'Mandalorian' Director Bryce Dallas Howard Had to Remind Her Kids Daily to Keep Baby Yoda a Secret

Actor-turned-filmmaker Bryce Dallas Howard helmed episode four of The Mandalorian, the action-heavy “Sanctuary.” In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Black Mirror and Jurassic World alum revealed how she made sure her children kept Baby Yoda a secret. It became a daily routine: “I would just consistently remind them that there’s no circumstance that could ever arise where they’re allowed to talk about Baby,” she said.

Bryce—whose father is Solo: A Star Wars Story filmmaker Ron Howard—said it’s been an “agonizing” year trying to keep Baby Yoda a secret. “The thing I was most nervous about was that my kids had been on set quite a bit. So, they had seen Baby and interacted with Baby,” Howard tells THR. “When we were filming, my kids were 6 and 11; they’re now 7 and 12. When the kids went back to school, every single day I would say, ‘So, what are you not gonna talk about today?’ And they would say, ‘Baby!’ I’d be like, ‘That’s right!’”

She continued, “Now, for them, it’s very confusing because I’m like, ‘Oh, now, you can talk about Baby,’ and they’re like, ‘Oh, okay.’”

Howard also revealed how Golden Globe-nominated acting work has informed her directing technique. “There’s a shot behind Omera [Julia Jones] and Mando [Pedro Pascal] ... when they’re inside the cottage,” she explained. “We did French overs for that, which is a tiny homage to a scene that I had with Joaquin Phoenix in The Village. And then, of course, with all the AT-ST stuff, Jurassic is definitely a really great reference for that—when you’re on the run from a monster in close proximity and that monster is 30 feet high.”

The Mandalorian is now streaming on Disney+, with episode five of eight arriving on Friday, Dec. 6.