“Andor” is the latest Star Wars saga to come to Disney+! CinemaBlend Managing Editor Sean O’Connell sat down with stars Diego Luna, Genevieve O’Reilly, Denise Gough, Adria Arjona, and Kyle Soller to discuss those massive practical sets, returning to the characters created in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” and much, much more.
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00:00 Diego, this is honestly, I think, the strongest thing
00:02 that Star Wars has done since Disney has acquired it.
00:05 It is blowing me away.
00:07 And I'm so happy for you.
00:09 I hope you're proud of the work you guys have done.
00:12 - Oh, man, you almost make me cry.
00:14 (laughs)
00:15 - It's incredible. - Thank you for those words.
00:17 (upbeat music)
00:19 - When you wrapped "Rogue One,"
00:28 did you have any indication that Andor was a possibility,
00:31 or did you say goodbye to the character at that time?
00:34 - I said goodbye to the character, to the universe,
00:36 to the experience, to everything, man.
00:39 You know, one thing that made sense to me
00:43 is that I was coming to do a film
00:46 in the universe of Star Wars,
00:47 but a film that had a beginning and an end.
00:49 - Sure.
00:51 - It was pitched as a standalone to me, you know?
00:55 This is it.
00:56 You come, you do this, you're in and out.
00:58 You're allowed to be different.
01:00 You're supposed to be different.
01:03 But this is it.
01:04 This is it, you know?
01:05 And in fact, it was easy to digest, you know?
01:10 I was like, everyone was asking me like,
01:12 "Oh, so you're gonna be there forever.
01:14 "Is that, is your,"
01:15 and I was like, "No, no, no, I'm doing this.
01:18 "That's it." - Right, right.
01:20 - And my character has a pretty dramatic
01:24 and definitive end, you know?
01:26 That's it.
01:28 It's the end in its most pure form, basically.
01:33 - Yes.
01:35 - And then a year later, I got this phone call saying,
01:38 "Would you be willing to explore the possibility
01:42 "of doing a show in this new long format
01:45 "that we're doing now of the background of Cassian
01:49 "and to see where he comes from
01:51 "and what needed to happen for him
01:54 "to become that person that was willing
01:56 "to sacrifice everything for the cause?"
01:58 And I was like, "Wow, that's a bold idea.
02:02 "I mean, it's interesting," you know?
02:04 As it was when I got the offer for Rogue One, you know?
02:09 Because it's, again, it's another standalone
02:11 in the world of series.
02:13 This one has to end.
02:15 We know the ending.
02:16 They will have to change the name
02:18 if they wanted to keep going
02:19 because Ander is, I mean, that's it.
02:22 It's these five years and there's nowhere to go.
02:25 - What really bleeds through for me
02:27 as part of this production
02:28 is the enormous practicality of the universe.
02:31 It feels so much more lived in
02:33 and just like it's been extremely established.
02:37 And I'm wondering if that felt that way to you on set
02:40 as well, too, as you were working on this.
02:43 - Absolutely.
02:43 I'm an actor.
02:45 We love a space to play in,
02:49 and I love a tactile space to play in.
02:51 We had it in Rogue One
02:53 and now in Luke Hull's design in Andor,
02:57 we have these dexterous, intricate,
03:01 beautiful sets to inhabit.
03:03 You know, the first time you meet Mon Mothma in episode four,
03:08 you meet her in Luthen's gallery.
03:11 That set was jaw-droppingly beautiful.
03:16 Stalin and I were like kids in a playground.
03:19 We were like, "Look at this, look at this."
03:21 We're like, "Don't touch that one.
03:22 That looks breakable.
03:23 Oh, what about this one?
03:25 Can I sit in this?"
03:26 Like, it was a joy to play in Luke's sets.
03:30 - I sort of assumed, because it's science fiction,
03:33 I sort of assumed there's a lot of green screen,
03:35 it will all be, you know.
03:37 And then I got to, like, one of my first days
03:40 was in this, like, town that they built.
03:43 And I was walking around thinking,
03:45 "Oh my God, this is amazing, the attention to detail."
03:48 And there was like a little, it looked like Yo! Sushi,
03:51 but in space, you know.
03:52 And I thought, "Okay, well,
03:54 let me have a look in the cupboards.
03:55 I mean, I'm sure in the cupboards,
03:57 there'll be, like, lighting and all of that."
03:59 And actually, you open the cupboards
04:01 and there's, you know, bowls and bowls full of blue noodles.
04:05 And you go into the bar area and it's all built.
04:09 It's like when you're a kid
04:10 and you have to use your imagination to build these things.
04:14 And then you get to be, you know, 40
04:16 and walking around dressed up
04:19 in an Imperial officer's uniform on a set
04:21 that has been built for you to play on.
04:23 I mean, it was absolutely, it's mind-blowing.
04:27 - The attention to detail and the intricacy of the sets,
04:31 props, the costumes were like nothing I or you
04:35 had ever experienced. - It was beautiful.
04:37 - It was incredible.
04:38 - I need to sing the praises of Toby Haynes.
04:40 I just want to give him all of the Star Wars going forward.
04:44 Can you tell me what he's like as a collaborator?
04:45 He's blowing me away with what he's doing.
04:47 - Oh, he's incredible.
04:48 Yeah, he was amazing to work with.
04:52 He was so much fun.
04:53 He had this really intriguing energy about him,
04:59 which was really, it was infectious and contagious,
05:02 was he is himself a fan.
05:05 So he would get really excited about the props.
05:08 And I mean, we all did because you're,
05:10 the second you walk into a Star Wars set,
05:11 your stomach sort of drops and you're like,
05:14 "Oh my God, I'm in Star Wars."
05:17 And you know that you're being a part of something
05:19 so much bigger than you.
05:20 And Toby had that every single day.
05:23 Like there wasn't a day that he wasn't,
05:25 "Oh my God, this is amazing.
05:26 This is so cool."
05:27 And I think you could see in his approach to every scene.
05:30 I think he approaches every scene with fresh eyes.
05:33 And I think he really just wants to do a great job
05:36 for the fans because he is a fan.
05:40 And I think he pushes every time a little bit.
05:45 - I mean, as a collaborator, he's beautiful to work with.
05:47 He's really inspiring.
05:48 He said this wonderful thing
05:50 when there was another character who was trying to
05:54 do things in a different way.
05:56 And Toby was just kind of feeding him different ways
05:58 of doing it, just keeping the camera rolling.
05:59 The guy was kind of like, "Okay, okay, okay."
06:02 And then he cut it.
06:03 He's like, "Don't worry about it.
06:04 We're just trying to capture smoke here.
06:05 That's all we're trying to do."
06:07 And I was like, "That's so beautiful."
06:08 And he has this playfulness and real artistry.
06:14 - Directing something like this must be,
06:16 it's the same with Ben Caron, who I did my early stuff with.
06:19 And I remember thinking, "Oh my God,
06:21 he's having such a good time."
06:22 He's like, "Are you kidding me?
06:24 Look what I get to play with."
06:25 Like, really, we were very lucky.
06:28 - We are meant to be different.
06:30 We are meant to be our own.
06:32 And that I love, you know,
06:34 because then the writing of someone like Tony Gilroy
06:38 becomes so pertinent, you know?
06:44 You need someone like him.
06:46 You need someone like,
06:47 he's not a writer that likes to write
06:50 in terms of right and wrong, and black and white.
06:53 He lives in the gray areas, you know?
06:55 - Right.
06:56 - He spends his time there,
06:58 building layers and layers of contradictions.
07:03 And I think that's, yeah, interesting
07:07 and comes in the right time
07:09 into this universe of Star Wars, I think, too.
07:12 - I love that I got the opportunity
07:14 to come and investigate this woman,
07:17 to explore this woman.
07:20 I love that Tony Gilroy and Disney
07:23 have invested time and narrative space in this woman.
07:28 I think where we meet her in Andor
07:31 is very different to where we've ever seen her before.
07:35 You know, we usually see her in a bunker, you know,
07:39 with senators in a war zone.
07:43 Where we meet her in Andor,
07:45 she is navigating a political society,
07:50 the Imperial Senate.
07:52 She's steeped in empire.
07:55 I think what's exciting for audiences, hopefully,
07:57 is that we start somewhere so very different
08:01 to where we know we have to end up.
08:03 - What were some of the questions
08:04 that you might've had about Bix's backstory,
08:07 and were they answered?
08:08 - I sat down with Diego, and we had so many ideas
08:12 and what sort of our backgrounds were,
08:15 and specifically how we met and stuff.
08:17 And those were all ideas that we had with Tony.
08:20 Again, not in the show,
08:21 but it was incredibly important for us to know,
08:23 especially for someone like Diego,
08:25 who's lived in this character for years now
08:28 and is so aware of, you know, where he comes from
08:33 and sort of his background,
08:34 hence why they're doing a show about it.
08:38 So it was really interesting to have him on set,
08:40 and I just felt like I could ask him
08:41 sort of everything and anything.
08:44 And he was incredibly helpful and collaborative in that.
08:49 - Kyle, I really, I sort of view your character
08:51 and Diego's as two sides of a very similar coin,
08:54 and I'm really enjoying seeing the parallels
08:58 between their journeys.
08:59 And I'm kind of wondering if you think
09:01 that maybe Karn could have easily committed
09:03 to the rebellion had fate almost sent him
09:05 down a different path.
09:06 - Definitely. - Yes.
09:07 - That's one of the things that I was thinking about
09:10 while developing the character with Tony,
09:12 is that there was clearly a point,
09:15 and I think it exists for everybody, right?
09:16 But clearly a point for Cyril
09:18 where there was a choice to be made,
09:20 and he lent over onto the left side.
09:23 And-
09:25 - We think it's because both Deja and Cyril
09:27 have an aversion to dirt,
09:29 and like, they need everything to be perfect and clean,
09:32 and the rebel's just simply, it's too dirty.
09:34 - Yeah. - Yeah.
09:35 - Not tidy enough. - Not tidy enough.
09:37 I can understand that.
09:38 - So within Cyril's journey,
09:41 he becomes so fixated and obsessed with Cassian
09:45 because he recognizes that that is,
09:48 that potential could exist within himself,
09:51 and that this guy who's so free to just do what he wants,
09:54 and Cyril lives within the confines of his own structure,
09:59 and the structure of the bureaucratic corporate system
10:02 that he lives in, and is striving to ascend
10:04 up to the highest echelons of,
10:07 he sees this person just like making up the rules
10:10 as he goes along, and he just can't stand it.
10:12 - Yeah. - Yeah, yeah.
10:14 - But it's because, as you say,
10:15 it's the other side of his coin,
10:17 and that's, yeah, can't deal with it.
10:19 - I just wanna know your pro tip
10:21 for acting opposite a droid, 'cause you do it very well.
10:25 - (laughs) This droid made it so easily,
10:28 and I have to tell you that the work behind the droid,
10:32 it's incredible.
10:33 It's not one or two people, it's a whole team, you know?
10:36 From the moment they design it to how expressive it is,
10:40 you know, like I saw the process.
10:42 I saw the drawings, then I saw the first models,
10:45 then I saw the thing moving,
10:47 and then I saw the whole team giving life to that thing,
10:50 you know, because it's not just a voice,
10:52 it's someone, it's two people operating, you know?
10:55 - Right. - And how many people
10:57 were needed to build that, I don't know,
11:00 but it's a whole team, and V2 just follows you everywhere,
11:05 and it's there, it's real, you know?
11:08 It's like, it's in fact very easy to interact
11:11 with these droids, because they exist, you know?
11:15 They're there with you,
11:17 and they're not as demanding as other actors, you know?
11:20 They just can do one take after another.
11:24 - Do you know what?
11:24 I love Star Wars fans because they are so passionate.
11:28 They are so lived in, in regard to this experience.
11:33 So I let them do all the thinking and the speculating,
11:37 and I leave that up to them,
11:38 'cause they do it much better than I do,
11:40 and I will just step in as the actor,
11:43 because in the end, I feel like Star Wars fans
11:47 know much more than I do.
11:49 I just hope that my excavation of Mon Mothma
11:54 can live up to their high standards.
11:58 - That's what a reckoning sounds like.
12:01 (dramatic music)
12:04 (dramatic music)
12:07 [BLANK_AUDIO]