Giancarlo Esposito warns of Moff Gideon's Mandalorian return
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The last we saw Giancarlo Esposito's Moff Gideon, he was being hauled away on The Mandalorian season 2 finale to face a New Republic interrogation and trial after losing the Darksaber to Din Djarin. In last week's episode, however, we learned that the shuttle transporting him had been raided in either a kidnapping or rescue mission.
So where the heck has Moff Gideon been? "That's for me to know and you to find out," Esposito told EW's Dagobah Dispatch podcast while at Star Wars Celebration in London. "I've been regaining my dignity and harnessing all of my energy with a plan."
Lucasfilm Ltd. Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon on 'The Mandalorian'
Gideon's become something of a mythical figure this season. His name is spoken in hushed tones, his whereabouts the subject of numerous theories. It's all served to make the series' main baddie even more mysterious and scary than ever. "Without a doubt," agrees Esposito. "And that's the real golden egg of great writing is that you tease it, but you also tantalize the audience. And as well as doing that, you strike fear in them. Because the longer you don't see me, the more pissed off I'm going to be when you do."
While the actor has been enjoying the build, Esposito — who took the Lucasfilm studio panel stage and yelled the "Long live the Empire!" to the 4,500 audience members — tells EW he had no idea when season 2 ended that his character would be taking such an extended hiatus. "I didn't really know that. I had a sense of it as time went by and I knew that they were cooking up something really great for Moff Gideon, which you'll soon to be apprised of. But the creators of the show are so very specific in what they do in their timing within the season. Episodes are built to excite and give you anticipation, so I trust that they know exactly where I should enter and how that should be played out."
Lucasfilm Ltd. Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon on 'The Mandalorian'
What did Esposito do in his time off? Did he keep up with the scripts during his sabbatical? Well, maybe if he'd been given them. "We don't often get scripts if we're not in them," he explains. "I think it's just the way of trying to keep things under wraps for our creators. So you make a phone call and you say, 'Hey, what's happening? What's the plan?' And they're tightlipped in giving you little clues as to what may happen."
That secrecy does not bother Esposito in the least. "I'm one of those actors who doesn't really need to know. Jon [Favreau] will call me and say something along the lines of possibly this or that, or the other. And I'm like, 'I'm here to serve. Let me know when you need me.'"
The good news is that Esposito knew he would be needed eventually. "At a certain point within, we need mirrors. We need mirrors for the light and the dark, the good and the evil. We need to see mirrors of ourselves. And I think that's why this show is so successful, because we're able to see the struggle on a larger scale of a people who want to reclaim something they've lost."
Lucasfilm Ltd. Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon on 'The Mandalorian'
Esposito is referring to the Mandalorians, and the actor teases an impending conflict between himself and the people whose planet he took away. "They are having a hard time getting it together to bring the disparate parts of their own people together. And while that confusion is there, somewhere out there is someone who wants to really take over and has another agenda. And so that excitement is always there and it's always a wonderful thing to play a character like Moff Gideon, because at the right moment I'm going come in and surprise you."
With just two episodes left in season 3, that surprise might be just around the corner.
To hear interviews with the cast and creators of The Mandalorian as well as full episode breakdowns, listen to EW's Star Wars podcast, Dagobah Dispatch.
