This post contains spoilers for "The Mandalorian" season 3, episode 1, "The Apostate."
In the same way Daniel Craig made a stealth cameo as a Stormtrooper in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," "The Mandalorian" has already featured more than one famous guest star who went unrecognizable because of costuming or makeup. This goes back to the series premiere when comedian and former "Saturday Night Live" cast member Horatio Sanz played Mando's first bounty, the blue alien Mythrol. The season 3 premiere also sneaks in "Sweet Tooth" star Nonso Anozie as the seaweed-headed pirate king, Gorian Shard. Even Din Djarin himself, voiced by Anozie's fellow "Game of Thrones" alum Pedro Pascal, spends most of the series under a helmet. The very removal of that helmet gets him excommunicated from the Way of the Mandalore, hence the episode title, "The Apostate."
Because of how often his face is buried under prosthetics, it might be slightly more challenging to pinpoint where you've seen Marti Matulis, the actor who plays Vane, the Nikto member of Shard's pirate gang. Vane is the one who shows up on the planet Nevarro, demanding a drink at a school that used to be a saloon. He's the last man standing on his side after Din Djarin and the High Magistrate, Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), gun down all his men in a Sergio Leone-inspired shootout. So where exactly have you seen Marti Matulis before?
Marti Matulis Plays George On Evil, For Starters
Marti Matulis is probably best known for his role as the demon George on the supernatural CBS drama "Evil." George is the incubus who likes crawling into bed with series protagonist Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers) and giving her night terrors. While his appearance, brought to life by Matulis under prosthetics, is outwardly terrifying, his voice (Euan Morton) is cheesier in a kind of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" way.
On "Evil," Matulis also doubles as the goat-horned Devil Therapist for Leland Townshend (Michael Emerson). Michael Cerveris voices this character, so Matulis himself sometimes serves as a non-speaking presence like David Prowse or Ray Park, the actors who physically portrayed Darth Vader and Darth Maul.
Matulis was seen recently on the big screen as yet another demonic entity, the monster in the 2022 horror hit "Smile." This face-rending creature can jump from person to person, possessing them and using them as bodily hosts, not unlike what Matulis has done by taking on all these monster-type roles. Some of his other recent (monster and non-monster) credits include a drone host on "Westworld," the caretaker in "Studio 666," and Piggy Man on "American Horror Story."
Matulis has been working in Hollywood for 25 years, and "The Mandalorian" isn't even his first space rodeo. Funnily enough, like "The Force Awakens" director J.J. Abrams, Matulis has jumped franchises from "Star Trek" to "Star Wars." Some of his earliest appearances onscreen were uncredited roles as a Ba'ku male in "Star Trek: Insurrection," a Reman officer in "Star Trek: Nemesis," and a Reman bodyguard on "Star Trek: Enterprise." He later showed up in three different bit parts on "Star Trek: Picard," as an XB worker, a prisoner, and a checkpoint supervisor.
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