'The Mandalorian' Director Shares Thoughts On George Lucas' "Crazy" Set Visit
By this point, many fans have seen footage and photos of Star Wars creator George Lucas on the set of The Mandalorian during the production of its first two seasons so far. It has been fascinating seeing how people like Jon Favreau have interacted with him on the set as the hit show continues to grow. Even with the little that we have gotten, there are bound to be lots of fans who would love to be a fly on the fall during Lucas' set visits.
Recently, the show's Second Unit Director, Sam Hargraves, was interviewed by Collider, and he revealed that he was around when George Lucas came to the production during season 2.
"I was there but, I mean, I was working on another stage. But I did pass through, and I saw him there. He was actually - you would've thought that the real Yoda had showed up. I mean, he kind of did. But there was more people there that day than any other day on any other, you know, episode of the whole season. That was as if you were at Comic-Con on the stage where he was. It was crazy."
To be compared to Yoda would be a huge compliment. The old Jedi Master can be goofy at times, but also full of wisdom. Hargraves was asked whether he thought about going over to ask for a picture. While the thought did cross his mind, Hargraves ultimately decided against it. His reasoning is as follows:
"...he just wants to come and see the, you know, the fruit of his labors of thirty to forty years ago... So I'm like, let him enjoy it."
This shows a lot of restraint, compared to fans who might have, had they been in Hargraves' position, run up to George Lucas and try to spend as much time with him as possible. It is rather admirable that Hargraves felt like giving Lucas some space to just do his own thing. After all, he was there to see what more has come out of the franchise that he created. Maybe seeing the master having a good time was enough of a good sight for Hargraves to be satisfied with the experience.
We also know that Rosario Dawson was dressed as Ahsoka Tano when George Lucas visited during season 2 and held the Grogu (or "Baby Yoda," if you prefer) puppet. Regarding the episode in which Ahsoka made her live-action debut, Hargraves gave all the credit to writer/director Dave Filoni, who has overseen the Ahsoka Tano character since her debut in animation:
"...like he showed storyboards and previews of stuff he had been working on for months, and Dave Filoni came up with a lot of those beats."
To those who have been somewhat jaded by the lack of involvement from George Lucas since he sold the franchise to Disney, it must be nice to have these moments when they get to see or hear about him visiting the set of a current Star Wars project. It can be said that Lucas has earned all of the rest that he may want out of retirement, but it is also nice that he still checks in on his creation every now and then.
While The Mandalorian season 2 was a huge hit, it seems that we will not be seeing the next season until 2022. However, there is plenty more Star Wars to enjoy until then. There is no shortage of stories from this galaxy far, far away that George Lucas created.
Source(s): The Direct