Posted in: Disney+, Star Wars, TV | Tagged: benedict cumberbatch, bleeding cool, cable, disney, doctor strange, grand admiral thrawn, streaming, television, The Mandalorian, thrawn, tv

The Mandalorian: Sorry, But Benedict Cumberbatch Has to Pass on Thrawn

When it came to one of the biggest characters not realized in the Star Wars universe in live-action form, Grand Admiral Thrawn is one such that comes to mind. Originally introduced in the Expanded Universe by author Timothy Zahn in 1991's "Heir to the Empire", the first of the Thrawn trilogy now considered Legends under Disney. The popular villain carried over under the new management since the company's acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012 allowing Zahn to revisit him for the new canon. Instead of the post-Return of the Jedi introduction in the EU, he returned in the animated series Star Wars: Rebels. There were those who wondered if the character would make the live-action transition with protagonists Ahsoka Tano and Bo-Katan Kryze making their respective debuts played by Rosario Dawson and Katee Sackhoff (who also voiced the character on animated shows). With Thrawn name-dropped on The Mandalorian, attention turned Doctor Strange star, Benedict Cumberbatch, as fans wanted to push for the casting, the actor has bad news.

Why Benedict Cumberbatch Won't Be Thrawn in The Mandalorian

Speaking with Collider, Cumberbatch explained his decision on turning down taking the role of the legendary Chiss. "That's a straight no from me, right now," he said. "There's no way I want to be turned blue. I turned the air blue, very recently. No no, seriously, I have precious time with my children and I think sitting in a makeup chair and being painted blue, and the amount of time it would take to do that and then take it off at the end of the day might just… it's not the right time in my life for that." Another Mandalorian star in Horatio Sanz attested to the long process it took to become a Mythrol, which is also a blue alien telling Bleeding Cool, "It's four hours and it got cut down to two and a half hours after we did it about enough times," he said, "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." So no, many fans' first choice for Thrawn won't happen. Perhaps the character's voice actor Lars Mikkelson could also play his live-action counterpart as Sackhoff has for Bo-Katan. Who would you want to play the grand admiral?

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