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Werner Herzog Directed Baby Yoda on ‘Mandalorian’ Set As If the Puppet Was Real

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Disney announced earlier this month it would be releasing an eight episode behind-the-scenes documentary series on its breakout “Star Wars” television show “The Mandalorian,” and now comes proof the series will contain at least one amazing Werner Herzog story. The filmmaker appeared in several “Mandalorian” episodes as The Client, a villainous character who hires the eponymous bounty hunter to bring him Baby Yoda. In the official trailer for “Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian,” series director Deborah Chow relived one of her most memorable moments directing Herzog on the show.

“It was one of the weirdest and best things that happened with Werner,” Chow said. “He was acting against the baby and he started directing the baby directly. I’m trying to direct Werner who’s now directing the puppet. He would tell us we need to commit to the magic.”

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Herzog is without a doubt the world’s biggest fan of Baby Yoda. The filmmaker went viral last fall for saying the puppet brought tears to his eyes while filming “The Mandalorian.” Herzog said in an interview, “I have seen it on the set. I’ve seen it on the set. And it’s heartbreaking! It’s heartbreakingly beautiful…It’s phenomenal technological achievement but, beyond the technological achievement, it’s heartbreaking.”

“The Mandalorian” writer and director Dave Filoni also revealed last fall that Herzog openly criticized the crew after they considered replacing the Baby Yoda puppet with a CGI version of the character. After a take using the puppet, Filoni said the crew got ready for another take without the puppet “in case they decided during postproduction that the puppet wasn’t convincing enough and a digital version had to be substituted.” That’s when Herzog told the crew, “You are cowards. Leave it.”

“The Mandalorian” proved to be a breakthrough series for Disney+, which has already announced a second season that will debut this fall on the streaming platform. News broke this week that a third season of “The Mandalorian” is already in development. Jon Favreau serves as showrunner of the series. The documentary, officially titled “Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian,” will be available to stream beginning May 4. Watch the official trailer from the behind-the-scenes documentary series in the video below.

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