Taika Waititi is set to dive into directing more Star Wars properties, and if he has his way no matter what’s in the screenplay he will have a Baby Yoda puppet on set for him to cuddle with.
The JoJo Rabbit writer, director and (kind of) star got some face time with the most adorable member of the Star Wars universe when he directed the last episode of The Mandalorian’s first season, which revealed a pretty significant item that sets up the second season’s arrival this fall. But Waititi wasn’t tinkering with the Darksaber as much as he was the very expensive and lifelike Baby Yoda puppet, which according to The Hollywood Reporter he kept holding between takes.
Taika Waititi, who helmed the season finale (which shot in December at Manhattan Beach Studios) and voiced the android assassin IG-11, also needed to take occasional breaks to sit down with The Child in his hands. “He reminded me so much of my babies when they were 6 months old,” he says. “I couldn’t help it, I had to hold it in the same way.”
The Hollywood Reporter has a pretty adorable photo of it, as well as some other details about life on set for those involved. But it’s very funny to think the most important episode of the show’s brief history had some big decisions made by its director while he’s gently snuggling The Child. Some jobs have all the perks.