Jeremy Allen White may well be one of the most dynamic actors working today. He's handled the heat and stayed in the kitchen in The Bear, flexed his muscles as professional wrestler Kerry Von Erich in Sean Durkin's emotional duplex of a movie The Iron Claw, and will soon be seen getting his Boss on in Bruce Springsteen biopic Deliver Me. And for his next move? Well, according to THR, White's about to swap Nebraska for a galaxy far, far away. Yes, the in-demand New Yorker is joining the Star Wars universe and will be voicing a key role in Jon Favreau's recently wrapped Mandoverse movie The Mandalorian & Grogu.
Per the trade's reporting, White is set to voice Rotta the Hutt — son of limacine gangster Jabba — in Favreau's new Star Wars spin-off, which will see Pedro Pascal reprise his role as the titular bounty hunter from The Mandalorian as he continues adventuring in space with his adoptive son Grogu. White is only the second new name to have joined the call sheet for the movie, following Sigourney Weaver's casting back in May. And while we have no idea who Weaver will be playing just yet, or indeed exactly what the plot will entail as plot threads from Ahsoka and Rebels (and possibly even Skeleton Crew) all look set to converge, we have met White's character Rotta before.
First seen in The Clone Wars movie back in 2008, and glimpsed once since in the Clone Wars TV show, Rotta the Hutt was used as a pawn in the conflict between the Separatists and the Republic, with the former faction kidnapping him in order to frame the latter, save him, and then gain favour with the Hutt Clan. The plot backfired in the movie, and Rotta has subsequently been suspiciously absent from the Star Wars universe, playing no part in the post-Jabba's death power struggle explored in The Book Of Boba Fett, and having no defined status during the events of The Mandalorian Season 3 either, despite having been the obvious next-in-line to his father's criminal underworld throne.
So, will Rotta prove a valuable ally to Mando and our beloved little green guy? Does he have unfinished business with his father's allies and enemies? And just what exactly has he been up to in all these unaccounted for years, eh? Cosplaying as a human and setting up a restaurant in Chicago? Entering Jeremy Allen White lookalike contests? We'll find out the answers to at least some of those questions when The Mandalorian & Grogu lands in cinemas on 22 May, 2026. This is the way!