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Disney+(LOS ANGELES) — While The Mandalorian is responsible for cutting-edge technological advances in TV production, the Disney+ hit is also responsible for a change in how Golden Globes are awarded to actors. 

According to Variety, the issue was star Pedro Pascal’s portrayal of the title character.  Specifically, the mysterious bounty hunter is bound by a creed not to remove his helmet — and so his face remains covered until the final episode of the first season. 

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization behind the Golden Globes, had a rule stating, “voice-only performances are not eligible in any acting category,” a mandate primarily intended to address animated films, making Pascal ineligible last year for an acting award nomination.  However, the HFPA has now declared that because Pascal’s face was ultimately revealed, albeit briefly, he isn’t considered a voiceover-only performer, and so would have been eligible for nomination last year.

While Pascal voices the Mandalorian — the character’s name is Din Djarin, by the way — the actor’s not always the man in the armored suit.  Brendan Wayne, incidentally the grandson of John Wayne, also performs the character while helmeted, as does martial artist Lateef Crowder for some of the fight scenes. 

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By Stephen Iervolino
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