Actor Giancarlo Esposito has played a lot of villains over the years. He was fried chicken and meth kingpin Gus Fring on “Breaking Bad” and its prequel series “Better Call Saul,” the malicious magic mirror Sidney Glass in “Once Upon a Time,” the voice of the megalomaniacal Lex Luthor on “Harley Quinn,” and corrupt Vought head Stan Edgar on “The Boys.” Instead of shying away from other antagonistic roles, however, he leaned into them, taking on the part of Moff Gideon, the biggest bad on the “Star Wars” Disney+ series “The Mandalorian.”
Esposito is deliciously evil as Gideon, who was one of the warlords responsible for the Great Purge of Mandalore, killing thousands and taking the legendary Darksaber from the Mandalorian people by promising Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) that he will spare her people if she gives it to him. In true villain style, he takes it and then exterminates as many Mandalorians as he can anyway, leading to Bo-Katan dedicating herself to retrieving the Darksaber. It’s a meaty, fantastic role, but there was just one very important condition for Esposito to accept it, and it had to do with his wardrobe.
Esposito’s one condition was that Gideon needed a cape
While visiting with Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show,” Esposito revealed that he had one major desire when it came to playing the malicious Moff:
“I have one request: please, I must have a cape. And he said, ‘Done deal!’… It sold me on everything that I could have a cape, because you know, this show allowed me to feel like a kid again. It made me dream again. It made me be in wonder again. It made me feel like I could go any place in the universe, and carry my dreams, my hopes, and my imagination with me.'”
Esposito really used that childlike whimsy to influence how he portrayed the character, who is himself a giant nerd and a bit of a Mandalorian cosplayer. He prances and struts around the various starships like an old school (potentially queer-coded) Disney villain truly enjoying himself. Not only did the costumers make sure that he had a cape to go with his armor, but they gave him a full-blown Darth Vader-esque makeover complete with custom Beskar armor in season 3. Esposito delivered a killer villain performance, and he was rewarded with the chance to really play pretend in beautifully-made costumes.
Esposito’s request was kind of relatable, honestly
Acting is kind of an unusual profession, and in some roles, it really can be like playing pretend with the best costumes, props, and playgrounds on the planet. Since Esposito so frequently plays characters who exist on the evil end of the real world, getting to escape into a bit of fantasy is probably a very welcome respite. His desire to have a cape is pretty relatable, honestly, because who doesn’t want a cape, especially if you’re in a freaking “Star Wars”?
Esposito was having so much fun playing Gideon that he was actually a bit of a hazard to certain props, namely the prop Darksabers that he would wield. In fact, he destroyed all but the last Darksaber on accident, leading to some nail-biting moments for the props team. Unfortunately, it seems like he might not get to enjoy playing around in the “Star Wars” universe any longer since it looked like Gideon was killed off at the end of “The Mandalorian” season 3… but then again, this is “Star Wars,” and if somehow Palpatine returned, there’s always a chance for Mandalore’s least-favorite moff to return.
