Jeremy Allen White Hints Rotta the Hutt Might Be the Key to The Mandalorian and Grogu
Once a cardboard cutout, the character now crackles with dimension—a late-season build-out that turns a side note into the story’s pulse.
File this under: not-what-he-signed-up-for. Jeremy Allen White says his role as Rotta the Hutt in The Mandalorian and Grogu started as a quick voice cameo and quietly ballooned into something bigger. Bigger how? Bigger enough that he now thinks Jabba the Hutt's kid might actually matter in the movie.
From half-day voice gig to... a real role
On the Happy Sad Confused podcast, White said Jon Favreau pitched the part as ultra low-maintenance: voice-only, no scans, swing by for half a day and be done. At that point, they had barely shot any of the movie. White even called the night before his session asking if there was anything specific he should watch to prep. Favreau basically told him: nah, just show up and do it.
Then time passed. A lot of time.
'Then a year passed and they shot the movie, and he was like, We've got some more stuff for you to do. And I think I realized that they really fleshed that character out a little bit and I might be in more of that movie than I had realized originally.'
Love a surprise promotion.
Wait, Rotta the Hutt?
Yep, Jabba's son. Rotta first showed up in the animated The Clone Wars movie, where Count Dooku had him kidnapped and Anakin Skywalker ended up saving the day. The Mandalorian and Grogu will be Rotta's first time in live action, with White providing the voice.
Where the movie is headed
Favreau is directing, Pedro Pascal is back as Din Djarin, and Sigourney Weaver is joining the franchise as a New Republic colonel. The official setup, boiled down: the Empire is gone, but scattered Imperial hardliners are still out there. The New Republic is trying to lock things down and calls in Din and Grogu as their go-to problem solvers.
- Jeremy Allen White voices Rotta the Hutt (Jabba's son), in what started as a tiny voice session and grew into a larger role
- Rotta's live-action debut; previously appeared in The Clone Wars animated movie (kidnapped by Count Dooku, rescued by Anakin)
- Directed by Jon Favreau
- Pedro Pascal returns as Din Djarin; Sigourney Weaver plays a New Republic colonel
- The New Republic enlists Din and Grogu after the Empire's fall to deal with lingering Imperial warlords
- The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters May 22, 2026