Jon Favreau Reveals THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU's Best Line Was Completely Improvised
One of the funniest and most talked-about moments in The Mandalorian and Grogu wasn’t carefully scripted or endlessly workshopped. It turns out it happened completely in the moment.
Director and co-writer Jon Favreau recently shared a fun behind-the-scenes story in the film’s director commentary, available through the TheatersEars app, and it involves a line that fans have already embraced and turned into a meme.
In the latest Star Wars adventure, Din Djarin finds himself captured by the bounty hunter Embo and hauled off to Nal Hutta. While Mando is stuck in a dangerous situation, Grogu teams up with his tiny Anzellan friends on a mission to save him.
During their rescue attempt, the group reaches a massive pipe leading deeper into the Hutt palace. As the camera looks down the intimidating tunnel ahead of them, one of the Anzellans delivers the now-famous observation:
"Big pipe, huh?"
For whatever reason, the simple line landed perfectly with audiences. It’s already become one of the most quoted moments from the movie, and according to Favreau, it wasn’t even in the script.
The filmmaker revealed that the line came from Shirley Henderson, who voices the Anzellans in the film. What started as an improvised comment ended up becoming one of the movie’s standout laughs.
The Anzellans have become a fan-favorite species since the introduction of Babu Frik in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and Favreau previously explained that he wanted to make sure their return was handled respectfully.
While developing the characters for The Mandalorian and Grogu, Favreau reached out directly to J.J. Abrams, who introduced Babu Frik to the galaxy far, far away.
Favreau recalled: "When I was working with the Anzellans, I called up JJ. And JJ came to the set. Because you want him to know that, you know, 'I appreciate what you did. Can we – do you mind? Are we handling this well? Are you happy?'"
It’s a cool example of the collaborative spirit that often exists within Star Wars, especially when creators are expanding on characters and ideas introduced by someone else.
The commentary track also includes several other interesting reveals. Favreau shared that he sought permission from George Lucas to use the original Red Jammer model in the movie. He also discussed how Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order helped inspire one of the film’s larger action sequences.
As for the now-iconic "Big pipe, huh?" moment, it’s proof that sometimes the smallest improvised comments can end up making the biggest impression.
The Mandalorian and Grogu is now playing in theaters.