WWE star Sasha Banks has revealed why Jon Favreau wanted her for The Mandalorian.
WWE fans got a nice surprise when it was announced that Sasha Banks would be making an appearance in The Mandalorian. Banks made her debut in last week’s episode, playing a Mandalorian ally of Bo-Katan.
How did Banks get the job on this massive Star Wars series? Well, speaking to Variety, the actress said:
“It’s a huge deal. I still cannot get over it. It still does not feel real to me. The more interviews I do, the more I feel like ‘Oh, my God, holy–‘ I’m telling you right now, it still does not feel real to me. It’s frickin Star Wars! One of the biggest franchises in the whole world, one of the biggest universes you can ever be a part of.
“So Jon Favreau came to me because he watched an interview that I did with ‘Hot Ones.’ And he really liked me and got my contact information. Then on FaceTime he asked me to be part of The Mandalorian. I was like, ‘Well, I cannot say no,’ but I was so incredibly nervous, because I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do it with the WWE schedule. You know, we used to travel a lot. But they made it work and everything happened. And it was such an incredible episode. I still just can’t get over how awesome that was. Not only to be part of Star Wars, but one of legit the greatest episodes in the history of television like that. I could watch that all the time. That was such a bad ass introduction to the world of Star Wars. I’m so thankful I saved Baby Yoda! I cannot get over it. Oh my god.”
Speaking about the feeling of forever being part of the Star Wars canon, Banks said: “It was beyond. Just like the first time ever seeing a wrestling ring. It’s like the first time ever seeing anything just so magical. I would hate to ruin like how it looked backstage, but you felt like you were in a different galaxy in a different world. It was so almost easy to play a Mandalorian because I was legit in the universe. And you know, Jon Favreau and David Filoni and Bryce Howard, they were so amazing towards me. Any questions I had, because I was so incredibly shy and nervous, they answered. But [Jon] reminded me ‘Uh, you do WWE every single week and you do that live. You are amazing. There’s a reason why I wanted you to be a part of the show.’ So that made me feel like home and I totally gained a whole new family and I’m just so thankful.”
SEE ALSO: The Mandalorian will explain how Moff Gideon got the Darksaber says Katee Sackhoff
We don’t know when we will see Banks’ character, Koska Reeves, again but one would expect that she will be around whenever Bo-Katan turns up next.
The Mandalorian season two sees Pedro Pascal (Din Djarin), Gina Carano (Cara Dune), Carl Weathers (Greef Karga), Giancarlo Esposito (Moff Gideon) and Bill Burr (Mayfield) joined by new cast additions Temuera Morrison (Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones), Katee Sackhoff (Star Wars: The Clone Wars), Timothy Olyphant (Justified), Michael Biehn (The Terminator) and WWE Superstar Sasha Banks.
The Mandalorian season two airs on Fridays on Disney+.
