Not every acting role is destined to be witnessed by millions of joyous fans around the globe, just like not every role has the power to transport an actor back to their youth. However, The Mandalorian and Grogu co-star Jonny Coyne was able to enjoy both of those distinctions as Star Wars antagonist Janu Coin. The English actor talked to CinemaBlend about being so "very excited, very humbled" to be in a big-screen Star Wars movie (one that's crushing in the box office) nearly 50 years after seeing A New Hope in theaters.
First appearing in The Mandalorian's third season as a hologram, Janu had a more direct impact on Din Djarin and Grogu's well-beings in the 2026 movie release, but we won't get into spoilers for those who haven't yet watched. To that end, Coyne also had to keep details close to the villainous vest when I asked whether he knew when signing on for the role that he'd have more appearances down the line. He told me:
Anything I say would give a little bit of a game away. So, you know, I would love there to be another sort of episode of me in there. But, you know, it's come to me kind of late in my career, this kind of thing. And so if you get Star Wars at any time in your career, and you're going to get to fly the spaceships — or be in a spaceship, be in that world, whatever you get — to do it once, that's plenty. If you do more than that, you're greedy, I think. [Laughs.]
Jonny Coyne
If I'm lucky enough to live to be 100, and Jon Favreau's grandson asks me to play a tree (sans makeup) in Star Wars: The First Ewok or whatever, I'd do it in a heartbeat. An erratic, questionable heartbeat. So I certainly get where Coyne is coming from on that front, and I'm not even an actor by trade, or by anything else.
When I asked if he was a fan of the franchise overall, the Blacklist vet confirmed that he was definitely part of the targeted audience for George Lucas' Episode IV: A New Hope when it came out in 1977. Just maybe not the youngest demographic within that targeted span. In his words:
Totally. Oh yeah. I mean, I was there for the first one. I'd like to say when I was a kid, but I wasn't. I was 18, 19 years old, and so too old to be pretending that I was flying a spaceship. But I did, in the cinema, kind of lived that moment when they're in the X-Wing fighting. So this is amazing, because you're too young to know this, but there was nothing like it when it first came out, absolutely nothing like it. There was space movies, and there was science-fiction movies, but there wasn't cowboys and Indians in space. There wasn't goodies and baddies in space. It'd never been done before.
Jonny Coyne
Though the franchise can often be geared for younger viewers, readers and gamers, that's certainly not the case for all corners of the galaxy, nor for all upcoming Star Wars projects. When A New Hope introduced the world to Luke Skywalker and his loyal droids, Hollywood wasn't yet in that mindset, and so there were definitely older teens and grown-a-s adults filling those theater seats in 1977 and beyond.
I can't imagine anyone at the time could have predicted Star Wars would become a billion-dollar industry unto itself, not even Jonny Coyne. (No offense, J.C.) But succeed it did, to the point where, nearly 50 years later, the actor was walking on sets, learning official jargon, and mixing it up with Grogu behind the scenes.
When I asked about the scale of Mandalorian and Grogu's sets, practical and otherwise, Coyne seemed to conjure up some of that wistful magic when he answered, saying:
It's huge. It's huge. There's the Volume stage, of course, and they've got your normal, regular green screen; everybody uses these things. But it's incredible to be part of of a set that's so magnificent, kind of harking back to what you'd seen as a child, and you do feel like you're actually immersed in it. A lot of time, when you're an actor, you're very conscious of all the stuff that's around you, that it's only this little area here that looks right. But you're actually in the whole world there, and that's really rewarding and very fulfilling.
Jonny Coyne
To Coyne's point, a lot of TV and movie sets will inevitably feel like TV and movie sets, regardless of how well-designed they are, usually due to cameras (or the spaces required to fit cameras) helping break the illusion. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Star Wars movie sets can go above and beyond in that respect, to the point where a more full sense of immersion can sink in before reality rears its head again.
Outside of the actual acting experience, Jonny Coyne also voiced how excited he was to extend the Star Wars fandom down to younger generations within his own family, as The Mandalorian and Grogu makes for a big milestone for his grandchildren. Here's how he described it.
Now, I'm very thrilled and very excited, very humbled and all that stuff, and really grateful to for the chance to be in something like this. You know, I have grandchildren now, and it's important to me that they get to see me. They've never seen a big movie, they've never seen a live-action movie, and so I'm kind of hoping this will be their first, and it'll freak their minds, because they don't know what the hell I do for a living. We're going to try and figure out a way of trying to get them into a cinema even though they're a little bit underage.
Jonny Coyne
I can only (new) hope that Lord Janu Coin wasn't too scary for his grandchildren, and that they don't hold grudges against him for holding Grogu captive for a while. Those kinds of grudges can stick.
The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now, and with more than enough adorable Baby Yoda moments to inspire return viewings. And don't even get me started on Babu Frik and his li'l buddies!
