Since The Mandalorian is back and (already) half way through the third season, let’s talk about Katee Sackhoff. She is one of my favorite science fiction actresses. I’ve seen quite a few of her other shows; perhaps you have too.
Of course, in Star Wars, she is Bo-Katan Kryze in The Mandalorian. Actually, she’s been the voice of Bo-Katan since 2012 when the character first appeared in the fourteenth episode in season four of The Clone Wars (“A Friend in Need“). There is more to her than blasters and darksabers. How much do you know about Katee Sackhoff?
This is another series I’m hoping to resurrect. I haven’t done one of these since May of 2022. After watching Community (again) recently I decided Donald Glover is an excellent choice for the revival, especially given that it’s Black History Month. Donald Glover portrayed young Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story. He does an amazing job and I really, really hope he reprises the role if Disney is truly making a Lando series. (Although it looks like this project is no longer happening, bummer.) Be that as it may, how much do you know about Donald Glover?
Today, May 12th is Domhnall Gleeson’s birthday so its only fitting that I post this article in his honor. In case you didn’t know, Domhnall Gleeson is our loveable(?) General Hux in the sequel trilogy. The banter between Hux and Oscar Isaac‘s Poe Dameron is some of my favorite dialog in the sequels. When I chose Domhnall it was because I wanted to know what else I have seen him in and I was surprised. So, with that said, I ask you … how much do you know about Domhnall Gleeson?
Like Father, Like Son
Domhnall Gleeson is an Irish actor and writer. He was born May 12th (duh), 1983 in Dublin, Ireland. Let’s get the obvious question out of the way first. His first name is pronounced “doh-nall”, the “m” is silent. I’m sure that’s what all of you were wondering 🙂
Domhnall and Dad (Brendan) at The Force Awakens Premiere
He is the son of an actor you may have heard of, Brendan Gleeson. He has appeared in seven films with his father and I’m sure you have heard of at least two of them. He is Bill Weasley in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2; his father, of course, plays Mad-Eye Moody. He is Thomas McGregor in the live action Peter Rabbit films. The first one isn’t that bad, especially if you have kids. I have not seen the second one.
Fun Fact: he competed with this father for Best Actor/Best Supporting Actor awards in a couple film festivals and lost, both times, to his father.
Hopefully he shows up to some Comic-Con or a Star Wars Celebration, I think I’d enjoy meeting him. I’d like to check out a few of his other roles so if you have a suggestion, please leave it in the comments. (If you are posting comments for the first time and it doesn’t appear, I have to approve all comments from new users.)
Usually I don’t discuss main characters; I generally pick more obscure roles. However there are times when I think certain actors deserve some extra appreciation regardless of their role. Oscar Isaac is deserving of extra recognition. In the Star Wars universe we all know him as the charismatic and witty ace pilot Poe Dameron. Besides Poe, what else do you know about Oscar Isaac?
Oscar Isaac was born in 1979 in Guatemala but he was raised in Miami, Florida. Currently he is married to Elvira Lind and they have one son together. He is also a very talented musician.
Speaking of Music
He is a singer and plays guitar. In fact he’s been playing the guitar since he was twelve years old. He co-wrote (with Alan Doyle) and performs the song “Never Had” for the movie 10 Years. You can check out a video of the performance below:
He also stars and performs in the Amazon movie Inside Llewyn Davis. His co-stars are Justin Timberlake and, fellow Star Wars actor, Adam Driver (who is quite funny in it). It’s kind of a strange movie but I enjoyed it and Isaac gives an excellent performance.
And Speaking of Excellent Performances
Let’s quickly review Oscar Isaac’s other roles. His first major role was Joseph in The Nativity Story and you may have noticed him as Prince John in the Russell Crowe version of Robin Hood. Oscar plays the main antagonist Apocalypse in X-Men: Apocalypse (by the way, Oscar is a avid X-Men fan so this probably fulfills a childhood dream).
He is the voice of Gomez Addams in the latest incarnation of The Addams Family and he plays Duke Leto in the newest interpretation of Dune. By the way I recommend checking out that movie, it’s actually pretty good.
Most recently he is the lead in the newest Marvel series Moon Knight. He truly demonstrates his versatility in this series. The main character has Dissociative Identity Disorder; commonly known as multiple personality disorder. Oscar Isaac gives a spectacular performance! The show is a little strange (like stranger than Doctor Strange) but it’s worth watching for his performance alone!
Four episodes are available and you can catch up and watch the final two episodes every Wednesday on Disney+. No, I was not compensated for this endorsement 🙂
It is Women’s History Month so it’s only appropriate that I pick a woman for this month’s HMDYK topic. I am going really obscure this month. You may recognize the person in the picture but you’re probably wondering where you may have seen her face in Star Wars. I will get to that shortly. In the meantime, how much do you know about Shirley Henderson?
Of Wands and Droids
The most surprising detail I found about Shirley Henderson is that she is 56 years old (at the time of this writing)! She was born in 1965 in the village of Kincardine in Fife, Scotland. Before I delve into her filmography, I’m going to get the obscurity out of the way. You may have figured out by now how this actor is connected to Star Wars (because of the banner). Shirley Henderson is the voice for the adorable Babu Frik (from The Rise of Skywalker)! A male character doesn’t always have to be voiced by a male actor, take Bart Simpson for example.
I do not expect too many people to know her as the voice of Babu Frik, but I’m sure you all do recognize her from another franchise. She is Moaning Myrtle from Harry Potter. The first appearance of Moaning Myrtle was 20 years ago. This means Shirley Henderson would have been 36 when she portrayed a deceased 14 year old. Gotta love CG.
She’s Not In That Frozen
She has had other roles beyond a dead, teenage witch and a shifty, adorable droid mechanic. She’s Jude in all three Bridget Jones movies. The more interesting role is the lead in a (not-Olaf version) film called Frozen. In fact she was nominated and/or won for her performance at various film festivals. While it is a mediocre score on IMDB, I’m still inclined to watch this movie. I’ve checked out other movies for similar reasons and been very surprised.
She’s been in one episode of Doctor Who (and any appearance in Doctor Who is worth mentioning!). She has about 89 credits (at the time of this writing) but, unfortunately, I don’t really recognize most of them. I suspect (but did not confirm) most of them are probably UK series.
If you there is a show or movie you’ve seen her in that you enjoyed, please leave a comment and perhaps I will check it out.
In honor of Black History Month, I thought I would choose an African American for the next “How Much Do You Know” topic. There are several folks to choose from in the Star Wars Universe, but I didn’t want to make the obvious choice. I think the others will have their time in future posts but for this month, how much do you know about Phil LaMarr?
Phil LaMarr is pretty interesting. He was born in Los Angeles and he went to Yale University. He is one of the founding members of the Yale improve group, Purple Crayon. This is probably when improv became his life.
A Prolific Career
I think the first time I saw Phil LaMarr is MadTV. In fact that is probably one of the rare times you will see him in live-action. His impressions of Ray Charles, Johnnie Cochran and Sammy Davis Jr are some fond memories. However, what I find most interesting about Phil LaMarr is his voice acting career.
At the time of this writing Phil LaMarr has 502 acting credits and the bulk of them are voice acting roles. He has the occasional live-action role. For example he is Rag Doll in The Flash TV series and Malefic J’onzz on Supergirl. However his versatility really shines in all of his numerous voice acting roles.
In Star Wars (since that’s why we’re here) he is mostly known as the animated voice of Kit Fisto. In various other series he’s also provided the voice for Bail Organa and Orn Free Taa as well as random stormtroopers and other side/background characters. Most recently he’s provided the voice for two characters in The Book of Boba Fett.
Outside of Star Wars, you may recognize him as Hermes in Futurama, Samurai Jack, Ollie Williams in Family Guy, various characters in the DC universe; the list is extensive.
Clearly he’s an amazing actor and I really enjoyed doing the research.
