Werner Herzog only joined ‘Star Wars’ series ‘The Mandalorian’ to fund his new film

Werner Herzog only joined the Star Wars television series The Mandalorian to fund Family Romance, LLC, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this week.

The German director recently admitted that studios and financiers were unwilling to give him the funds for his hugely ambitious project.

That’s kind of understandable, too, as he wanted to begin work on Family Romance, LLC with an incomplete script, while he also wanted to just cast Japanese speaking non-actors and film solely in Japan. All of which is particularly audacious because Herzog doesn’t even speak Japanese.

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However, being cast in The Mandalorian allowed Herzog to finance Family Romance, LLC. In fact, according to Vanity Fair, Herzog undertook a number of random jobs in order to generate funds for his film. “The only thing I have not done so far [to make money for movies] is bank robbery,” he joked.

Herzog, who will play a villain in The Mandalorian, openly admits that ahead of starring in the show he only “had a very, very vague idea of what Star Wars was all about.”

The legendary director of Aguirre, the Wrath Of God and Fitzcarraldo quickly got into the grove, though. “I asked for the full screenplays, and I looked into the part, and it looked good and interesting.”

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“The only reason for having me in the film is they needed somebody who would spread terror, and be frightening for the audience. I said, ‘Yes I think I can give you this stylization.’ It came with great ease.”

We’ll get to see what Herzog can do in The Mandalorian when it premieres on November 12.