“The contacts will hurt you”: Despite Painful Makeup, Lars Mikkelsen Revealed His Real Struggle With Playing Thrawn in Ahsoka That Would Stun Fans
When Disney+ announced Danish actor Lars Mikkelsen would portray legendary Star Wars villain Grand Admiral Thrawn in live action for the first time, fans were thrilled. Thrawn had only appeared previously in animated and book forms, so seeing him fully realized on screen was a dream come true. But taking on such an iconic character came with immense pressure for Mikkelsen. Beyond the physical transformation, he faced an unexpected challenge in portraying Thrawn – mastering the character’s formal English speech and accent, which did not come naturally to the Danish actor.
Donning Thrawn’s Iconic Look
While wearing the Chiss makeup was painful and Thrawn’s contact lenses hurt his eyes, Mikkelsen said the most difficult part of becoming the Grand Admiral was actually speaking English properly.
As a Danish actor, Lars Mikkelsen doesn’t regularly speak with Thrawn’s formal, cultured English tone and inflections. The accent work required was more taxing than even the physical transformation. The nuances of the accent work required were more of a challenge.
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Language Barrier Adds Pressure
Already feeling immense pressure playing the legendary Thrawn, Mikkelsen now had to act in what to him was essentially a foreign language. He only learned English in school, unlike native speakers. The actor shared his plight with EW.
“My biggest challenge is always the language. There’s a barrier because I’m not English; I’m Danish. And it’s quite elaborate English. He’s so poised, and he’s so calm in what he’s doing this character. So, the challenge is to believe in what you’re doing. He’s not a man who goes for a cup of coffee. He’s in the room giving orders but in a very calm, rational way.”
He also added dressing up as Thrawn was no easy task,
“That’d be stupid. And after 16 hours of shooting, the contacts will hurt you. But there’s people coming around all the time with [eye] drops.”
Speaking such an unnatural dialect made embodying Thrawn far harder. Mikkelsen knew fans had high expectations to see Thrawn come to life faithfully. Portraying him accurately in English, which didn’t come naturally, added immense stress. Mikkelsen had to focus intently on each line, on top of embodying the complex character.
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Fulfilling Fans’ High Expectations
Beyond just mastering Thrawn’s speaking cadence, Mikkelsen knew how much fans adored the character in books and animation. Living up to that in a language outside his comfort zone was daunting.
Despite early struggles, Mikkelsen managed to capture both Thrawn’s chilling demeanor and strategic intellect. His acting brought the calculating villain to life, even through the barrier of performing in his second language.
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Thanks to his commanding presence and dedication to embodying Thrawn fully, Lars Mikkelsen overcame the steep challenge of portraying the fan-favorite villain in English. His accent work successfully captured Thrawn’s meticulous speech despite Danish being his native tongue. While Mikkelsen faced obstacles, his performance thrilled fans, proving his acting prowess could bring Thrawn to life in live action against the odds.
Source: EW
