2024-04-21 15:00:12
Almost five years ago, the first animated series from the Star Wars universe came along with Disney+. The eight episodes about the Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin completely conquered the fans. Two more series followed and a fourth is in the works. The series, which takes place five years after the events of Star Wars: Episode VI, also features the character of Blacksmith. What it’s like to play a masked character, actress Emily Swallow describes.
For the 44-year-old native of Washington DC, The Mandalorian was not her first acting experience. She played in several successful series, for example, she portrayed Kim Fisher in The Mentalist or Darkness in Supernatural. Nevertheless, the Star Wars series was a new experience for her. The Mandalorians, and therefore her character, known only as Blacksmith, never take off their opaque helmets in it. Capturing the personality and essence of the character is thus a challenge for the actor.
No helmet or blow
“I absolutely love it! But it’s really hard to see with the helmet on. You can’t see down, you can’t look to the sides, and sometimes you bump into something,” Swallow says with amusement, indicating the size of the visor with his hands. The constant wearing of a helmet is an important philosophical aspect in the series for the Mandalorians, the original inhabitants of the planet Mandalore. However, over the course of three series, it becomes clear that all is not as it seems. When Din Djarin took off his helmet for the first time in the second series, fans were ecstatic.
“People keep asking me when Kovářka will take off her helmet. But I have no idea,” says her representative. “I don’t even know if that’s ever going to happen. I kind of hope it doesn’t. I think it’s good for her character that she stays mysterious. I feel like if we knew what she looked like under the helmet, it wouldn’t really help he won’t. On the other hand, I’m sure he’ll have a good reason for it. But I really like the helmet,” she explains.
Fame in disguise?
Although the role in the series earned her a place of honor in the world of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, it did not help her acting career much. The actress amusedly admits that it is precisely the helmet that is always present that is behind this. It often happens that people from the acting industry do not associate her with the role of Kovářka. The same is true in public, where she is more often recognized by Supernatural fans than The Mandalorian.
“People often don’t put me and Kovářka together, because in reality I don’t speak like her. I don’t have her accent, and besides, I’m a very lively person and I’m always moving somehow, so they ask themselves: ‘Is it really her?'” adds Swallow to the popularity. Even during the entire conversation, she is full of energy and answers in a cheerful tone. The true opposite of the stoic and measured Faceless Blacksmith.
This is the Way
In addition to attending Comic-Cons and meeting fans around the world, Swallow loves taking her character into the real world. She likes to meet little girls who are disguised as the Blacksmith. Every time such a meeting is an experience for her. He also describes how he visits small children in hospitals in his armor through Star Wars cosplay groups that also do charity work.
He doesn’t have bad experiences with fans. “I think most of the negative feedback happens online, where unfortunately people can hide. But The Mandalorian is so loved! I always have to pinch myself. You never know how people will receive a show, even if you think it’s really good. So I’m very grateful that people really like her,” she adds to the fans’ response.
Darkness and Dracula’s wife
In addition to the role of Blacksmith, Swallow also became famous for the role of Amara, also known as Temnota, in the cult series Supernatural. Her character enters the story only in the eleventh series, where she portrays the sister of God, who has broken free from his prison and is about to destroy him. However, over the course of the series, it is revealed that she is not as bad as she first appears. “In addition, they have Kovářka (in the original Armorer, editor’s note) quite a similar-sounding name,” the actress points out.
Although she does not like dubbing, she has voiced several video game characters, such as Emily in The Last of Us: Part II. Her voice is also heard in the game The Order: 1886. It was during the recording that she met Graham McTavish, with whom she later dubbed the couple of Dracula and his wife Lisa Tepes in the Castlevania series.
Visitors to the Prague Comic-Con could meet Emily Swallow on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7. “The Star Wars fan community is incredible! It’s unique how many people and generations it influences or has influenced. I’ve never been a part of anything like it,” adds actress Emily Swallow, who plays Blacksmith from the Mandalorian series.
Video: Trailer for the third season of the Mandalorian series
The third season of The Mandalorian series is on Disney+ with Czech dubbing and subtitles. | Video: Disney+