Dmitrious Bistrevsky is a Ukrainian-American actor and circus artist who portrayed a Quarren Trawler in the debut episode of the Disney+ live-action TV series The Mandalorian. He also served as one of three actors playing Darth Vader in the live-action series Obi-Wan Kenobi, with Bistrevsky, credited as "Performance artist – Darth Vader," doubling for Hayden Christensen in full body shots where Vader is wearing his helmet; and stunt double Tom O'Connell doing the fight scenes.
Darth Vader was played by stunt doubles Tom O'Connell (left) and Dmitrious Bistrevsky (right), and their movement coordinator was Olga Sokolova
Because of Bistrevsky being 6'7" tall, he was used to bring Vader to life in full body-shots because it looked better having an actual actor, as opposed to a CGI creation. The actor spent five months of training ten hours a day for the role. The first scene that he shot, was the street scene on Mapuzo, which was also his favorite scene to film. Some scenes required switching back and forth between multiple actors. At one point, all three of Vader's actors were present at the same time.
Although the character is voiced by James Earl Jones, Bistrevsky still learned all of Vader's lines for the shooting. However, if he spoke with anger, Vader's helmet would shake, so a voice actor named Dorian was present during filming and voice acted the scenes on set, with Bistrevsky moving in accordance with the lines. At the same time, a movement coach/consultant named Olga Sokolova would give him instructions via hand signals. Bistrevsky used meditation to stay in Vader's state of mind on set. According to the actor, "It was dark and heavy playing the character, it tore me up from the inside."
- The Mandalorian
- Obi-Wan Kenobi