Emily Swallow Fan Expo Canada

Fan Expo Canada Interview: ‘The Mandalorian’s Emily Swallow Talks Playing the Armorer and Being on Both Sides of ‘Star Wars’ Fandom

August 19, 2024Ben MK




With an extensive career in episodic television, Emily Swallow might be a familiar face to fans of such popular prime-time shows as Supernatural, SEAL Team and The Mentalist. Ironically, however, it's a role in which viewers never actually see her face that she's perhaps best known for. As the Armorer in The Mandalorian, Swallow has spent the past three seasons of the hit Disney Plus series providing sage advice to Pedro Pascal's bounty hunter, Din Djarin, as well as forging the weapons for him and their fellow Mandalorian warriors to do battle with the Imperial forces of the evil Moff Gideon. In real life, though, Swallow's portrayal of the Armorer has earned her the respect of legions of Star Wars fans, affording her entry into that exclusive club of actors whose names will forever be linked to their characters from a galaxy far, far away.

I caught up with Emily Swallow ahead of her appearance at Fan Expo Canada to chat about her experience with Star Wars fandom, and to find out what playing the Armorer has meant to her.

You've had a fairly long career in television, but you're best known for playing the Armorer. Can you talk about what it's been like to play that character, and what the fan reaction has been like?

Swallow: It has been such an incredible, unexpected journey. Because when I think back to when I auditioned for the part — it wasn't called The Mandalorian, there was so much that was being kept secret. I really had no idea that this character would come to be such an integral part of the story. And so what I focused on at the beginning is that it was a really cool acting challenge. I had never done a character who was masked on TV before. I'd done it on stage, but this was a whole different thing. And then seeing, as I worked on her with what little information I had, how she fit into the story in sort of an archetypal way.

Because Star Wars does have these incredible, symbolic characters — these archetypes that we've come to really connect with so much. And so I started to see that she's the mentor to Mando, she's sort of the Yoda on his journey, and that was a really, really fascinating thing for me to look into — like what other mentor characters do we love from these huge stories beyond Star Wars. It was a really satisfying acting experience, because everyone involved in the show is just so collaborative and so generous and so smart. But then you never know, even when you have a wonderful experience like that, how it will be received.

So then we finished making it and it premiered, and it has just been wonderful to see how people connect to it. To hear people who say, "I grew up with Star Wars, but then I didn't really like the way it was going," or "I just wasn't into it," say that they've reconnected with it. And then to see this entirely new generation embrace it — getting to see little girls who are cosplaying as the Armorer. I love that they have this character who is so strong but also so patient and so wise. She's a really wonderful role model. And that means a lot to me, to play somebody like that. So the adventure continues to unfold, and I never know what's gonna be next.

Were you a Star Wars fan prior to taking on the role? And do you have a favorite Star Wars movie?

Swallow: I was, yes. I always tell people my way into Star Wars was the Ewoks. [Return of the Jedi] came one when I was maybe three or four, and I just immediately glommed onto the Ewoks cuz they were cute and furry. But then, of course, Princess Leia was someone that I emulated. And I wanted to have the Princess Leia hair and could never figure that out because we didn't have YouTube tutorials back then. But I would say I was a moderate Star Wars fan. I hadn't watched any of the animated series. I'd seen all the movies, but I didn't know just how fast the canon is. And so I am continuing to learn about all those layers, and was always so glad to have Dave [Filoni] on set, because any question that you have — if you're not sure that you're remembering something the right way from Clone Wars or Rebels or whatever — he's right there to set you straight.

You mentioned the other mentor-mentee roles that are similar to the relationship between the Armorer and the Mandalorian. Were there any that you referenced in your portrayal?

Swallow: Nothing that I specifically pulled character traits from, but just sort of the feeling of, well, of course, Yoda, and [from] Lord of the Rings, Cate Blanchett. And definitely, just within what Jon [Favreau] and Dave talked about in [Akira] Kurosawa films, the samurai order. So the feeling of that was something that I found very, very helpful. And then within my own life, I thought about who it is that has guided me, and I think both my mom and my dad influenced it. Because my dad was a very stoic man — very loving, but also you didn't always know where his emotions were. And I think the Armorer is definitely like that. Both my mom and my dad just have such incredible patience in the way that they teach, the way that they guide. And so that was surely something that influenced it. That was also such a blessing for me when I was working on [the Armorer], to get to think about those people in my life who have had that sort of impact. Cuz we all need people like that.

You also mentioned working with Dave Filoni, and the advice you received from him and Jon Favreau. What was it like working with the other actors, like Pedro Pascal and Katee Sackhoff?

Swallow: Absolutely wonderful. And especially with Din Djarin, because there were multiple actors who were in the suit at any given time, the way that they work together is beautiful. Brendan Wayne is actually the one that I worked with this most for Din Djarin, and the absolute commitment that he has given that character, especially because he doesn't really get a lot of credit for it, is really beautiful to see. He's so generous. And I would say I wouldn't know necessarily who I was going be working with until I got to set. Like I remember showing up one day and seeing Giancarlo [Esposito]'s name on a dressing room door. I never wound up getting to work with him cuz Moff and the Armorer don't have scenes together, but I've gotten to know him through conventions.

Everybody, no matter what their star power was, approached the work with such incredible humility and with just wanting to give everything that they could to the show — and with this childlike wonder, that we get to be paid to play Star Wars. It's a really, really hard-working group of people, and that's why I was so thrilled that I got to be more involved for season three, because I just want to do as much as possible.

Is there a scene from The Mandalorian that's a favorite of yours, or one that's the most memorable?

Swallow: My favorite scene lately, I would say, is in season three, when the Armorer tells Bo [Katan] to take off her helmet, because there's just so much at stake. And especially hearing from a lot of fans that they really expected Bo and the Armorer to butt heads from the start. I feel like that is really the fulcrum, that moment when we don't know — is Bo gonna trust the Armorer and do it, or is the Armorer setting Bo up to fail? Are the other Mandalorians going to embrace that? It's such a subtle scene. There's so many cool scenes with fighting and with weapons — and I love any scene where I get to beat someone with a hammer — but I love that that scene is so subtle, and yet so much is riding on it. So that moment has always been really special to me.

Last but not least, do you have a message for the fans coming to see you at Fan Expo Canada?

Swallow: Please come say hi. Show me your cosplay, tell me your conspiracy theories about the show, cuz I've heard a lot of them. I just am looking forward to meeting everybody.
Fan Expo Canada runs August 22-25 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.




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