‘Grogu is real and is as real as they come’: Newest Star Wars villain reveals what to expect in ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’
“The Mandalorian and Grogu” is undeniably one of the biggest movies of the summer. As the first “Star Wars” movie since 2019, it’s undeniably one of the biggest movies of the year. So chances are that even with early reviews coming in mixed — Rotten Tomatoes has it a 60% fresh on the Tomatometer with over 130 reviews, and I gave it a 2.5 out of 5 stars in our official “The Mandalorian and Grogu” review — you’re still going to go see it in theaters. Even if you don’t, you’ll almost certainly see it once it’s eventually on Disney+.
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Naturally, you might want to know something about the movie before seeing it. There are no Skywalkers in this saga (well, not in this chapter), and there are plenty of new faces in the trailers we’ve seen so far. If you have never watched the three seasons of “The Mandalorian,” chances are you don’t know anyone in this movie besides Grogu, because how could you not know Baby Yoda?
Luckily for you, I recently had a chance to sit down with someone who knows Baby Yoda intimately. Jonny Coyne, who some of you might know from any number of TV or movie roles (for me, it’s as Allfather D’Aronique from the AMC comic book adaptation “Preacher”), is starring in “The Mandalorian and Grogu” as the mysterious Lord Janu, and he’s now the latest villain in the Star Wars galaxy. As you can see in the image at the top of this article, he’s got Grogu in a cage, so there’s no mistaking him for a hero. But beyond that, little is known about this Imperial remnant, whom we only saw briefly in holographic form in “The Mandalorian” season 3 as part of Moff Gideon’s (Giancarlo Esposito) Shadow Council.
So without further ado, let’s dive into my conversation with Jonny Coyne, as we discuss what to expect from Lord Janu in this latest Star Wars film, and what it’s like to work alongside the famous Grogu.
Malcolm McMillan
Malcolm has been with Tom’s Guide since 2022 and has covered the latest in streaming, entertainment, shows and movies since 2023. He watches dozens of new releases every year (currently 25 so far in 2026!) to make sure you don’t have to watch any of the bad ones.
Who is Lord Janu?
At this stage of the story, the Empire has been defeated, and there are remnants of the Empire scattered around the galaxy. It’s Din Djarin’s job to go and find them, and I’m one of the guys he has to find. There’s a price on my head, and he has to go and find me.
Jonny Coyne on Lord Janu’s role in “The Mandalorian and Grogu”
As I mentioned before, you’ll only know Janu from “The Mandalorian” season 3, when he didn’t even have a name. In the episode, “Chapter 23: The Spies,” he appears in the Imperial Shadow Council as a hologram, briefly clashing with Captain Gilad Pellaeon (Xander Berkeley) over how to handle the galaxy now that the Empire has fallen. So I had to ask if writer/director Jon Favreau had expanded the character beyond being just a nameless face, now that Janu is the newest Imperial villain.
“It’s definitely been fleshed out, and they’ve had a rethink,” Coyne explained. “I don’t know if it’s a rethink or whether they were heading there anyway, but there’s a much more — I don’t know the term I want to use, it may not be the correct term — but he’s a much more human factor in the whole situation.”
As for whether or not we’ll get more of the Shadow Council, Coyne was keeping things as tight-lipped as an Imperial intelligence officer.
“I can’t say, and I honestly don’t know,” he admitted. “At Disney, you were lucky to get a script to look at. So, you know, I got it piecemeal. Jon Favreau was very complimentary about my line learning, given that, you know, we were getting it [the script] that morning and had to sort of learn lots of lines. So, it’s a job to try and figure out what you’ve got to do.”
Grogu, unsurprisingly, steals every scene
You know full well that when the camera’s on you, the audience are going, ‘Just get off him. Get off him. We want the camera on Grogu.'”
Of course, being Star Wars’ newest villain is all well and good, but people are coming to this movie for one thing: Baby Yoda. And unsurprisingly, even Coyne will readily admit Grogu is the star of the show.
“Grogu is real and is as real as they come.,” Coyne declared. “And he’s as every bit as a scene stealer as Lassie is. And every bit as a scene stealer as Shirley Temple. You know full well that when the camera’s on you, the audience are going, ‘Just get off him. Get off him. We want the camera on Grogu.'”
Plus, it’s important to remember, this isn’t acting with a tennis ball on a stick. Grogu is a fully functioning puppet, and that makes it feel to everyone like they’re working with talent as real as the humans on set. “If you’re just in between shots and you just go up to Grogu and give him a little peck,” Coyne continued, “he [Grogu] responds, and he’s alive all the time. It’s a joy to watch, really, and terrifying for an actor to be part of because you know you’re not getting any love.”
The walk, the creation, the stance — everything that you see is very much Brendan.”
Jonny Coyne on why Brendan Wayne is essential to The Mandalorian
But Grogu wasn’t the only joy to work with in “The Mandalorian and Grogu.” It used to be the worst-kept secret in Hollywood, but it’s now common knowledge that, quite often, it’s not Pedro Pascal in the Mandalorian armor. Instead, body doubles Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder serve as the physical stand-in for the bounty hunter in most scenes, and it was Wayne in particular that Coyne was quick to heap praise upon.
“He’s [Wayne] an old hand,” Coyne explained. “He’s been around a long time on the show [“The Mandalorian”], and he guided me through a lot of the stuff. It was great working with him, and he’s on it — completely on it. The walk, the creation, the stance — everything that you see is very much Brendan.”
Check out extended clips from my interview with Jonny Coyne on the Tom’s Guide Entertainment TikTok starting today (Fri., May 22) at 6 p.m. ET
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