Emmy winner Jeremy Allen White is joining the upcoming “Star Wars” film “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” according to media reports.
The star of “The Bear” will play Rotta the Hutt, son of Jabba the Hutt, alongside “Mandalorian” star Pedro Pascal and Sigourney Weaver. Series creator Jon Favreau will direct the film, which is set to hit theaters on Memorial Day weekend in 2026.
“The Mandalorian” became the flagship show of Disney+ upon its launch in 2019, and has produced two subsequent seasons. The film is set five years after the events of “Return of the Jedi” and follows a bounty hunter in the lawless outer reaches of the recently fallen Galactic Empire.
At the start of the series, the bounty hunter, known as The Mandalorian, is hired by remnant Imperial forces to retrieve a valuable asset. But that asset turns out to be a Force-sensitive child that is the same alien species as the Jedi Master Yoda, leading fans to affectionately call him Baby Yoda. Midway through the second season, the child’s name is revealed to be Grogu.
“The Mandalorian and Grogu” will be the first “Star Wars” film in theaters since “The Rise of Skywalker” in 2019 and was announced at the start of 2024 by Disney CEO Bob Iger. Lucasfilm declined to comment on White’s hiring.
White has won two Golden Globes and Primetime Emmys for his lead performance in the acclaimed FX drama series “The Bear,” which is set to shoot and release its fourth season next year. He also appeared last year as the late pro wrestler Kerry Von Erich in the Sean Durkin film “The Iron Claw” and is set to play Bruce Springsteen in “Deliver Me From Nowhere,” a biopic about the making of the New Jersey rock star’s famed album “Nebraska.”
White is repped by WME, Entertainment 360 and Hansen Jacobson. The casting was first reported by Jeff Sneider.
