“Leader. Strong. Zen, but with authority.” Those six words were all actor Emily Swallow knew about her character of The Armorer when she auditioned to play the blacksmith chieftain on The Mandalorian. But they were all she needed to get started.
In the newly released Episode Three, her character becomes even more significant and intriguing as she forges metal plates to protect her top hunter (Pedro Pascal) while fortifying the spirits of the battered refugees she leads from their hidden underground lair. Vanity Fair’s podcast Still Watching: The Mandalorian interviewed Swallow, who’s best known for Supernatural and The Mentalist, about bringing life to this enigmatic galactic leader.
On the episode you can hear Swallow as well as another strong-willed woman pivotal to the series— Episode Three’s director Deborah Chow, who is also overseeing the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi show for Disney+.
Swallow said her scenes as The Armorer were shot concurrently with her introduction in the pilot, and she drew inspiration for her fearless, masked female leader from the first woman to direct a live-action Star Wars story.
On Deborah Chow:
"I remember first and foremost her intense curiosity. It was great having her as a director while I was trying to find this character. There were lots of things just in her personality that I thought I could draw from. She’s somebody who commands a room in a very graceful and simple way. She was so curious as we were finding the language of these masks. She gave us time to try different things and explore different things.”
The Secret Audition:
“It was remarkably low-key. I didn’t even really know for sure what I was auditioning for. There hadn’t been anything announced that there was gaining to be a Star Wars series. It had a code name, and my agent said we think this has something to do with Star Wars but the casting director will neither confirm or deny.”
The title Swallow was given was simply “Untitled High Budget,” accompanied by the six-word description at the top. “The little information I had was that she was a leader of these people, and very comfortable in a position of knowing she had all their respect. One of the coolest things for me in playing her is trusting that she does have that authority without having to be very forceful at all.”
Her Own Armor:
The Armorer has a helmet that’s more ornate than the others, adorned with spikes, and cut more in the style of an ancient Spartan warrior helmet. “I love that there are those little changes that are so impactful. I remember when Pedro saw my mask he was like, ‘Wait a minute, why does she get to look so much cooler?”
That’s because she’s the boss.
“There was this attempt at communicating a bit of regality. She is in a position of leadership over them. But I have to say, even though I absolutely love that fur shoulder piece, it sure doesn’t seem very practical for somebody who is surrounded by fire all the time.”
Mandalorian Mayhem
“The experience of being in the costume is not nearly as dignified as it translates on film. I’m really glad it looks as good as it does.”
In real life, Mandalorians would not be fearsome fighters because they can barely move. “The simple task of walking across the room … I would have loved to glance down and make sure I wasn’t going to trip on something because we had no peripheral vision, you couldn’t see down, but if I did that it would communicate this huge moment that was entirely extraneous. So there was a lot of trust involved. I was really glad she is a very deliberate and slow-moving person.”
“I kind of secretly hope that at some point there’s a blooper reel that shows just how ridiculous it is when you get two Mandalorians or more in a room together. We were bumping helmets. We were running into each other and tripping over things. All of the action sequences that look so great where I’m hammering metal and putting things into the fire, those took a long time to actually capture.”
For more, listen and subscribe to Still Watching: The Mandalorian.
