The actor, who physically portrays the helmet-wearing bounty hunter, says he makes sure every movement counts.

How Brendan Wayne channeled his grandfather, John Wayne, in his Mandalorian performance

The actor, who physically portrays the helmet-wearing bounty hunter, says he makes sure every movement counts.

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and NME.

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May 23, 2026 3:00 p.m. ET

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Brendan Wayne; John Wayne. Credit:

Lucasfilm; Getty

- *The Mandalorian and Grogu* actor Brendan Wayne is sharing how he brought a bit of his grandfather, John Wayne, to his portrayal of the bounty hunter.

- The actor, who shares the role with Pedro Pascal and Lateef Crowder, tells * *that he wanted to make sure every one of Mando's movements counted.

- "The more I became like my grandfather, the more I became like the samurai that he studied," he said.

*The Mandalorian and Grogu* star Brendan Wayne is sharing how his grandfather, John Wayne, influenced his performance as the titular stoic bounty hunter.

The actor, who physically embodies Mando alongside Pedro Pascal (who voices the character and plays him without the helmet) and Lateef Crowder (who handles the stuntwork), tells * *that he had to learn to be present in a scene to play the heavily armored character on the Emmy-winning *Star Wars* series.

"I had to really learn stillness, and it's really been one of the greatest things I've learned as an actor," Wane says. "For me, that journey, I always fought that because my grandfather was exceptional at being present and radiating whatever [was happening around him]. John Ford loved to say to him, 'The less I give you, Duke, the better the movie is going to be.' It sounds like a slight, but it was more about if you just be there, it's as powerful as anything."

The Mandalorian and Grogu in 'The Mandalorian'.

He found himself bringing a bit of his grandfather's serenity to the character when working with directors Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Deborah Chow, and Rick Famuyiwa on the first three seasons of *The Mandalorian. *

"When they were directing me, the more still I became, the more I became like my grandfather, the more I became like the samurai that he studied," Wayne says. "Every movement had a meaning; you don't waste them. And with samurai, every movement is a kill movement."

Which is exactly how Mando operates, too. "That's Mando. Those are the precepts that he works upon," he notes, "and so to have that trust in yourself that whatever you're living in that moment — if I'm working with Katee [Sackhoff] as Bo-Katan or Emily Swallow — as long as you're present, that's 90 percent of the work."

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It was also important to Wayne that Mando always appear calm and collected — even when the cameras weren't rolling.

"I would get to set two and a half, three hours early, I'd do my workout, and then I'd go spend an hour at least walking the set, because I never wanted Mando to fall down in front of the crew," he says. "I wanted him to be as smooth as my grandfather, Clint Eastwood, or Yul Brynner in *Westworld*. I wanted him as smooth as could be so that every movement did matter."

As fate would have it, he's not the only member of the Wayne family who's part of the* Star Wars *universe. He told PEOPLE that he was completely unaware, when singing on to play Mando, that his grandfather's voice had been used for the Galactic Empire spy Garindan ezz Zavor in *A New Hope*.

"Back in the day, when we used film, they found the soundtrack on the ground in the editing room," he said. "And they knew it was from *True Grit*. They took his voice [from stock audio], and they did whatever they do, their magic."

Brendan Wayne on 'The Mandalorian' set.

But don't worry, Wayne is completely fine with "riding the coattails of my grandfather" when it comes to playing a role in a galaxy far, far away. "I had hoped I might have been able to be the first in this," he teased, "but no, sadly, I was still second.'"

*The Mandalorian and Grogu *is in theaters now.

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