Pedro Pascal Would Like Mandalorian Fans To Stop Asking Him To Do His Mando Voice, Thank You Very Much
Which way do you prefer your Pedro Pascal? The highly in-demand actor comes in many flavors these days. There's Oberyn Martell on "Game of Thrones," the libidinous, headstrong Dorne royal who rarely hesitates to remind the people of King's Landing that his home land is better than the rest of Westeros in every conceivable sense. There's Joel on "The Last of Us," a gruff, taciturn survivalist making his way with his surrogate daughter Ellie in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by fungus zombies. And then there's Din Djarin on "The Mandalorian," a stoic bounty hunter who spends his days traversing the "Star Wars" universe with his tiny, green, snack-loving adopted son, Grogu.
Out of the actor's best-known roles, it's Din who's the most defined by his voice. Given the character's habit of never removing his helmet (it's a culty, religious thing), it often falls to Pascal to communicate what he's feeling through the tiniest inflection or variation in his vocals. In fact, a lot of times, it's not even Pascal underneath all that Beskar armor on the "Mandalorian" set. That makes it even more important the actor really knocks it out of the park when it comes to his line delivery, which he does without fail pretty much every time out.
Pascal himself has the personality and enthusiasm of a human golden retriever in most of his interviews and seems game to do just about anything he's asked, whether that entails answering the internet's questions about his life and career or eating increasingly spicy-hot chicken wings for our viewing pleasure. He would, however, very much appreciate it if people stopped asked him to do his Mando voice — though almost definitely not for the reason you would guess off the top of your head.
'It sounded so inappropriate'
Speaking on "The Graham Norton Show," Pedro Pascal confirmed that older "Mandalorian" fans frequently want him to talk like Din Djarin for their children whenever they encounter him, be it in the real world or online. "They get so excited, they say, 'My kid loves 'The Mandalorian.' Either it'll be a Facetime thing or they'll be like, 'Hey, you know, Charlie, this is the Mandalorian!'" the actor explained. "And they [the kid will] look at me and they're like, 'Who the hell is that?'"
Indeed, considering how rarely Din removes his helmet on the show, it's understandable kids wouldn't immediately associate Pascal with Baby Yoda's father figure. He's certainly not the first actor to encounter this sort of issue, either. During his own appearance on "The Graham Norton Show" back in 2015, Tom Hanks revealed that children are typically confused when they meet him in real life and their parents insist he's Woody from "Toy Story." In that case, though, Hanks admitted he's usually able to win them over by asking the kids to close their eyes and shouting something in his Woody voice like, "We got to get back to Andy's room right away guys!"
Unfortunately for Pascal, he's had another — and much more awkward — problem doing his "Mandalorian" voice for the series' younger fans. "It sounded so inappropriate because it's actually kind of a very breathy, low-register, bedroom voice," he confessed. If anything, asking the kids to close their eyes only makes things worse. "It's just, like, so creepy. 'Close your eyes and listen to my voice.' No, it doesn't work," he added.
Pascal in the streets, Mando in the sheets
Given the context, one can follow Pedro Pascal's meaning. On "The Mandalorian," Din's voice sounds perfectly appropriate for someone who not only tends to speak behind a helmet that completely covers his face (one that's incredibly hard to see out of, as the actor has mentioned in the past), but also one whose chosen line of work generally requires him to deal with rather dangerous individuals. Coupled with the design of his body armor, the actor's growly, Man With No Name-styled voice only serves to make Din that much more intimidating to his enemies and anyone else who's even considering attacking him. Strip all that away, though, and you're left with a man speaking in a somewhat sexy, guttural tone for no apparent reason.
Mind you, Pascal seems to be taking this issue in stride and doesn't appear genuinely upset about the whole thing so much as politely (and quite understandably) flustered. Still, the next time they encounter him in person, fans would do better to check their privilege and refrain from making this particular request. Thanks to his recent success on the small screen, it's surely harder than ever for the actor to go anywhere in public without people immediately recognizing him and asking him to do something for them. The last thing any fan wants to do is knowingly force the world's favorite TV dad to do something he's admitted to being uncomfortable with on some level.
New episodes of "The Mandalorian" premiere Wednesdays on Disney+.