In The Mandalorian and Grogu, Jonny Coyne reprises his role as Imperial Warlord, Lord Janu, a member of the covert Shadow Council first introduced in The Mandalorian.
Operating in secret against the New Republic, the Council represents the fractured but still dangerous remnants of the Empire, with Janu known for his aggressive "hit-and-run" tactics across hyperspace lanes. He's a key player in the evolving power struggle for the Galaxy, and the villain plays a pivotal role in Din Djarin and Grogu's big screen debut.
Earlier this month—before seeing the movie—we sat down with Jonny to discuss his return to Star Wars. The actor tells us what it was like on set, how it feels to join this iconic franchise as a villain, his unique experience working on The Mandalorian, and much more.
Jonny previously co-starred in Netflix's Oscar-nominated Ma Rainey's Black Bottom alongside Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman, and counts The Toxic Avenger, Nightcrawler, The Hangover Part III, For All Mankind, The Blacklist, and Preacher among his credits. You can find the actor on Instagram @onejonnycoyne.
You can check out our full interview with Jonny on The Mandalorian and Grogu below.
We first saw you show up in The Mandalorian as part of the Shadow Council, and you're now making the jump to the big screen. So, when did you get this call for The Mandalorian and Grogu?
I was originally booked to do the TV show. I think Jon Favreau saw something in me that he liked for the movie. At some point, they decided they wanted to tell the story much better as a movie. So that's when I got the call saying, "Oh, you're going to be in the movie." Oh, good, that's nice. That's very exciting. And forgetting always that it's Star Wars for some reason. You know what I mean? It's Star Wars. And then he said, "No, no, you're really going to be in the movie." I had a conversation on Zoom with Jon Favreau when I was still in London. He started showing me all the stuff that my character will get up to, which was very exciting.
Jon has said that The Mandalorian Season 4 was going to be quite a different story compared to the film. Do you know if you were going to be in Season 4 and it evolved into this role, or were you never made aware?
I think I was definitely booked to do a fourth season. That was the original plan. But at some point, because of the actor strike, the writer strike, and the change in the way everything is done, they just felt that they could tell the story much better as a movie. I think it benefits from it, to be honest with you. Not that I know what the story was going to be like. I knew I was going to be in it, but I'm just thrilled that it's become this massive movie, which we're all excited about.
As a Star Wars fan myself, it's great to have this franchise back in the cinema. And all we've really seen of your character, Lord Janu, is a picture of him in an arena with Grogu next to him in a cage. That alone might make you one of the most hated Star Wars villains ever.
[Laughs] There is a rule that says you never work with animals or children because you'll never win. They should add Grogu to that because you're not getting a look in if Grogu's on set. Everybody's looking at him. Nobody's looking at you. Nobody cares about you. They only care about little Grogu.
Grogu, and we've obviously seen this in a few different behind-the-scenes featurettes, is such an incredible creation. What was it like to work with Grogu on set like that? Because he just seems so real from an audience perspective.
It is amazing. The puppeteers are amazing because they bring it to life with those big eyes and the flappy ears and the cuckoo noises that he makes, and the fact that he just jumps on the Mandalorian's shoulders and walks around with it. It is just utterly cute. I'm kind of thrilled at the idea because I've got a four-year-old grandson and I'm just thrilled at the idea that he doesn't know what I do for a living. About a year and a half ago when we filmed it, I told him, "You've got to learn this word: the Mandalorian." The idea that he will see me — he doesn't know what the word means or what it's about — but at some point I could show him that. And with Grogu, having already bought him a toy Grogu so that he can connect the two. So it's emotional manipulation of my grandson, really.
You're following in the footsteps of actors like Peter Cushing and Kenneth Colley, who played members of the Empire in the original Star Wars films. So what does it mean to you — obviously you've just mentioned your grandson — to play an Imperial villain like this and to continue that kind of screen history?
Well, it's a thrill really. It's always best to play the baddies. And yes, Peter Cushing — amazing to sort of follow somebody like him. It's always the most fun. You have to keep pinching yourself that it is part of the historical thing. You have to keep reminding yourself this is really special and not just take it for granted, because it's so easy to do that. It's been a year and a half now since I've done it, so you have to keep reminding yourself how excited people are about it all. So yeah, it's great to follow those people.
Going into this film, the Mandalorian is hunting down these Imperial remnants. So the big question is: what can you tell us or tease about what we can expect from your character in this one and maybe where we find him?
Okay. So I can't tell you too much really. Obviously Disney's incredibly constricting about these kinds of things. You can't even walk out with the sides the day of the shoot in your bag without getting a phone call saying we want them back. So I can't tell you too much. All I can tell you is that he is a remnant of the Empire. He is up to no good like all of them are, and the Mandalorian has been sent out to find these people.
That's very intriguing, especially as we first saw you as a hologram, part of that gathering of those Imperial remnants. So when you look back at that to how the character is going to evolve now we pick up with him in person — how exciting has it been to explore him more and to pick up with where he fits into this world properly?
Yeah, I mean fantastic. It was two lines as a hologram. I had two lines, but he obviously liked my face and the demeanor that I had and thought maybe I could use this for other things. And obviously whatever plans they had for Season 4 — I don't know what those plans were or how solid they were because I think they were still thinking should we do Season 4 or should we do a movie. So I didn't know how I fitted in all that. Just very excited to get the call.
And to be on set, I can only imagine what an experience that must be as an actor — to be on a Star Wars set and to see that world come to life around you with the creatures, Grogu in the cage, and all these other things.
Well, you're a very young man, Josh. All I can tell you is that when I was 19, I still felt like I was a 12 or 13 year old. And so that's when the film came out, the original Star Wars. I was 18, 19 years old. So it was revolutionary. It was cowboys and Indians up in space. The idea hadn't even occurred to me to be an actor. Many years later that I would be on those fantastic sets — the kind of sets you kind of dream about really. Solid sets, real sets. It's very exciting and a thrill to be part of it.
And Jon Favreau — I know we've mentioned him a couple of times. He is very much a visionary director between what he did with Iron Man, films like The Jungle Book and The Lion King, and now this amazing job he's done with Star Wars. What was it like to work with him and to take this character from two lines to fleshing him out together for the movie?
First of all, he's an actor, so he knows what an actor needs. When he offered me the job, not that I needed too much, I took his hand off with it. I said, "Just so you know, I do too much. My eyes are like I'm a gargoyle when you look at me. You got to look after me. You got to watch what I do because it will be too much." And he goes, "Don't worry, I'll look after you." And the fact that he said it like that made me feel secure. We talked about what the character should be, his storyline. I was getting the information leaked out to me very, very slowly. The sides arrived to me on the day of the shoot. So I got a chance to read the whole script one day. I was invited to Manhattan Beach Studios to read the script. That was it. That's the only look, and I had to remember all that stuff and try and formulate a character from that. But Jon helped me with that really. He kind of said, "I want you to be a completely real character. I want you to just play sincerely, honestly, and we'll make this work together."
I cannot tell you how jealous I am of you getting to sit down and read that script.
No, it was a thrill, but the security was tough. No hard copies. It was on an iPad and I had to sign it in and sign it out. I was left in a room alone to read it and then give it back. It was a very strange experience but it's a thrill.
To go back to The Mandalorian Season 3 — that scene with all of you in the room. What do you remember about shooting that? Were you together? Was it a case of shooting separately and then it was put together afterwards? Because it's such an intriguing setup there.
On the day that it was shot, I was ill with COVID, so they shot me separately. But the rest of the guys were all shot together. I was brought in to film my little bit alone, so I didn't get the full gist of everything that was going on. I was told what to say, what kind of responses I needed, and I just played those. So I'm actually part of the whole thing. It was a very strange experience to be standing there alone with stage managers reading lines here and there. They're not actors so they're not giving the kind of stuff that they would need to give. But somehow we cobbled together a performance for me.
Like you said, it's a small part, but it's such an important moment in the series. And did you realize at the time how much it would take off and intrigue fans to see all these Imperial warlords together and what that could mean?
Oh yeah. The internet is full of the conspiracies. Sometimes they're extraordinary. "Wow, that would be fantastic. We could do that as well." But I didn't think it beyond the scene really and the part that I'm playing. So I can't really answer that in any way that would make sense, but I kind of feel like I was just doing a scene and doing it to the best of my abilities really.
I know you've been part of some great projects before this one, but to be in Star Wars and to be filling in this very intriguing gap in history between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens — that 20 years. What does it almost mean to you as an actor and as someone who watched the films yourself as a teenager to now be part of expanding this world in such an exciting way?
Oh, it is a childhood dream. I mean, genuinely so. And I say childhood — I was 18 or 19 so it's hardly a child — but you know, like I say, it hadn't been done before. There'd been space movies, there'd been science fiction movies, but this was fun. It was cowboys and Indians in space. It was goodies against baddies. To be part of that world finally in one's career is extraordinary. I always pinch myself how lucky I am because this is like most actors' dreams. I'd like to say hopefully an action figure maybe is following, because with Star Wars you know I promise people action figures of me. I don't know how much of an action figure I am really, but that would be lovely. And I know my grandson would pitch him up against Spider-Man or something. So I'll be keeping my fingers crossed
Now, I know you said before that playing a villain is always a lot of fun, but when it came to playing this particular villain, what have you really enjoyed about sinking your teeth into him and just how evil is he, do you think?
Well, I think he's definitely evil. I think I'd be giving too much away really if I say just how evil he is. But he has a lot of fun doing it. When I was performing it for Jon, I kind of gave various versions of it and he preferred the more serious side. I was tempted to go down a little bit more of a comic theme to him because I kind of found him quite a funny kind of character — sinister but funny. But he wanted it straight and simple and more like the Star Wars stories. It should be straight down the line, shouldn't be too many layers. It should be real, it should be grounded, and it should be defined.
And I know you obviously can't give any details, but did Jon tell you about maybe what his history is and who this character was before we met him in The Mandalorian, or did you have to fill those gaps in yourself and look at the other films for a bit of inspiration?
Well, yes, up to a point. But again, like I said, we kind of cobbled it together on the day as we shot it because I was only given information as I received each day's shoot. So I couldn't create a whole big backstory. There's an obvious backstory — he was a bad guy with the evil Empire. But I couldn't tell you what kind of breakfast he had in the morning. There was none of that to do. So it was a case of Jonn explaining to me how he envisioned the character and me doing the best to achieve what he wanted to see.
I suppose the fun of that view was thinking, "Oh, I wonder if my character ever crossed paths with Darth Vader or this character or that character."
Well, there is that sort of storyline. That's a thought that goes through your head. I wonder who he has dealt with in the past.