Tait Fletcher: Portraying Paz Vizsla in The Mandalorian
Tait Fletcher told the tale of his foray into becoming Paz Vizsla in The Mandalorian and how the character has taken on a larger role in Season Three.
If you see Tait Fletcher on TV or film, then there is a chance you might feel intimidated by his fierce and physical presence. He’s had so many action roles over the span of many successful franchises—Breaking Bad, John Wick, Jurassic World, the list could go on and on. What you might not know is that Tait Fletcher is actually one of the kindest and inspiring souls out there. His passion for filmmaking and the love he puts into his characters is infectious, and what we have seen so far through his performance in The Mandalorian as Paz Vizsla, especially in Season Three is a statement to it. The actor took us along his incredible past and present within the Star Wars universe, sharing his journey—beginning with his foray into The Mandalorian‘s very first episode as Alpha Trawler and then putting on the beskar armor and becoming Paz Vizsla.
Alpha Trawler
Everybody remembers the pilot episode of The Mandalorian, especially that barroom brawl scene at the very beginning where the audience gets to see what Mando is capable of for the first time. Tait Fletcher played Mando’s introductory foe, Alpha Trawler—a brute who was bold enough to test our hero’s patience, not knowing he was the best bounty hunter in the galaxy. The actor clearly remembered the day he auditioned for the part, beating out the competition and getting the job for the mystery TV series: “I do one take and the guy goes, ‘Oh my god, I freaking love that.’ We did one other for safety, and that was it. I got the job and then somewhere down the road I got an email where I saw Lucasfilm and I went, ‘Wait a minute, am I working for Star Wars?’ The bar scene that I read for the audition was all in English, but then I find out that I’m gonna do this in another language, in Huttese. I worked with a linguist that’s been with Lucasfilm for the last 20 years. We did pronunciation techniques, full conjugation of verbs and infinitives, it’s beautiful. I was like, ‘God, this is a crazy thing.’ I’ve never been a part of anything that was that in depth.” Fletcher added, “The fact that Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau directed the episode and that the focus was on Alpha Trawler, I was blown away by it man, so honored and revered to be there, just pinching myself. It was really neat in a lot of different ways, and it got neater and neater as it went on.”
Becoming Paz Vizsla
Fletcher’s Star Wars journey was far from over. After Jon Favreau saw his performance as Alpha Trawler, he offered the actor the role of a lifetime. Fletcher then headed to Legacy Effects with no prior audition, where he got fit for the beskar armor of Paz Vizsla. He said, “I’m in this room (they locked all my stuff up in another room), and they start doing all the measurements on me, like everything, then talking about matte textures of clothing, et cetera, et cetera. We built the suit together over the next several weeks, but I still didn’t know what I am until that first day on set.” Chapter 3: The Sin introduced the fans to Paz Vizsla in a bold way—first with the Heavy Infantry Mandalorian engaging Mando in a vibroblade scuffle and then jetpacking down the streets of Nevarro to rescue the bounty hunter and the Child from the Guild. Tait Fletcher shared developing the physicality of the character and the constrictions of wearing the suit during the fight scene with Lateef Crowder, who played the Mandalorian: “[Crowder] had choreographed the scene with the Fight Coordinator, Ryan [Watson]. There’s a lot of shoulder movement, but the chest piece and shoulder pads add to the limitations of the suit. How do you still maintain the power, integrity and force of this character? Now, that’s all internally, because it’s not as if I’m looking at myself and curating my movements in a mirror. I didn’t really see what I looked like until they needed a guy that could double me because there was so much work on the same days, and until I saw another guy in the suit, I had no idea. So I just really thought about who Paz was, and I moved like him. That became kind of the signature of the movements for me; we’re strong, exact, and powerful. I wanted the movements to be thoughtful and precise with all that kind of mountain of strength that he is.” Then from disagreement to rescue, Paz Vizsla made one of the most epic entrances in the show and Star Wars as a whole—mowing down Greef Karga’s men with his powerful blaster cannon. Fletcher confessed that, “when I came down out of the sky, I was just grinning. I was like, ‘I am right now in a western, in outer space, with John Wick.’ That’s what the whole thing felt like, a shoot ‘em up, kill everybody, and leave them all behind you and just keep marching forward type move. It was incredible.”
Duel for the Darksaber
Although Paz Vizsla was absent in Season Two of The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett Chapter 5 gifted the fans with a rematch between him and Din Djarin—this time the winner will wield the infamous Darksaber. This moment of epic lore might portray Paz Vizsla wrongly, but Fletcher shone a light into the character’s true reasoning in the matter: “Initially, you believe that Paz should have the Darksaber as part of his heritage, his bloodline, but that’s not what it is. The Darksaber dictates who wields it … it communes with your heart and your soul, and sees what type of person you are. It’s not bloodline, it’s righteousness of the honor of that soul, of what’s best for the clan to go forward. Paz knows that it’s not Din’s, and so it might as well be his. He has a bloodline, and he’s at least gonna protect it from what it should not be, and it should not be his. It’s not about Paz being sore and wanting to have a shade with Din. It’s what’s best for the whole covert.” But everything changed as the story moved into Season Three of The Mandalorian.
Holding the Line
While Paz Vizsla was merely a supporting character so far in the story, in Season Three he takes on a much larger role, becoming one of the main protagonists. The Tribe found a new home in the caves of a remote rocky desert planet, where every visitor is attended by the imposing figure of Vizsla. “Paz’s holding the line … He is the consequence if you don’t walk right. It’s [the Armorer] showing that he’s her piece. She is the one that sets the standard for what Mandalorians are. They’re the holders of the line of this sacred crucible of their history and their ancestors for god’s sake! He’s holding the tension of the fabric of all that is and was Mandalore, and he’s hoping to bring Mandalore together,” Fletcher reflected. His devotion for the Mandalorian clan has a much deeper meaning as we later learn in Chapter 20: The Foundling.
Fatherhood
As the characterization of Paz Vizsla grows and evolves, probably the most important revelation of The Mandalorian Season Three so far for the character has been his fatherhood—making him much more relatable while creating a level of much needed emotional complexity. Tait Fletcher confessed that he was surprised himself to learn this incredible character development and shared his experience working with Wesley Kimmel, who plays Ragnar, son of Paz Vizsla: “I love that kid. I loved seeing it on screen and seeing as soon as they expose his helmet … to me it’s so obvious that it’s clearly a descendant helmet. It made me so proud. It was a real treat to walk on set and be with him for those weeks that we were filming and even be a mentor to him. I remember he’s out in the water, and it’s not comfortable to be wet when the wind comes. He’s like, ‘I’m kind of cold. What do you think I should do?’ You know, and there’s a lot of hurry up and go on the film set, nobody wants to wait for everybody, and the trailer is a long way back. So I said to him, ‘Well, you can go if you want, but it’s important that we know how to be uncomfortable in life. You gauge how uncomfortable you are but know that it’s gonna cost people’s time either way, so you just think of who you wanna be because you’re kind of leading here right now Wesley. And he’s like, ‘I think I’m gonna stay right here.’ It’s like this little stuff that you’re able to see this kid pick up in real time. It’s just dope, man. It’s really neat.” Fletcher then added, “Now watch as Ragnar grows. Watch as Wesley grows. I mean, we’re gonna see a crazy story I bet. It’s just built for it, and he’s at the perfect age and has the perfect personality. What a great kid.”
The Speech
If the fatherhood wasn’t already a powerful moment for Paz Vizsla, then what happens in the following episode, Chapter 21: The Pirate is the pinnacle of the character. The episode was packed with iconic moments, but Paz’s speech was a showstopper. Tait Fletcher delivers one hell of a performance—bringing together his fellow Mandalorians with inspirational words in favor of rescuing Greef Karga’s planet Nevarro and finally trusting Din Djarin with his life. The actor shared, “Most of the stuff I do is action stuff—whether it’s Jurassic World or John Wick or The Equalizer—and so Paz is easy for me in that way. And then there’s this speech that he gives to the clan, where we really see him in an expressed way, whereas before we’re just supposing of what perhaps he’s thinking with head movements or with subtle words or gestures. And so now the thing is different and Paz is not as harsh with Mando as he understands more about what our traditions are. He has more allowance for him, and he can see the strength that they’re gonna need to go together for the greatest good of them all. He’s seeing that they’re at a new space and time where maybe he needs to look at things differently for the betterment of all. That’s a huge deal. To turn a crowd and to stand in that righteousness and try to get others to stand with you, that was an incredible scene to film for me.”
The actor teased that there are more empowering moments to come for Paz Vizsla in Season Three of The Mandalorian, which has only three episodes left. If you love the character and Tait Fletcher’s outstanding performance, then make sure to follow him on Instagram to stay up to date with his latest projects and lifestyle, and if you are a caffeine aficionado, then check out Caveman Coffee Co—they even have a Mando Roast!
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