Emily Swallow: Portraying the Armorer in The Mandalorian

The Way of the Mand’alor has been walked by many Mandalorians—let it be Din Djarin, Paz Vizsla, and even Bo-Katan Kryze, but who guided them all along in this spiritual journey? The Armorer has been a patiently fierce presence that seems to be the main force behind ultimately pushing the united front of the Mandalorians. Emily Swallow reflected on her empowering journey as the iconic character in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett—looking back at her beginnings under the golden beskar helmet: “I definitely did not know at the beginning just what a force she would be, which I’m really appreciative of. I liked that just as the audience has only gotten bits and pieces of her at a time, the way the character was introduced to me has also been bit by bit. I knew from the beginning that she was sort of the spiritual core of the Mandalorians, but at the time it was this pretty small covert; that’s all that I was really focused on. I also felt like I really just needed to focus on Din [Djarin] and his journey. It’s interesting to see how her sphere of influence has sort of grown larger and larger in a really organic way. It’s taken me by surprise just how influential she has become and the impact that she’s had. I’ve really gotten to enjoy that it has grown from what has felt like a more one on one intimate personal thing with just those core Mandalorians to now something that impacts the Mandalorian people as a whole, bringing in Bo[-Katan] and some of the other clans and seeing how this could have implications for them as a people. It’s not just limited to this one covert, and I have had the understanding that from the beginning, she is someone who is connected to all Mandalorians, but I think I haven’t really had to think about that as much in previous seasons as in [Season Three].”

The Armorer has a very unique and powerful way of commanding a room, and that is a testament to Swallows’ craft in physicality and tonality. The actress explained that “everything for me when I step into her has to slow down. I think of her being so patient, and I think that faith is a central tenet of hers—having a lot of faith in how things are going to turn out for people in the creed. In some ways that sort of impacts the way I approach my work on the character, because I have to have faith that I can leave space for things, that I don’t have to rush into reacting to things, that I can trust the silences. When I’m in that armor in those scenes, I feel like I understand how to inhabit her better than I did at the beginning. At first, it was very strange to sort of try to feel her out and to trust that it was ok to really just sit there and observe, to trust that the things that I was thinking and the things that I was feeling would come across, even if I wasn’t moving all the time, even if you couldn’t see my face.” Emily Swallow added, “She’s one of those teachers who knows that you’re going to learn the lesson more deeply if you really own it yourself, and we’ve certainly seen that with Din. It’s been a really great space for me to inhabit, because it’s not somewhere that I go naturally in my life. I am a very kinetic person, and so it’s a real gift to get to live in that space and to really trust that.”

Without a shadow of a doubt, the most important skill of the Armorer is her mastery in blacksmithing, which has provided the Mandalorians with beskar protection and weapons that are part of their ancient religion. Every forging session in The Mandalorian is a powerful and spiritual experience that is believably performed by Swallow. In preparation for her role as the Armorer, the actress revealed that she did trade specific training in order to wield her forging tools, and although she had to learn on the fly in Season One due to the secrecy of the show at the time, in Season Three Swallow had more time to really learn from the best. She said, “It was really helpful to have someone on set to sort of coach me through it. But there’s only so much you can learn on the fly when you’re also trying to shoot it, paying attention to how it looks while you’re wearing a helmet … my gloves in Season One were way too big (Jon [Favreau] called them my oven mitts [laughs]), it was hard to handle things. Ultimately, what they want to see is not always adhering to the laws of physics, because they want it to look a certain way. So then when I came back for Season Three I worked with Tony Swatton, an incredible blacksmith who has worked on dozens of TV shows and films. He just brought me into his shop and taught me how to do a bunch of stuff. I knew when we were going to shoot it that I had a foundation to work from, and it just helped me so much to know the history of blacksmithing and metal work, to know the significance in different cultures and to understand more the significance that the Armorer has within the Mandalorian people. That’s been so interesting to learn.”

Season Three of The Mandalorian has been one unbelievable homecoming for the Mandalorians, with the Armorer finally stepping out of the Forge and becoming directly involved in the journey to retake Mandalore. Emily Swallow confessed that she was a little nervous about the impact of seeing a more prominent presence of her character in the show, but as we have seen in this season, the evolution of her characterization confirmed the Armorer’s importance in bringing the Mandalorians back to their homeworld. “I think just having the opportunity to work with Bo, who perhaps could play an active role in uniting the Mandalorians, and having the opportunity to go back to Mandalore, I can see why she would step out of the Forge. She’s such an interesting leader figure to me. A lot of people have said, ‘How come she doesn’t just take the Darksaber?’ I feel like she has no interest in ruling Mandalore. I always think of her in terms of how she’s supporting the other characters. How is she serving Din in this episode? How is she serving Grogu in that sequence where he gets his rondel? How is she serving Paz Vizsla when he’s worried about his son? How is she serving Bo? It’s been really enjoyable to get to come out in the literal sunshine and to interact with more of the Mandalorians. To join up with Bo and get to work with Katee [Sackhoff] has really been so much fun this season,” Emily Swallow shared.

Emily Swallow has been embodying the character of the Armorer beyond the screen by meeting the fans at conventions and also doing charity work. She shared what that has been like and what it means to her: “It’s such a tremendous blessing to get to play this character who embodies so many values that are in alignment with values that I have personally. She represents things that I think a lot of us really feel a need for, especially the part of her that is so committed to walking this path, this set of spiritual values, this loyalty and integrity. I think that that’s something that we don’t necessarily get enough of in our society. It’s such a gift to get to represent that in this story and then by extension to get to take that sort of into the world. I love doing the conventions because I started acting in theater where you get to have the audience right there … I miss that when I’m doing TV and films. For me going to the conventions is a chance to finally get to interact with the audience, to get to hear their impressions, what inspires them and what then makes them want to create from those stories … getting to see little kids who are dressed up like the Armorer; that’s an absolute riot. It is also such a great opportunity to get to do charity work. There’s so many different Star Wars cosplay organizations that do tremendous charity work. That’s something that I had no idea existed until I was doing these conventions, and that has blown me away … it helps all of us feel connected a little bit more. The organization that I specifically do fundraising for is called Voices Against Cancer, to fund pediatric cancer research. Unfortunately, everybody’s lives have been touched by this in some way … you start hearing other people’s stories and I have my own story—I lost my father to cancer. That’s another way that we get to feel just a little bit closer in these conventions where you get to have this little human moment, it’s so meaningful. It’s been a huge gift to me, and I understand why people crave that experience for something beyond simply going to get autographs and stuff. It goes way beyond that.”

The Armorer’s teachings and inspirational quotes continue to resonate throughout the Star Wars fandom, with the iconic motto, “This is the Way” creating a meaningful message of solidarity and family that brings together fans from across the globe. Make sure to follow Emily Swallow’s Armorer journey on Instagram to stay up to date with her comic con tour, fundraisers, and fan events.

DISCLAIMER: This interview was originally published by Fabio Fiori on TatooineTimes.com.