While filmmaker Robert Rodriguez is renowned for taking on many personal, auteur-driven projects, he shifted gears to direct a pivotal episode of The Mandalorian Season 2. For Rodriguez, that opportunity to work on a Star Wars project arrived after he emailed series creator Jon Favreau about his enjoyment of The Mandalorian Season 1.
In an exclusive interview with CBR to promote the Billie Eilish Disney+ musical special Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles, which Rodriguez co-directs with Patrick Osborne, Rodriguez recounted how Favreau offered him the job to direct an episode of The Mandalorian.
"I've been friends with [Jon Favreau] for a long time and I wrote him after the third episode. I would send him emails from back in the day saying my kids loved Zathura and they would watch it over and over again," Rodriguez told CBR. "I'd always be sending him fan mail, so I sent him fan mail about this Mandalorian episode, like, 'Man, another one out of the park! Kickass job!' And he said, 'Actually, can I call you? I just lost one of my directors. Do you want to come to bring some of that Alita magic?'"
Rodriguez directed Season 2's sixth episode, "The Tragedy," which put a resurgent Boba Fett front and center as he teamed up with Din Djarin to repel an attack detachment of Stormtroopers. Following this, Rodriguez helmed the spinoff series The Book of Boba Fett, following the famed bounty hunter as he reclaims his legacy in the galaxy after escaping from the Sarlacc Pit. For Rodriguez, the opportunity to reintroduce Boba Fett as the Star Wars Universe's resident badass led him to take the job, even with his own filmmaking schedule standing at a particularly busy moment.
"I said I was available when I wasn't available. It's just when somebody asks if I'm free, I go, 'Yup, I'm free!' Because it's going to give you a new experience, like the Billie project," Rodriguez observed. "You just take things on and it gives you new experiences and getting to play in that playground and bring Boba Fett back, that was awesome. Now I'm working on a whole season of Boba Fett. I think it comes out in December -- pretty soon! We're cranking on it and I can't wait for you to see that. It'll blow your mind!"
Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett premieres this December on Disney+.