Omid abtahi “Dr.Pershing” Interview

Hannah:
I’m joined here by Omid Abtahi, and we are going to be talking about a little bit of Star Wars knowledge and a little bit about The Mandalorian. How was it to be on the very first Star Wars TV show?

Omid:
Listen, this is a question I’ve been asked countless times, and I’ve struggled with it because I don’t have the words to express how lucky I am. How much I love what I do, and how much I love working on the set and being part of the Star Wars universe and getting to deal with fans, it's just, I feel like I've won the lottery. And it's not a monetary lottery; it's just the coolness lottery.
And I have a six-year-old son who I’ve been able to share my passion and what I do with, and that's also amplified how awesome being in Star Wars is... it's beautiful.

Hannah:
Yeah, yeah! Let’s talk about how it was to work alongside Baby Yoda.

Omid:
Yeah—when I first got to meet Baby Yoda, or Grogu, whatever you want to call him, they first just handed him to me. He was just there. Then these two guys came and were like, "You want us to turn him on?"
I’m like, "Yeah… what does that mean?"
And they turned him on, and his eyes opened up. He looked around. His ears started doing this... and I got the chills. I got goosebumps. I mean, I’ll never forget it.
And I’ll tell you honestly, it was in the early days when I worked with Grogu, Baby Yoda. We had to do the scene once with the animatronic and then also once with the tennis ball, in case they decided to use CGI.
Werner Herzog, who played the Client, called them cowards for using a tennis ball. So the tennis ball got thrown away.
And then, you know you see the magic. That’s what’s beautiful about Star Wars, right? It’s all the artistry and the creativity that takes place. The practicality of it. Not just behind computer screens.

Hannah:
How was it as an actor to kind of act against someone that you can’t see their facial expressions?

Omid:
You can’t see their facial expressions, and you can’t hear them very well. So if you have lines with them… because it takes a team to do the Mandalorian.
It’s Pedro, it’s Barry, it’s Brendan, and it’s Lateef. It’s a four-headed monster. And most of my time has been with Brendan.
He’ll come in and be like, "Blah blah blah."

Omid:
It’s like that. But that’s also—as that character, it’s also what makes it kind of scary. Because you don’t know who’s behind that. You can’t see the person’s eyes.
That’s why he’s so anxious. Absolutely.

Hannah:
So good. Going along with the Mandalorian theme, we did see a very cool shot of Dr. Pershing returning in Season 3.
We won’t ask you any spoilers, but if you could describe the season in three words?

Omid:
Unlike anything before.

Hannah:
Ooh, I like that. That sounds good that sounds really good. That checks out.
Dr. Pershing again, he is just such a great character. He’s got this inner mind working at all times. You can kind of see him thinking, “What is good? What is bad?”
I want to know in your opinion, is he an inherently good or bad person?

Omid:
Trying to figure out how to say this...
My approach to Season 1 was—he has lines that I think inform me about who he is. Like, “I protected him. If it wasn’t for me, he would already be dead.”
Those were really important lines to me in building Dr. Pershing.
Yes, he shows up in an Imperial outfit, but I think science above all else is what’s important to him.
And I do think he treads between the black and white, and he lives in that gray area.

Hannah:
Yeah, in the gray.

Omid:
But yeah.

Hannah:
He’s more than meets the eye. I think that’s given us a lot to think about.
Now, another deep cut for Star Wars fans is that this isn’t the first time you’ve been in Star Wars.
You voiced a very interesting Mandalorian character from The Clone Wars, Cadet Amis.
Can you tell us anything you remember from voicing this character?

Omid:
Yeah, I remember. I mean, it was a long time ago.
I remember when I auditioned for it—it was like, "This guy is pudgy, he eats a lot, and he’s British."
So I went in and I was like, “You know, I’m hungry. I don’t know what we’re doing,” and this and that.
And then I see the final product, and I’m like—this guy’s like an all-American football player. Like an all-British football player. Rugby player.
He looked way different than what I had in mind. If I knew he was that handsome and that fit, I might’ve used a different voice!

Hannah:
I love that.
But yeah, he was a sweet character in those episodes. He was so cool—obviously, his good friend Corky in those episodes...

Omid:
Corky, yeah yeah yeah.

Hannah:
It’s all amazing.
So, doing voiceover work on The Clone Wars, is that very like you do that just by yourself? Or are you with the other actors while you do that?

Omid:
It was all the other actors.
It’s one of the few jobs I’ve had where we were in the room with like eight other people.

Hannah:
Yeah, wow.

Omid:
I mean, now with COVID… You’re never in the room with anybody else.

Hannah:
Well, thank you so much, Omid. It’s been a pleasure.

Omid:
Take care, guys.