The Mandalorian & Grogu Star Admits He Had No Idea His Character Existed Before Joining Movie

Star Wars is arguably the most pervasive pop culture franchise in modern history. Since 1977, the galaxy far, far away has expanded into a multimedia empire that touches almost every corner of entertainment, from blockbuster films and live-action television series to video games, comic books, and novels. It is rare to find a single person who has not interacted with the brand in some form, yet the sheer scope of the saga makes it equally rare to find an individual who knows every single piece of lore. The universe is now so vast and ambitious that even the actors chosen to bring these stories to life can be stumped by its deeper cuts. This was precisely the case for one key star of The Mandalorian & Grogu, who recently confessed that he had never heard of his character before signing on for the production.

“I’ve been a fan of Jon Favreau’s for a very long time. Swingers and Made had a tremendous effect on me as a young man, a young actor,” Jeremy Allen White, who plays Rotta the Hutt in the upcoming movie, told Variety regarding his casting journey. “We met at a party. I told him that, and he was like, ‘I have something I want to talk to you about. Can I call you?’ It was the next day, and he was talking about Mandalorian, and I said, ‘It’s a great show. You do a great job. I’d known Pedro Pascal for a little bit, and he’s great and has fun on it, and he loves you.’ He was like, ‘I want you to be in it.’ Fantastic, of course. And then he started explaining it and started talking about Rotta.” Despite his enthusiasm, White was completely baffled by the specific role. When the interviewer pointed out that they did not know the iconic gangster Jabba the Hutt had a son, White admitted, “Neither did I.”

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“I did a bit of a voice, but then I think Jon also ended up tweaking it a little bit. It was maybe a year ago,” White continued, detailing the technical process of bringing the alien character to life. “I did a couple of sessions. I’ve not seen any of it.” He noted that the role offered a distinct departure from his physically demanding live-action work. “I’d never done voice work. There isn’t any stop-motion work or anything physical like that,” White explained. “I was excited about doing a job that is in this world of Star Wars, a world that I have admired for a very long time. I was also excited about doing the movie that my daughters [aged four and seven] can go and see.”

Rotta Will Have His Mainstream Debut in Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

For the vast majority of the moviegoing audience, Rotta the Hutt will be a brand-new character when The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters. However, the character actually made his canon debut nearly two decades ago in the 2008 animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars. In that story, a very young Rotta was kidnapped as part of a Separatist plot to frame the Jedi and turn the Hutt Cartel against the Republic. Anakin Skywalker (voiced by Matt Lanter) and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano (voiced by Ashley Eckstein), were tasked with safely returning the infant to Jabba’s Palace on Tatooine. The character was depicted as a slug-like baby whom Ahsoka affectionately nicknamed “Stinky.” While the film and the subsequent series are beloved by a dedicated fanbase, they never achieved the same universal cultural penetration as the live-action films, explaining why neither White nor the casual audience knew of Rotta’s existence.

The return of Rotta the Hutt in the New Republic era has massive implications for the current Star Wars canon. In the timeline, Jabba the Hutt was killed by Princess Leia during the events of Return of the Jedi, leaving a power vacuum in the criminal underworld. The Disney+ series The Book of Boba Fett explored this chaos, showing Jabba’s former major-domo Bib Fortuna taking control before being deposed by Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison). During that conflict, Jabba’s cousins, known as The Twins, attempted to claim the territory but eventually retreated. The absence of Rotta during this succession crisis was a major question mark for lore experts. As Jabba’s direct offspring, Rotta would technically be the legitimate heir to the Hutt operation on Tatooine. His appearance in The Mandalorian & Grogu suggests that the character has finally come of age and is ready to make his play for the family business. 

White joins a stacked cast that includes the returning Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and the Star Wars debut of Sigourney Weaver. If Rotta is indeed looking to reclaim his father’s throne, it puts him on a collision course not only with the New Republic Rangers but potentially with the current Daimyo of Mos Espa, Boba Fett. This deep-cut callback demonstrates Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni’s commitment to knitting together every era of the franchise, ensuring that even the most obscure pieces of history matter to the future of the galaxy.

The Mandalorian & Grogu is scheduled to be released in theaters on May 22, 2026.

What do you think Rotta the Hutt has been doing since the Clone Wars? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!