Giancarlo Esposito‘s performance as Moff Gideon on Disney+’s ‘The Mandalorian’ was memorable enough to land him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama. He only appeared in two episodes of the first season, but expect to see a lot more of him in Season 2 when it debuts later this year.
Gideon was a sinister enough threat on his own, but by the end of the season finale, he revealed an even greater danger– one that raised a lot of questions– the Darksaber.
Esposito teased:
“You’ll see more of the Darksaber, you’ll get the explanation of this ancient weapon to the modern world, a collapsed world. Where did this saber come from and how was it revived? It’s a key in our second season, which will be back sooner than later… (The saber) is a key to Moff Gideon’s past, which possibly has a lot to do with where he comes from and his desire to build a planet and bring it back together.”
The Darksaber has appeared on ‘The Clone Wars’ and ‘Rebels’ cartoons, in various video games and comic books. It was created by a Mandalorian Jedi named Tarre Vizsla, but passed through many hands, including those of Darth Maul, Sabine Wren, and Kanan Jarrus. Ultimately, Sabine Wren gave it to Bo-Katan Kryze, who will appear in S2 of ‘The Mandalorian’, played by Katee Sackhoff, who provided her voice on ‘The Clone Wars’ and ‘Rebels’.
But back to Esposito and Mof Gideon, it seems that the actor took inspiration from the most well-known Moff in ‘Star Wars’, Peter Cushing, who played Grand Moff Tarkin in ‘A New Hope’.
“You could always read his mind through his eyes. I took a look at the imagery of this supreme chancellor, which really helped me. He is a supreme being in a sense. He knows it, but not everyone in the universe knows it. What we don’t know is how extra special he is yet.”
For the Guest Actor Drama Emmy, Esposito is competing against Jason Bateman for ‘The Outsider’, Ron Cephas Jones for ‘This Is Us’, James Cromwell for ‘Succession’, Andrew Scott for ‘Black Mirror’, and Martin Short for ‘The Morning Show’.
Esposito is also nominated for Supporting Actor on a Drama this year, for playing Gus Fring on ‘Better Call Saul’. He has previously been nominated twice for that role on ‘Better Call Saul’ and its predecessor ‘Breaking Bad’, but has yet to win. In this race, he is up against Nicholas Braun for ‘Succession’, Kieran Culkin for ‘Succession’, Matthew Macfadyen for ‘Succession’, Bradley Whitford for ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, Billy Crudup for ‘The Morning Show’, Mark Duplass for ‘The Morning Show’, and Jeffrey Wright for ‘Westworld’.
‘The Mandalorian’ is up for a total of 15 awards.
The final round of Emmy voting takes place between August 21 and August 31. The winners will be announced on a telecast on September 20, which will air on ABC and be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. However, this will be a virtual ceremony. (BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!)
Source: Deadline
