The Venn diagram of WWE followers and Star Wars followers acquired a giant deal with on Nov. 13 when Mercedes Varnado — higher recognized within the ring as Sasha Banks — made her debut in Season 2 of The Mandalorian. Varnado performs Koska Reeves, a member of the Nite Owl unit of Mandalorians who’re main their very own rebel towards The Empire below the management of Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff). For Varnado, getting the decision to affix such a legendary franchise was past her wildest desires.
“It is simply the most important factor that you may virtually ever be part of. I am solely used to wrestling. I am used to only WWE,” Varnado instructed TV Information over the cellphone. She recalled the second creator Jon Favreau known as her over FaceTime to ask her to affix the franchise: “I am going, ‘Ooh, is that this actual?'”
“I’m nonetheless pinching myself, as a result of I nonetheless can’t imagine that I am a part of this unimaginable, unimaginable universe and unimaginable galaxy and household. The followers have simply been nothing however unimaginable to me,” Varnado mentioned.
In fact, Varnado wasn’t chosen for the function solely as a result of she’s a Star Wars fan. The Nite Owls are simply as fierce because the present’s eponymous hero, and Varnado’s in depth wrestling coaching got here in useful proper off the bat. She was proud to point out off her expertise.
“As you possibly can see, after you noticed me within the membership, after I got here in, I did the spinning draft kick, and that could be a WWE wrestling transfer,” she defined. “I wished to deliver a number of what you noticed within the ring to what you noticed in The Mandalorian, as a result of I wished my followers, the Sasha Banks followers, simply to immediately know that that was me.”
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Varnado’s time on set was not all tough and tumble. The wrestler-turned-space warrior additionally acquired to spend a while with everybody’s favourite toddler alien, and he or she was as enthralled with The Little one as followers on the web are.
“It is unimaginable to work with The Little one,” Varnado revealed. “I could not maintain my eyes off The Little one, as a result of it is simply so extremely surreal that one thing can look so actual. It was so superior. He’s so legendary and the star of the entire set.”
On display, issues are extra harmful than ever for The Little one and Mando (Pedro Pascal). Chapter 12, “The Siege,” set the masked crusader on a collision course with Imperial chief Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) after Mando found The Empire needs to make use of The Kid’s blood for some ghastly experiments. May the Nite Owls assist Mando defend the kid from The Empire as soon as once more?
“I truthfully don’t know the place they are going,” Varnado mentioned. She’s simply as curious to seek out out the place the story goes as everybody at house. “[Executive producer] David Filoni and Jon Favreau are so superb at what they do. So I don’t know. I am simply gonna maintain watching as a fan. I am so excited as properly, so we’ll see.”
New episodes of The Mandalorian premiere each Friday on Disney+.
Mercedes Varnado, The Mandalorian