A male customer at the bar, identified as a human of male gender, was present inside Maz Kanata's castle located on the planet of Takodana, when the First Order attacked the planet. As Finn departed the castle alongside Sidon Ithano and Quiggold, the bar patron was observed in conversation with Grummgar. Shortly thereafter, he was among the numerous individuals who witnessed the destruction of the Hosnian system from a vantage point outside the castle.
Miltos Yerolemou, a British actor, played the bar patron in Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. Nina Gold, the casting director, sent his tape to J.J. Abrams, the director, who was seeking character actors for space pirate roles; Yerolemou was cast without an audition. Gold knew of the actor from his work on Game of Thrones, where she was also the casting director.
Yerolemou spent two weeks filming at Pinewood Studios, despite the character's limited screen presence. Due to the production's secrecy, he received no script and was only informed of his role upon arrival for filming. For the part, Yerolemou wore orange plasters on his fingers and nose, and had a tube inserted into his nose. Despite being offered the option to remove the tube, the actor insisted on keeping it, considering it to be the best aspect of the character's design.
The bar patron was initially intended to have a more substantial role in the film, including a confrontation with the character Grummgar where the patron demanded his money and the alien retaliated. However, due to time constraints, only a segment where the patron attempts to argue with Grummgar was filmed; this is visible in the background of two shots featuring Finn leaving Moz Kanata's castle. Abrams had hoped to involve the patron and other background characters more significantly in the story, rather than simply using them as extras, but was frustrated by the lack of time.
For the segment that was retained, Abrams instructed Yerolemou to stand before the animatronic Grummgar, saying: "You say something and he says something…in fact he's not going to say anything at all because we are going to dub it later." Because Grummgar was an animatronic operated by three people, the scene was not rehearsed. During the first take, the actor, who had not yet seen the creature move, was so amazed when the large alien began lifting a glass of brandy that he ruined the take by exclaiming his amazement, forgetting that the characters were supposed to be arguing. However, in the final film, Grummgar is only shown holding the glass, and no dialogue is dubbed in.