Posted in: Disney+, Star Wars, TV | Tagged: bleeding cool, cable, Din Djarin, disney, Horatio Sanz, Mythrol, Pedro Pascal, streaming, television, The Mandalorian, tv

The Mandalorian: Horatio Sanz on Bringing His Humor to Star Wars

One of the more underrated characters on The Mandalorian is Mythrol played by actor and comedian Horatio Sanz. First seen in the premiere episode, he's initially outsmarted by the far more resourceful Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) in a failed ambush. The next time we see Mythrol is reluctantly assisting his would-be captor along with his associates Greef Carga (Carl Weathers) and Cara Dune (Gina Carano) to take down an imperial compound in the episode "The Seige". I spoke to Sanz about how Mythrol fits into the series' dynamic, his Star Wars fandom, and his dedication to the role.

When creator Jon Favreau looked to cast the character, he already had Sanz in mind from the getgo. "[Jon] wanted someone comedic to do it," he said. "I think he wanted someone who can do it with a lot of makeup on. He liked my voice I think too, because when I came in, I asked him, 'What kind of voice and characterizations you want?' He was just like 'kind of like you.' He basically wanted him to talk like me. When you watch the show at first, a lot of my friends are like 'I know I know that voice, but I couldn't quite get it.' It was my voice. Other than play emotions as a Mythrol, it is just kind of me and keeping in mind that I'm an alien and I'm a bit of a pirate."

With Sanz's time on Saturday Night Live translating it to his other comedic projects across TV and film, he knew he had to temper his humor a bit to appeal to a broader audience. "Being a fan of all the movies and the whole universe, I was making sure that I wouldn't make similar mistakes," he said. "If I tried to make an alien that had an interesting funny voice, it wouldn't be as good as someone if I was just someone with a funny voice. I just wanted to make sure that I didn't go overboard." One figure the actor drew inspiration from was the franchise's biggest star. "Because I'm a fan, I knew the kind of comedy the show needed and what kind of comedy the work would need and so it's very reminiscent of…Harrison Ford is probably the funniest of the performers. So his comedy is really honest but big. Anyone can get it. I think that's what they're going for. It's funny, but it's also made for kids to get it and like it. I wanted to make sure Mythrol was likable for kids and also to be interesting for adults. That humor kind of has to be big. It's something that I'm familiar with and hopefully, I got close to it."

Compared to Sanz's previous roles, there's no question The Mandalorian was far more physically demanding than anything else he's ever done. "It's way more intense than what I'm used to," he continued. "I'm not an unhealthy person, but I am a little overweight. So I had a lot of weight on me to be on. To make it look good, you want to do it. They have stunt people obviously. Yoshi [Tsuyoshi Abe] was my guy. When they're flying around in the Razorcrest, I'm flying backward on pads. It felt like a Ninja Warriors kind of thing. It was exhausting. I had a lot of makeup. It was hot and the costume was made of this thick leather. It was like 'Let's go' and then you get into it and you're starting to shoot guns, jumping around. Then you want to keep going. They have to reset and everything." Aside from the stunts, Sanz exhibited considerable patience for the love of the Star Wars franchise with his time in the makeup chair to become Mythrol. "I hate to 'bitch' about makeup or whatever but it's true," he said. "It's four hours and it got cut down to two and a half hours after we did it about enough times. We kind of knew shortcuts. It's also very interesting because everyone meets me as Mythrol and no one meets me as Horatio. Their memory with me on set is of a blue person because I get in the makeup first and I'd be the last to leave. No one really meets me, me."

While getting a crash course into the action world, Sanz looks forward to staying within the Disney family for future projects whether if it's Star Wars or Marvel. "I'm definitely open," he said. "It's a new kind of realm I've walked into being an action character. It's definitely open-ended. We'll see what happens. As far as Marvel goes, I have experience with prosthetics now. If I'm some evil dude that gets blown up, that's fine." The Mandalorian is available to stream on Disney+.

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