Why The Cast Of The Mandalorian Looks So Familiar

With the highly-anticipated Disney+ streaming service slated for a November release, the potential Netflix-killer has begun hyping up its menu of original content. One of the confirmed original series, The Mandalorian, is being described as a western against the backdrop of the Star Wars universe. Set three years after the events of Return of the Jedi, the series follows a lone gunslinger who works outside of the law. For those who aren't in the know, Mandalorians were legendary warriors, often pitted against the Jedi. Their iconic armor, which was donned by both Jango and Boba Fett, was notorious throughout the galaxy.

The series is executive produced by Iron Man director Jon Favreau, with an impressive assembly of noteworthy and up-and-coming directors helming the eight episodes. The cast, meanwhile, features actors from a slew of popular shows and films, including that of the Game of Thrones world, the X-Men universe, and even the Rocky movies. Here is why the cast of The Mandalorian might look so familiar to you.

In this day and age, it's not uncommon for famous MMA fighters to make the transition to acting. Georges St-Pierre played the minor role of Georges Batroc in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, while Quinton "Rampage" Jackson portrayed B.A. Baracus in 2010's remake of The A-Team. Don't forget to add Gina Carano to the list.

Carano's first leading role came in 2011, when she played Mallory Kane in Steven Soderbergh's adrenaline-pumping action movie Haywire. Since then, she has played minor parts in a couple of blockbuster smashes, including 2013's Fast & Furious 6 and 2016's Deadpool.

In The Mandalorian, Carano will be playing Cara Dune, an ex-rebel shock trooper who is having "a bit of trouble" reintegrating into society. Although not much is known of her character, Carano took to her Instagram and shared the first image of her character, commenting about her time at Star Wars Celebration. "I can't describe the energy I felt at the #starwarscelebration2019 event!!" she wrote. "It was incredible and I'm so grateful for all of you and the crazy awesome support you showed us. I'm so stoked... that was epic."

Giancarlo Esposito is one of the most renowned faces in Hollywood. The 61-year-old native of Copenhagen, Denmark has played major parts in huge television series and lent his trademark, gravy-smooth voice and charisma to several successful motion pictures. He is perhaps most recognized for his role as Gustavo Fring, the drug-kingpin employer of Walter White in AMC's Breaking Bad. However, he also starred in films like 1995's The Usual Suspects and 2015's Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. If you pay close attention, you might also recognize his voice as Akela, the leader of the wolf pack, in Jon Favreau's live-action rendition of The Jungle Book.

Like most facets of The Mandalorian, Esposito's role is still largely unknown. However, in an interview with Collider, the Emmy-nominated actor briefly opened up about his time on set. "I've got a great costume. We got great set pieces. I'm not giving anything away because [Jon Favreau] is an artist, truly an artist," Esposito said. "[He was] working with George Lucas on this particular piece and making it a piece that we can really relate to now in our world that we're in."

Fans of the CW's Supernatural will no doubt recognize Emily Swallow, who played the seductive, archangel-slaying Amara, a.k.a. the Darkness. The 39-year-old actress has also held a number of minor roles in various television shows, including The Mentalist, How to Get Away with Murder, Adoptable, and even the Netflix animated series Castlevania. Now, Swallow sets her sights on The Mandalorian, as she was thrilled to announce on Twitter.

Swallow's first role in a television series came in 2006, when she played a character named Regina on the soap opera Guiding Light. Her big screen debut came in 2008's The Lucky Ones alongside Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins and Michael Peña. Although details about her character in The Mandalorian remain shrouded in mystery, Swallow's twitter feed suggests that she had a great time on set, particularly while working with a special co-star. "Working with @TaikaWaititi on one of my episodes of #TheMandalorian fulfilled a very weird and off-kilter dream of mine," she revealed. 

German filmmaker Werner Herzog has accomplished a great bit in his incredibly extensive career. The 76-year-old has garnered several awards and honors throughout the years, including Emmy and Oscar nominations. Herzog is perhaps best known for his directorial work overseas, including existential dramas about the human will like 1982's Fitzcarraldo and 1972's Aguirre, the Wrath of God. However, he has also tried his hand at acting more than a few times, such as when he played the Zec alongside Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher. Eagle-eyed fans of NBC's Parks & Recreation might also recognize him from his cameo as spooky homeowner Keg Jeggings in an episode from the show's seventh season.

When speaking to the Associated Press, Herzog, who will be playing a villain in The Mandalorian, applauded the series as a return to classic filmmaking compared to other slick blockbuster projects. "The Mandalorian was filmed not like all the other Star Wars or other big event films [with] green screen, green screen everywhere, in the camera, motion control moving there," Herzog explained. "You see the landscape, you see the formation. The camera could even be handheld and move in between us, seeing the same landscape. It's not green screen and artificiality. It brings movie making back to where it should be. It's a phenomenal, phenomenal achievement." 

In The Mandalorian, Bernard Bullen will be playing the mysterious role of "Father," according to IMDb. Although this is almost definitely his most high-profile gig to date, the Spanish/British actor is no stranger to the screen. He has appeared in several television shows, both foreign and domestic, and even has a few movie roles under his belt.

In 2018's disaster thriller End of the World, Bullen played the role of Barry. He briefly appeared on TNT's The Last Ship, and also played the minor role of Columbus in the CW's Jane the Virgin. The majority of his acting credits are made up of roles in Spanish TV shows, such as ¡He matado a mi marido!, Una Palabra, and Hola ¿Que tal?. 

It is unclear how significant of a role he will be playing alongside major actors like Pascal, Weathers, and Carano, but Bullen may well be poised for a major breakout with The Mandalorian.

Any fan of the Western genre will most likely recognize Timothy Olyphant from his portrayals of both US Marshal Raylan Givens on FX's Justified and real-life historical figure Seth Bullock on HBO's Deadwood.

Olyphant's first paid acting job was in a 1995 WB television pilot based on the hit detective series 77 Sunset Strip. Casting director Phyllis Hoffman cast Olyphant in the role, but he, unfortunately, did not have an opportunity to meet the show's producer, Clint Eastwood, who quit days before filming began. The pilot was never picked up for a series order, but Olyphant would continue to score roles in many high-profile movies and TV shows such as Scream 2, Sex and the City, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

In The Mandalorian season 2, Olyphant first appeared in the season premiere as Cobb Vanth, a character who was first introduced in the 2015 novel Star Wars: Aftermath. Both the episode and novel reveal that Vanth is the sheriff of a small town on Tatooine called Mos Pelgo, which was invaded by the Mining Collective mere moments after the Battle of Endor. Vanth barely escapes with his life and stumbles upon a group of Jawas, who give him Boba Fett's Mandalorian armor in exchange for a container full of silicax oxalate crystals. Vanth later returns to Mos Pelgo and uses the armor to liberate his people from the Mining Collective.

Michael Biehn might not be a household name to some, but many Terminator and Alien fans will surely recognize him as Kyle Reese from 1984's The Terminator and Corporal Dwayne Hicks from 1986's Aliens. 

Biehn actually got his start in Hollywood from a bit role in 1978 film adaptation of Grease. Even though he only appears in two scenes, the uncredited Biehn does get hit in the stomach by John Travolta's Danny Zuko while their characters play basketball together. Biehn is also no stranger to television, as he made appearances on various high-profile TV shows throughout his career, such as Hill Street Blues, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Criminal Minds. When asked in 2019 if he would ever return to the Terminator franchise for a cameo, Biehn told The Hollywood Reporter (via Comicbook.com) that he finds the idea "ridiculous."

Making Star Wars first broke the news on March 24, 2020, that Biehn would appear in The Mandalorian season 2 as a bounty hunter from Mando's past.