page_title: The Armorer
section_title: Filming
hierarchical_section_title: The Armorer / Concept and creation / Filming
caption_attribution_description: English: Pedro Pascal speaking at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, California.
context_page_description: The Armorer is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise who appears in the Disney+ television series The Mandalorian. Dressed in red body armor and a gold helmet, she is the leader of a tribe of Mandalorian warriors, which includes the show's title character. A mysterious, patient, and intelligent character, the Armorer provides spiritual guidance for the clan, and forges and repairs their armor.
  Jon Favreau, the creator and showrunner of The Mandalorian, was among the creators of the Armorer. The character was partially inspired by the films of Akira Kurosawa, as well as the history and culture of the samurai, particularly in the character's slow-paced movement and aura of authority. The Armorer is portrayed by Emily Swallow, who provides both the character's voice and live-action performance, while her stunts are performed by Lauren Mary Kim. When Swallow auditioned for the role, she knew little about the character and did not know it was for a Star Wars series.
  The voice Swallow uses for the Armorer has elements of British and Mid-Atlantic accents, which stemmed from a suggestion made by a casting associate during her audition.
context_section_description: All of the Armorer's scenes were filmed and completed more than a year before The Mandalorian was publicly announced, which Swallow described as "liberating" because she did not feel pressure stemming from publicity or the Star Wars fan community. Before shooting began, Swallow spent time discussing the character with Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni. She was not provided with a detailed backstory about the Armorer, but they described for her the inspirations behind the character, which she said was useful for her performance. Swallow credited Favreau with creating a comfortable and collaborative filming environment, in which no one felt pressure despite the enormity of the Star Wars franchise, but rather excitement and a desire to make a quality product. Swallow felt there was a "magical" feeling and "giddy playfulness" on the set unlike any other she had experienced before, and she said it reminded her of "being a kid and playing Princess Leia". Favreau was present when most of the scenes with the Armorer were shot, and Swallow felt he did a good job of keeping everyone on the same consistent path, but also allowing each of the directors to bring their own unique style and abilities to their episodes.
  Swallow said filming The Mandalorian was the most secretive process in which she had ever been involved, to the point she could not even tell her family or friends what she was making. Swallow was initially provided only portions of the episode that involved her character, and only later was she allowed to read the scripts for the full episodes. When she wanted to read the scripts, she had to access a web portal, which tracked when she logged on and for how long. During the filming, the production staff was even more stringent with secrecy because photos from the set had recently leaked to the Internet, and paparazzi photographers were on the rooftops around the studio. Whenever Swallow walked around the lot while wearing her costume, she had to conceal herself by wearing a black cloak with a hood, which she called her "cloak of invisibility". Swallow knew little about the show outside of the scenes specifically involving her character, and she did not know certain cast members were even in the show until they were later announced in news releases.
  A microphone was fitted inside the helmet so she could deliver dialogue while filming. Unlike most roles Swallow has played, she was not required to wear make-up or have her hair styled to portray the Armorer because the character is masked, which is something the actress appreciated. However, she wore the helmet and armor costume for up to nine hours at a time during filming. The costume was not heavy, but the helmet was fitted with foam padding so it fit closely to Swallow's head, and she occasionally asked to remove the helmet between takes because she felt claustrophobic. Portraying emotion was a challenge because her face was completely obscured, so she could not use her eyes or facial expressions. During filming she quickly learned that small movements could make a large impact due to the costume, which she believed was beneficial for her performance, but also presented challenges because minor gestures could become distracting or convey the wrong emotion. During filming of the first episode in particular, Swallow said, the actors portraying Mandalorians had to "learn on the fly" how to master these movements and determine how they appeared on camera.
  Several months of preparation work and rehearsal was done in advance of filming on the actual sets. The Armorer's scenes for the "Chapter 1: The Mandalorian" and "Chapter 3: The Sin" were shot concurrently with each other, with episode directors Filoni and Deborah Chow, respectively, alternating shoots on the set. Swallow said Chow in particular gave her time to try different things and explore the character. The Armorer's scenes were filmed on sound stages, with settings designed to resemble tunnels and sewers. Swallow said she and the other actors portraying Mandalorians had to develop a type of "language" for their masks and a
caption: Before The Mandalorian, Emily Swallow and Pedro Pascal (pictured) had known each other from the New York theatre scene, and both having appeared on the show The Mentalist at the same time.
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