JJ Dashnaw: Stunt Coordinating the Mandoverse

The action within the Mandoverse shows has elevated the stakes of storytelling, bringing the highest level of entertainment—whether it’s Din Djarin and Boba Fett teaming up to defeat the Pike Syndicate in The Book of Boba Fett, the Mandalorians uniting to take back their home in The Mandalorian Season Three, or Ahsoka, Sabine, and Ezra fighting their way through waves of Night Troopers to reach Thrawn in Ahsoka. This is a testament of the hard work that goes behind stunt coordinating and performing each action scene. At the helm of the outstanding stunt team is JJ Dashnaw, who looked back at his Mandoverse journey—from coordinating the most intense action scenes to even taking on the mantle of one of the most iconic Star Wars characters of all time, Boba Fett.

Dashnaw has had an illustrious career as a stunt performer and coordinator, working alongside visionary director Robert Rodriguez since Spy Kids. When Rodriguez became the showrunner for The Book of Boba Fett, it only made sense that Dashnaw would be brought in to create the action for the show. “Robert and I are so old school … that’s how we got brought up. We like real action, actually hitting the ground and making it look violent. Although a lot of planning goes into creating action scenes, him and I would literally think of some new stuff on the spot. It makes the day go by a lot faster, and it keeps everybody on their toes. He gives me a lot of freedom to be able to pitch ideas … having somebody trust you is everyone’s dream. [Robert Rodriguez] brings a different style to action, and it was fun trying to combine it with Star Wars,” Dashnaw said.

Bringing back Boba Fett to live-action since Return of the Jedi was a momentous task, both in terms of characterization and storytelling. Although Temuera Morrison played the iconic role of the bounty hunter, behind the bucket JJ Dashnaw was the double for the character. “I have a confession, I wasn’t too big into Star Wars as far as knowing the history and everything until we started [The Book of Boba Fett]. I researched the character and I was like, ‘Oh, crap, this guy is a big deal’. It wasn’t always even planned for me to actually be the double, but Robert is so comfortable with me and a lot of times thinks that I am the only guy that can portray certain roles. We started with somebody else and then he wanted me to try it, and it just kind of worked out. Looking back at it now, what an honor and pleasure to be able to double Boba Fett … I hope my performance did the character some justice because I now know how big of a role it plays in Star Wars,” he shared.

Sometimes, taking on the role of both stunt coordinator and performer can create funny moments on set. Dashnaw recalls, “All my buddies that were working for me were just laughing at me because I’m running up and down the set, barking orders as a stunt coordinator in this Boba Fett outfit … They were like, ‘Man, it’s really hard to take this seriously right now.’”

JJ Dashnaw also played a cameo in the show as Scott, a Freetown deputy on the planet Tatooine under the authority of Sheriff Cobb Vanth (played by Timothy Olyphant) in The Book of Boba Fett Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger. He said, “I went up to [Dave Filoni] and asked him, I said, ‘For this character, they say they want him to be a stunt guy. So, what are you looking for?’ And he just pointed at me and said, ‘You’re the guy.’ He actually ended up giving me a bigger part than I was supposed to. That was pretty funny, you know, we all had a little chuckle … I could hear him laughing behind the video village. I had fun playing [Scott], and Tim, what a great guy he is; He made the whole process really fun.” Sadly, Deputy Scott ultimately meets his demise by the hands of Cad Bane in one of the most intense high noon showdowns in Star Wars history.

Soon after The Book of Boba Fett, the stunt team moved right into the third season of The Mandalorian, marking the biggest appearance of Mandalorians in a live-action show, which in and of itself was a challenge to coordinate. Dashnaw explained that giving directions while shooting the last two episodes was difficult since most of the performers were wearing helmets. He also revealed that Season Three had more wire work compared to the previous seasons, which really added a layer of excitement to the audience: “I like wire work that you can’t tell people are on wires. You know, my biggest pet peeve on shows is when you can tell that somebody’s on a wire, it basically looks like a Peter Pan play. I do it a lot differently than most, using one-inch neoprene pads down … it still hurts to hit the ground, but at least it takes a little bit of the impact out. Honestly a lot of people know when they’re gonna come work for me they are gonna hit the ground; they’re gonna be sore. Thankfully, knock on wood, we haven’t had any accidents. I’m very fortunate to have some of the best stunt people who wanna work for me. A lot of times if it’s something pretty bad or big, I’ll actually step in and do the stunt myself, like if it’s anything that’s a little hairy or maybe it’s not making sense to anyone but me. We are the behind-the-scenes unsung heroes … we’re gonna hit the ground, and we’re gonna earn our paycheck.”

Recently, fans have experienced arguably one of the best Star Wars shows of all time, Ahsoka. JJ Dashnaw and his team once again delivered incredible action moments, most of which were performed by the actors themselves. He said, “I can’t say enough good things about [Dave Filoni]. He wanted a wushu style for the show, so we were very lucky to have Ming Qiu [as fight coordinator]. In The Mandalorian, most characters had helmets on so we could double them. But in Ahsoka, we see their faces, so we put a lot more time and training into the actors. They did all their fights (obviously there were some parts where we would put doubles in), knowing the choreography and putting their bodies through it. There was a lot of intense prep; when the actors weren’t rehearsing on set or acting, they’re over with us for four or five hours. We were very proud of them. Everybody had an amazing attitude, which you don’t usually get in Hollywood. They were all happy to be there, willing to work, and it really translated on screen.”

The Mandoverse has been an incredible experience for the fans, and we hope JJ Dashnaw and his stunt team will be back shooting The Mandalorian next year.

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