'The Mandalorian': Emily Swallow on 'delicious' experience as The Armorer

Now that Season 3 of The Mandalorian (on Disney+) has come to a triumphant and satisfying ending, Emily Swallow, who plays The Armorer, describes being able to play the character "a gift."

“I think that she provides a real calming centre to all of the chaos that is happening around her, and of the change and the divisions amongst Mandalorians,” Swallow told Yahoo Canada in interview before the season ended. “She is the one that's there to remind them that even when they don't agree, that there is this creed that holds them together, that is more important than some of the divisions that have come up amongst them.”

“One of the things that people find appealing is that she is constantly looking outside of herself to serve the greater good. She's not someone who's focused on her own power, her own gain, and she serves Din Djarin in a way that's very much like some of those Star Wars characters that we have fallen in love with along the way, like Obi-Wan Kenobi or like Yoda, who really mentor the heroes of the story and who don't necessarily tell them where to go. It's sort of gently suggested, or sometimes not so gently suggested, what the next step of their journey should be."

When it came to working with creator Jon Favreau and executive producer Dave Filoni, in particular, while there is so much Star Wars lore to pull from, Swallow highlighted that it was a "wonderfully malleable" project, filled with collaboration.

"This process has been beautifully collaborative and it's so generous, and so there's so much trust in it, and I really appreciate how much they trust us with these characters," she said. “They do have some very specific ideas about these characters and who they are, but they also recognize that the story exists as it is written and then it becomes a different thing as it is being acted, and as we are putting it on its feet and we're seeing it come to life."

Playing The Armorer: 'It's been so delicious'

In inhabiting the character of The Armorer, Swallow was given the added acting challenge of having to portray a character while wearing a mask.

“It's been so delicious and so unlike anything I've done,” Swallow said, describing the experience. “I do have experience with mask work, but it's all theatre based.”

“When you're on stage and you're playing a masked character, the audience can see your whole body all of the time. ... When you're on camera, it's entirely contingent on what the focus is, whether the camera’s on you, how tight the camera is, and so the audience doesn't always have access to you. It's much more limited communication. So it really requires a lot of trust that the people that you're working with are going to capture what's essential. And then it requires a lot more trust in myself that I will be able to communicate what I need to communicate, without trying too hard.”

For example, Swallow discovered that if she moved or gestured too much, it didn't look right. If she moved her head too much, it "killed the mystery" of the masked Mandalorian characters.

“It was really challenging at first to really be willing to sit there and let myself be still, but it was so right for her, and we had great feedback early on from our directors," Swallow said. "We were all trying to discover the language of these characters at the same time."

“I have to admit that at first, I was just crossing my fingers that I didn't look like a doofus because I put on that helmet and I was tripping on things, I was running into things. I could barely even get across the room without falling over something, and we would bump helmets together. So it feels a lot less intimidating and inspiring than it looks.”

Looking back at Amara in 'Supernatural': 'I could connect to her feelings of loneliness'

Before The Mandalorian, Swallow played fan-favourite Amara in the TV series Supernatural, starring alongside Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles.

“I had never done anything even remotely like that, I'd never played a character who had any sort of superpowers,” Swallow said. “So that was sort of intimidating for sure. ... The first few times I was shooting and they told me to hold up my hand, and lightning bolts were going to come out, and then somebody was going to fall to the ground, ... I was very skeptical and I felt like a big dummy."

“The thing that I love about the show so much, and one of the reasons I think that it persisted for 15 seasons, is that those characters, no matter how powerful they were, were also so incredibly human, and that's what I could connect to. I love that they had created this seeming supervillain who was having such a relatable human struggle. I could connect to her feelings of loneliness and feeling like she wasn't heard.”

That was the character where Swallow revealed she learned that "less is more."

“The more I tried to pretend like I was powerful and huff and puff and blow the house down, probably the less intimidating she would be," she said. "So I found stillness to be my friend and it was such a relief when I got to see the first couple of episodes and saw the incredible work of the visual effects team."

“But that was such a fun show to be on and for all the darkness that is within the show, it is such a happy playful set.”

'I learned so much from the fans'

Between Supernatural and The Mandalorian, Swallow has been a part of two shows that have massive fan culture, which she describes as an "unbelievably wonderful" to experience.

“I was not aware of fandom on that level until I did Supernatural," Swallow said. “I didn't really know how dedicated the fandom was until I was already well into the show, so I didn't have a chance to be nervous about it. Had I known, I think I would have been absolutely anxiety ridden about stepping into this show that had such a dedicated fandom because they care for it so passionately."

“I remember I was shooting my first or second episode and Jensen, it was on a Monday and Jensen had just gotten back from a convention and so I was picking his brain about it. ... He just spoke with such admiration and appreciation of the fans, … and he said that the thing that was so remarkable about the Supernatural fandom is that they also have created this incredibly supportive community, and there's such wonderful charity work that goes on, and they have combined to do great good."

The actor said that fandom increased significantly when she stepped into the world of Star Wars, with a fanbase that has been created over decades.

“The number of Star Wars cosplay groups that go and do charity work for kids and for people who are sick and for veterans, it's just truly remarkable," Swallow said. "I love getting to do the fan conventions and getting to meet all of them because for me, I started out acting in theatre and when you're in theatre, you have the audience right there, and so that storytelling loop, it comes full circle right there in the room."

"When you're doing TV and film, it's sort of a strange thing because you're telling the story, but you don't get to close the loop. … You don't know what their reaction is and so at the conventions, I feel like the storytelling loop gets closed and you get to share that moment with the fans and you get to hear what they have taken away from the stories. ... I learned so much from the fans about symbols that they see in the stories and the impact that it's had on them."