Misty Rosas: Portraying Kuiil and Frog Lady in The Mandalorian

One of the main aspects that makes Star Wars so special and unique is the multitude of creatures that live within the galaxy far, far away—which continues to grow as new stories are told in the Disney+ era. The Mandalorian has included new and old creatures that are now among the most iconic characters in all Star Wars, some taking the background and others the spotlight right beside Din Djarin. From the wise Ugnaught Kuiil to the motherly figure of Frog Lady and of course the irresistible Grogu, the show has captivated the audience with incredible creature makeup, puppeteering, VFX, and compelling performances. For actress Misty Rosas, becoming part of The Mandalorian through her incredible creature performances as Kuiil and Frog Lady has been a life-changing experience after years of hard work and dedication in the film industry: “My introduction to Star Wars was the very first movie. My dad was a movie buff … he loved everything Lucasfilm, so when Star Wars came out our whole family got packed in the car and went down to the drive-in to see it. What I remember was that it was big … larger than life. Then, a few years later, my mom and dad took me and my younger brothers to go see The Empire Strikes Back, and that was my introduction to my favorite characters: Yoda and Obi-Wan, who really resonated with me ever since I was a kid. I had been working very hard for many years as an artist, loving the work and the journey but at the same time struggling to make ends meet. So much love but also so much stress! Getting cast in The Mandalorian was an exhilarating, life changing moment. I grew up with Star Wars and have a great love for it, so to actually be part of the story is truly a dream come true,” Rosas said.

Kuiil is probably the first compelling Ugnaught in the Star Wars universe. The species made their first appearance in The Empire Strikes Back, but they were merely background characters. This allowed Rosas freedom in terms of portraying their physicality, and paired with Nick Nolte’s voice and Legacy Effects’ animatronics she was able to deliver an unforgettable performance and bring Kuiil from Jon Favreau’s script pages to life on screen. Rosas shared, “I poured a lot of emotion and a lot of my own life experience into this character. I felt such an affinity with Kuiil from the very first time I read through the scene that I would be auditioning in a cold read setting with Sarah Finn Casting. I remember sitting in the waiting room and thinking to myself, ‘I know this character.’ I know his struggle, and I know of the wisdom acquired through humble efforts and self inquiry as both a yoga student and yoga teacher. Fans often ask me if I say ‘I Have Spoken’ to my yoga students after I finish a class with them. I don’t, but it is my yoga practice that very much helped me book this role! When I received my scripts from Lucasfilm I immediately began to read them, and from Chapter One I was hooked. I was so excited and so honored to get to be a part of this Star Wars story. I worked on the script every night because every second with him on screen was important to me; I wanted Kuiil to be memorable.”

Although actors make it look so effortless on screen, memorable performances are not so easily achieved. Misty Rosas shone the light on the intensity of practical suit work: “In 2001, The Country Bears was the last big film project that I had worked on wearing an animatronic blind head. After that, my creative work shifted into the world of motion capture performance for many years (T.J. Bearytales, Sid the Science Kid, and Word Party, to name a few), but when I reunited with Legacy Effects to begin my fittings for Season One of The Mandalorian, I quickly remembered what it felt like to wear an animatronic head. The oxygen deprivation, the heat, the weight … I carried most of the weight on my shoulders with many wires and all of the animatronics placed behind my neck and back, carefully concealed in Kuiil’s backpack. I realized that I needed to immediately intensify my training and workouts. It was very clear after my first fitting that more cardiovascular training, core work, and squats with heavier weight would be necessary in order to handle the intense physical toll of shooting Season One.” Rosas Added, “For the first time ever my eyes were going to be exposed while wearing an animatronic head. It was nice to be able to see … well, sort of. I wore scleral contact lenses, but it also meant that the head had to be very tight up against my face in order for Kuiil’s skin to blend with mine around my eyes. The very small space between Kuiil’s nose and mouth and mine meant that I would be breathing in my own carbon dioxide much quicker. My team, as well as our crew, was incredible. They always gave me a little extra time if and when I needed it in between takes.”

If Kuiil wasn’t already iconic, Misty Rosas helped bring yet another incredible creature performance to life on screen in Season Two of The Mandalorian with Frog Lady. The concept artwork by Brian Matyas for the new character showed a mostly humanoid creature, with the predominant amphibian feature being the head, hands and feet—giving Rosas a starting point for her research, which involved studying the mannerisms of frogs, particularly the way they move their heads. Rosas explained that Frog Lady was not necessarily as heavy as Kuiil but definitely hotter. She wore a very thick suit underneath about an inch and a half thick to build her frame out so that scale wise head and body looked the same. “Frog Lady’s wardrobe was definitely thicker than Kuiil’s, and there was more of it: leggings, skirt, belt, shirt, jacket, scarf, her beautiful hands, and the head. Phew! It was a lot to put on, but I love my job so I make it work,” Rosas said.

Frog Lady’s head was a challenge in and of itself, especially the animatronic one in terms of limited visibility, which was often crucial during the interactions with Mando and the Child: “My skull cap inside Frog Lady’s head was positioned so that my eyes could see out of her mouth, so in order for her to be looking straight ahead I needed to bring my chin down. I needed time during our quick rehearsal days to find a place on Pedro [Pascal]’s Mando armor for my own eyes to focus on. If the mouth was closed I would need to use muscle memory to find that spot in physical space. My puppeteering team, TaMara Carlson Woodard and Dawn Dininger, were great at communicating with me in between takes if I needed to make adjustments, and I then would be practicing my movement in space in order to hit the same marks when I was blind,” Rosas explained.

Chapter 10: The Passenger featured one of the most action-packed sequences of the season, with Frog Lady, Mando, and the Child running for their lives from the deadly knobby white ice spiders, the Krykna. On set while the camera crew was setting up a long dolly track shot through the ice caves, Misty Rosas and Joe Bauer (Award-winning, Industrial Light & Magic Visual Effects Artist) discussed and worked out what ILM needed her to do physically in order to create a smooth transition from her bipedal, humanoid run into CG quadrupedal, frog-like leaps: “I remember the big smile on Joe’s face after the first take! He liked the fact that I hiked up my long skirt in preparation for some big frog jumps. I felt it was a perfect moment to showcase a little Frog Lady dichotomy from a very feminine and human-like action to then shifting into movement that was perhaps more natural for her and necessary in order to escape from the Krykna,” Rosas said.

Although the introduction of ILM’s CG movement gave Rosas a brief reprieve, it did not spare her and “Brawler Mando”/Stunt Double Lateef Crowder from days and days of running through the ice caves. Rosas shared, “When you’re shooting action sequences, slips, trips, and falls are bound to happen. Lateef and I fell a few times [laughs]! Chapter 10 was a tough episode to shoot. I fell really hard once, and because Frog Lady’s head is so forward frontal, my arms just couldn’t extend out far enough to cushion the blow. I hit the ground face first and broke my skull cap out of the head on impact. I cut my face in three places, and my knees and shins were scrapped up and bruised, but I’m pretty tough! I grew up training as a gymnast. I have had my fair share of painful falls, so that wasn’t a new experience for me. I now have fond memories of our grueling days running through the ice caves; it’s a good reminder of how intense my job as a suit performer really is. It’s great inspiration too for when I am training and preparing for my next action-packed adventure.”

Working on the set of The Mandalorian hasn’t only been an incredible physical challenge for Misty Rosas—it had its heartfelt moments. The actress recalled her top two favorite moments working with the irresistibly cute Grogu, first while performing as Kuiil during The Mandalorian Chapter 7, then closing the circle as Frog Lady in Chapter 10: “Chapter 7 was my first time holding Grogu! We were walking away from the group (Mando, Cara Dune, and Greef Karga), so I imagined what Grogu would be feeling as we were getting further and further away from the one person he trusted. I imagined holding my cat, Charlotte, whom I love dearly. When she gets scared (especially when she has to go to the vet) she tenses up and begins to shake, so I consoled him the same way as I would for her as we walked away—and even though I didn’t have dialogue, I whispered, ‘Everything is going to be okay, little one. Everything is going to be okay.’ I loved shooting this scene! We all had to coordinate our timing and our trek together across the Volume … it was like a parade! We shot this scene on the evening of Halloween; there was no place I’d rather be than with the amazing crew shooting this Star Wars story, all the while holding Grogu. I had the biggest smile on my face in between takes!” Rosas continued, “In Season Two, Mando asks Frog Lady to help take care of Grogu for a little while. I was so excited when I received this bonus scene! I exclaimed out loud, ‘Oh goody, I get to hold Grogu again!’ I was really excited to shoot this scene because it gave us an opportunity to create a very sweet and tender moment between Frog Lady and Grogu. She is a mom, and she got to have a more peaceful and gentle teaching moment with him. It was such a sweet scene with the babies and her husband with Frog Lady teaching Grogu how to be gentle with the tadpole all the while having her arm around him so he could feel all of the love and compassion from her family. When we were shooting this scene I was totally blind, so when I finally got to see this episode I was really happy with how it turned out … Grogu’s look to Frog Lady just melted my heart! I really love my job, so when I’m blind in an animatronic head—when it is super hot, and every muscle in my body hurts—I remember these special moments, and how much I love to be a part of this creative process with so many talented artists.”

Misty Rosas ended the interview with some words of advice for fellow aspiring suit performers: “Train as an actor and as a dancer … suit performance is very physical, but also emotional as you begin to develop a character and breathe life into it. It requires you to be in very strong, physical shape—a combination of weight training, cardiovascular/interval training, and yoga practice is imperative for longevity in such a career. I also recommend meditation and breathwork in order to remain calm and steady mentally and emotionally when the intensity of a film or television shoot begins to take its toll on you. Audition at theme parks! It is a lot of fun to begin your suit performance career at Disneyland, Disney World, Universal Studios, etc. It gives you an opportunity to learn how to perform in a suit/costume. You will gain experience learning how to see out of a head with minimal vision and how to endure the intense heat of dancing and/or performing in a heavy costume. Nutrition is also a key component: stay hydrated and eat lots of bananas, spinach, kale, walnuts, pistachios, and Cuties, the tiny oranges (my go-to on the set of The Mandalorian). Good Luck and have fun … the joy is the journey. I Have Spoken.”

The hard work and dedication of Misty Rosas is truly inspiring, and it should be celebrated along with everyone involved in the show who worked with her to bring these creature performances to life. Make sure to follow Rosas on Instagram to stay up to date with her Star Wars projects and beyond.

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