In a warehouse stacked with spaceships, puppets and weathered costumes, Jon Favreau stood by the doorway of an Anzellan ship and pointed out one of the unlikely stars of his new film: Grogu — the green, wrinkled, clawed little creature the world once dubbed “Baby Yoda.” Favreau smiled as he described what makes Grogu work onscreen. “The cute stuff in ‘Star Wars’ tends to be a little weird-looking,” he said. “It’s not like ‘Disney cute,’ it’s ‘Star Wars cute.’ He’s got weird little hairs and sharp little teeth in there and wrinkly skin, and claws!”
Favreau stressed that look is intentional. Much of Star Wars’ enduring charm, he says, comes from an analog, handmade sensibility — costumes, puppets and characters that feel tactile rather than purely digital. That craftsmanship is part of why Grogu became a phenomenon beyond the show that introduced him: The character surprised even the creators by how deeply people connected to him.
“We knew it would be exciting,” Favreau said of Grogu’s rise, “but we didn’t realize quite what a phenomenon it would be. When I saw the balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, that’s when it kind of — as a New Yorker — it really hit me. Like, ‘Wow! This has really hit another level.’ The whole thing’s surreal.”
Favreau, who created the Disney+ series The Mandalorian in 2019 and now brings the story to the big screen with The Mandalorian and Grogu, has long mixed human stories with cutting-edge technology. The movie, the first Star Wars theatrical release in nearly seven years, follows the blaster-wielding bounty hunter Din Djarin and his adopted charge through action, heart and a growing father-son bond.
“Father-son relationships have always been a big part of ‘Star Wars,'” Favreau observed. “This is one of the most positive father-son relationships in ‘Star Wars,’ and, ironically, they’re not related in any way. But it is a family of choice, and ‘Star Wars’ has always been about families coming together.”
Favreau recounted his own unlikely path to this moment. Raised in Queens, his mother died when he was 12 and his father, a schoolteacher, became an early model of passionate, purposeful work. Favreau dropped out of college, took improv classes in Chicago and landed a breakthrough acting role in Rudy at 26. Small TV parts followed — he even played a clown on Seinfeld — but his career turned when he embraced the advice to “write what you know” and co-wrote Swingers, a raw snapshot of struggling actors that opened doors for him.
Directing soon followed. Elf became a modern holiday staple and helped lead to Iron Man in 2008, which paired Favreau’s knack for improvisational, human beats with blockbuster effects. He still leans on that combination. “Especially when you have a very effects-driven genre, you want moments of spontaneity, inspiration, humanity,” he said. “At the end of the day, people just care about people. That’s what they focus on: that human interaction, those emotional relationships.”
Favreau, now 59, says directing a Star Wars film felt unimaginable when he first sat in a theater as a kid. Getting the chance to bring a new generation into that universe — and to give families something to share — is a milestone. “To get the opportunity to do ‘Star Wars’ for the big screen, it feels like you’re getting a shot to pitch in the World Series,” he said. “I’m excited to introduce a whole new audience to ‘Star Wars.'”
The Mandalorian and Grogu opens in theaters May 22, with IMAX screenings available. Fans can watch the film’s trailer online and find additional details and feature coverage on StarWars.com and broadcaster platforms. An extended interview with Favreau is available through CBS News.
Story produced by David Rothman. Editor: Steven Tyler.