THE MANDALORIAN has finally arrived in the UK, and if you’re anything like us, you already have the first couple of episodes on repeat! To help bridge that wait between the episodes, we caught up with BERNARD BULLEN (the father of The Mandalorian) to discuss what it was like to work on such a huge and secretive set under the direction of Taika Waititi, and much more…
STARBURST: How did you get involved with The Mandalorian?
Bernard Bullen: It was a huge surprise for me as you can imagine. I was in LA, my manager told me that the casting office was asking for my dramatic reels. They were interested in me. They talked about Sarah Finn casting. I went through a process of selections, over a couple of months. That was in November 2018. Then in January after I came back from Christmas I found out. Until then I didn’t even know what the project was, the only thing they told us was that it was a huge Disney project, and that they wanted an hispanic father. When I came back and they told me that it was for The Mandalorian, I said “What’s The Mandalorian?” I went onto IMDb and saw that it was Star Wars, and I couldn’t believe it.
How much of an impact had Star Wars had on your life before this point? Had you seen many of the films?
I’m past 40, so I grew up with the first three films, especially Return of the Jedi. I still have all of the toys from that era of the ‘80s. I saw the latest films, but I would have never imagined that I was going to be a part of the Star Wars universe. I’m still in shock really!
What can you tell us about your character? Who is he, and how does he fit into the world of The Mandalorian?
Obviously they didn’t give us a lot of information because they were keeping everything about the project secret. We got on set and we really didn’t know anything. Then we were filming for two days and a half, and found out that The Mandalorian obviously had a life before all of this. As a kid he lived on Mandalore with his parents. We had a lot of impact in his life, because of this childhood. His home, town, city was destroyed by the dark forces at the time. It was soon after the events of Return of the Jedi. The last image that he has is of his parents, carrying him around the city, trying to escape, and keep him safe. Obviously it had a lot of weight, because it’s deep inside him. Everything he knows, he knows from me. You’ll be able to see very dramatic scenes in the show. The father gives everything to save his child’s life. It’s understood that the parents die, but it’s never shown.
Can you tell us about what you remember the most from your first day of working on set?
I was pinching myself! I was trying to keep my cool, because obviously I was like “Oh my god!”. I have to say that the whole team were so nice. So into it. 1000% percent. You could feel that. From make-up to crew, to runners, everyone. We had dress rehearsals and all of that, I just couldn’t believe it. When we got to the set they had built a whole town. The scenes where we are running through the streets were built sets, they were massive! So you realise, “My god, this is Star Wars!” Explosions, droids, everywhere. Only on the last day, when I had the last scene, the most dramatic one, and Taika Waititi – who directed our scenes – said that it was a wrap, that was when I realised what had happened in the last two days. I started crying like a baby. It was very emotional.
What was Taika Waititi like to work with?
He is incredible, I only have amazing words for him. He is very funny, he’s very low key. One of my friends worked with him on Jojo Rabbit, and he came over to me and said that we had a friend in common! That made the whole two days amazing straight away. He is very intelligent, and he has a vision of things that are very unique. He makes everyone feel very comfortable. I was very happy to be working with him. I would love to work with him again.
What did you learn the most from working on The Mandalorian, and how did it compare to anything that you’d done before as an actor?
I’ve done bigger roles, and longer ones. However, this was quite unique and amazing to see how something like this worked. It’s such a huge production. The technical aspects of everything. For example all of our scenes are in the middle of destruction and chaos. We have to be running in-between real explosions, and other ones that weren’t real. As an actor you learn how to work with what’s real, and what’s not. That mixed with a huge production, and how it was directed, it was quite incredible. All the behind the scenes that the audience can’t see. I learnt a lot about myself, because my role had a lot of physicality. It was very exhausting in that sense. They did warn me that I was going to be carrying a kid of ten years old for two days, for sixteen hours. I said “Oh well, I can manage!” However, it was tough.
What was the secrecy of a set like this like to work with?
We signed an NDA of course. We couldn’t say anything. The funny thing with the secrecy of this, is that we had to walk from the trailers to the set while wearing a black cloak, so that no one could see what we were wearing. We were filming in Manhattan Beach Studios in Los Angeles. So until you get to the studio where the set is, there are other studios, other crews, actors. So no one could see what we were wearing. We could only take it off when we were on the set. We saw paparazzi climbing up the walls to try and take pictures. We were filming in a very secretive set. You really have to know where it is to find it. They were surrounded by huge walls. Still, there were paparazzi trying to get pictures of us.
What was it like to see your character on screen for the first time? What do you remember from that moment?
It was very exciting, very emotional. I love how they work with the flashbacks. I thought it was so amazingly shot. With all of the SFX, explosions, droids. It was amazing, and I couldn’t believe that it was me there on the screen.
Will the show appeal to viewers who might not be overly familiar with the previous Star Wars movies?
Even if you aren’t a fan of Star Wars, it’s just so good. It’s so different, so original. It’s a completely different story and chapter in the Star Wars universe. There are new characters, so that makes it more attractive to an audience. In film, the story is currently ending, but, it’s just beginning on TV. I think the success of the show is the format, and how it’s written. The unique thing that you never see the face of The Mandalorian himself, yet it still works. It’s so well directed and shot. There’s a mystery about it. The Mandalorian says so much without showing his face, only by moving his body, or through the few lines he has. The story is very powerful. It’s been a huge success in the US, and we’re excited to have it out in the UK and Europe.
Episodes of THE MANDALORIAN are available weekly on Disney+
