The Mandalorian Actor Watches Wrestlemania And Keeping Up With The Kardashians, But Hasn't Seen Star Wars
Disney's new Star Wars TV show, The Mandalorian, is finally out in some parts of the world with the release of Disney+. One of the show's main actors, Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man, Jack Reacher), has given Variety an interview about it, and it contains some surprising and delightful answers.
Herzog, who hasn't seen any Star Wars movies before, told Variety is "doesn't really matter" that he isn't too knowledgeable about the source material. Show creator Jon Favreau helped brief Herzog on what he needed to know, and that was enough.
"You see, it was a very lively exchange, man-to-man so to speak, between Jon Favreau and myself. I was not tossed into unknown territory. I was very well briefed," Herzog said. "I knew what was expected of me--I knew the interior landscape of the character and I knew the exterior landscape."
Herzog added that he doesn't watch more than four movies every year anyway, so it's not surprising that he hasn't seen Star Wars.
He does, however, watch some television--and the programs he called out are unexpected. He tunes in for WrestleMania and Keeping Up with the Kardashians. "As vulgar as they may be, it doesn't matter that much, but you have to find some sort of orientation. As I always say, the poet must not close his eyes, must not avert them," Herzog said.
Herzog said he was drawn to Keeping Up with the Kardashians, specifically, because he is passionate about experiencing new things. "I'm curious; that's my guiding principal," he said.
Continuing in the delightful interview, which you should read in full to completely appreciate, Herzog said he doesn't expect to watch The Mandalorian. It's only available on Disney+, and Herzog said he isn't very enthusiastic about signing up. He is already a subscriber to the Criterion streaming service, and he's enjoying that. "They have hundreds of films, and every one of them is great."
In The Mandalorian, Herzog plays a character called the Client, a mysterious man who gives The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) a bounty to track someone down. GameSpot sister site CNET said Herzog's appearance in the show is "absolutely brilliant."
GameSpot's review of The Mandalorian Episode 1 scored it a 7/10.
"With its first episode, The Mandalorian has made a statement about what a live-action Star Wars TV show looks like," Chris Hayner said. "Now, with the remaining seven episodes in Season 1, it needs to make a statement about how a Star Wars plot should unfold over a longer form of storytelling."
Unlike shows on Netflix, episodes of The Mandalorian aren't released all at once. Future episodes will follow on a weekly basis, except for Episode 2 which premieres November 15.