- Pedro Pascal said the Grogu puppet in “The Mandalorian” made him cry.
- Pascal said the puppet was realistically emotive during a goodbye scene in season two.
- The actor joked that the puppet was “stealing” one of his few helmet-off scenes in the show.
Pedro Pascal said that the Grogu (a.k.a. Baby Yoda) puppet in “The Mandalorian” was so realistic and emotive that it made him cry while filming their goodbye scene in the show’s second season.
Pascal appeared on First We Feast’s “Hot Ones,” speaking about his career and starring roles on “The Mandalorian” and “The Last of Us.” During the conversation with host Sean Evans, he said that he never had any trouble acting against his adorable puppet costar on the Star Wars series.
“He’s a very cooperative and fulfilling scene partner, acting partner, you know. It’s pretty crazy,” Pascal said. “Having to say goodbye to him in season two and getting praise for, ‘Oh my gosh, like you have such subtle emotion and you’re dealing with a puppet,’ and I’m like, ‘This puppet is making me cry.'”
Pascal then proceeded to imitate the creature.
First We Feast/YouTube; Disney+
During that particular scene in the show’s season two finale, Pascal’s Din Djarin removes his helmet to say goodbye to Grogu face to face before passing the child to Luke Skywalker. It’s an emotional moment: Djarin, the titular Mandalorian, rarely removes his helmet, and Grogu reaches out to touch his face before the pair part ways.
Pascal is far from the first to comment on the puppet’s enthralling nature. In 2019, “The Last Jedi” director Rian Johnson told Insider that the puppet was “so beautiful” after getting a glimpse of it on set, and Emmy-award winning “Mandalorian” cinematographer Greig Fraser told Insider that he and director Jon Favreau did their best to maximize the creature’s cuteness.
Pascal joked that the puppet was so emotive during the season two sequence that it was undercutting Pascal’s own performance.
“I’m like, damn!” he said. “Chill, you’re stealing it. It’s like the one time I have my helmet off. Let me have the scene, bro.”
