Esposito noted the iconic performance of one of his lifelong idols, James Earl Jones, admiring “how he held himself, how he carried himself underneath that grand and very graceful costume. It took a long time for me to even start to think that I was kind of a modern-day Darth Vader,” he admitted. Giancarlo Esposito acknowledged that while he studied the infamous Star Wars villains and how they brought their own spin to their respective characters, he eventually had to make his own way and develop his own approach.
A New Fan-Favorite Villain
When Star Wars fans got their first taste of Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon, he was nothing more than a hologram, yet with a few lines of dialogue, it became immediately clear that he was not a man to be messed with. Over the course of his run on The Mandalorian, the slimy and power-hungry villain proved time and time again that he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted, even at the expense of his own men.
Although Giancarlo Esposito has played Moff Gideon for three seasons, the actor said that due to the fast-paced nature of the show and fragmented story, his experience as the character was “facilitated” very quickly. Yet by the end of Season Three, he felt that he had completely immersed himself in the role in an effort to “control the chaos” and deliver a compelling performance.
Source: People
