The stars of Disney+'s Andor Season 2 were at a special sneak peek screening in London at the Lightroom in Kings Cross. Adria Arjona, Ben Mendelsohn, Denise Gough, Diego Luna, Genevieve O'Reilly, Stellen Skarsgard, Faye Marsay & creator Tony Gilroy told us why the show is so special.
Andor: Season 2 is streaming on Disney+ on April 22nd. Report by Jonesl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Andor: Season 2 is streaming on Disney+ on April 22nd. Report by Jonesl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00I am all right, but it's been 10 years.
00:26No, no, I feel great.
00:28I feel great because I care about this, you know, because I'm in love with what we've
00:32done with the journey and the connections I've made with the material, with the writing
00:39of Tony Gilroy, with the whole crew.
00:43So it's easy to wake up and work for this show.
00:46It's easy.
00:47Well, I won't ask you about your skincare routine.
00:48I will ask you about that.
00:50Thank you very much.
00:51Cassian, how did it feel knowing that you're reaching the end because we know what happens
00:55next?
00:56Was that on your mind quite a lot?
00:57Well, yes, I mean, yes, but in a good way, you know, you want to leave something when
01:02it's exciting, when it's fun, when you're still learning things, you know, and this is the
01:07moment for that.
01:08You know, it's been 10 years of my life.
01:10I've gone through a lot with these people and I'm keeping all of them here and it's good
01:21to say goodbye when also when you're proud of what you're doing, you know, and I'm still
01:26very proud of this show.
01:28I think this season is better than season one.
01:31And I think it's going to make people see Rogue One in a different way, you know, therefore,
01:36it's going to make somehow Rogue One better.
01:39Well, yes, or at least pertinent, again, for you to watch it because it re-signifies Rogue
01:45One.
01:46You don't know what's behind the sacrifice you see Cassian doing in Rogue One.
01:50Now you'll know, you know.
01:53So it's good to leave it this way.
01:55So were you even surprised when you read the script?
01:58Well, not really because Tony and I talk a lot and I can tell you one thing.
02:04When he pitched the story at the beginning, it's the same story we shot, you know.
02:11We got full freedom, you know, complete freedom from Lucas and from Disney to execute the show,
02:20the way Tony dreamed it and that integrity you can see in the show and not much TV starts
02:30knowing what the end is, you know, and we do.
02:33And I think that makes this show special.
02:35You're teasing us and you're now a Star Wars legend.
02:38What is that the maddest thing that's happened?
02:42Legend is it's a it's a big word, I mean, I am I am part of the Star Wars family and
02:48I'm proud of that.
02:49Yeah.
02:50What is the thing that happens?
02:51Because people must absolutely adore you.
02:52They dress up as you.
02:53The nicest thing is like you get to play like a kid with toys.
02:58You want it when you were a kid, but you didn't get, you know, and this time I got to pilot.
03:03I got to do crazy, crazy stuff that it reminds me how important this universe was when I was
03:11a kid.
03:12And so is your house now full of toys with your face on it?
03:15No, no, no, no.
03:16That would be creepy, right?
03:17That would be creepy.
03:18It's funny.
03:19May the 4th coming up.
03:20Yes.
03:21How are you celebrating?
03:22What do you do?
03:23This one I'm going to be celebrating how this season was received, because I think if people
03:29liked season one, they're going to love season two.
03:31I love London.
03:32I love spending time here.
03:34We filmed Andor here, so it feels like home.
03:37And you look so happy at the moment.
03:38We're so happy for you.
03:39And this is a series you have earned.
03:41Is this the best job ever?
03:43This is the best job ever.
03:44It really is.
03:45I mean, look who I get to sort of play with and I get to say Tony Gilroy's words and just
03:53play such a complex character and be part of something that is so important and powerful
03:58like this show.
03:59And when you were growing up, there weren't many things like heroines like these women.
04:04We are representing now.
04:05You are doing that.
04:07The young kids everywhere.
04:09How does that feel?
04:10I mean, I feel very lucky and I also feel, I don't know, I feel really excited because
04:16I know there's a generation of Latin American actresses that's coming right behind me that
04:21is just going to take over and that makes me, it just fills my heart.
04:25So wonderful.
04:26And what can fans not expect from season two?
04:30Not expect?
04:32Honestly, any expectation that you have, you're probably going to be wrong.
04:37I was wrong.
04:38And I'm in the show and I read all of season one and, you know, when I first got the scripts
04:43for season two, everything that I thought was going to happen, every turn that I thought
04:46my character was going to make, Tony just surprised me and it went in a completely different
04:51direction.
04:52I love that.
04:53And were you a fan of Star Wars growing up?
04:54And if so, were you cosplaying in the playground?
04:56Oh, yeah.
04:57Did you have Princess Leia play buns?
04:58Princess Leia.
04:59Buns.
05:00I had the buns.
05:01Do you ever experiment with the buns anymore?
05:03Yes, all the time.
05:04I work out in two buns.
05:05I'm not kidding.
05:06I love it.
05:07I have really wild hair, so I just put two buns in it.
05:10I love that.
05:11And May the Fourth is coming up, Star Wars Day.
05:13Yes.
05:14How do you celebrate now you're part of Andor?
05:16Oh, I haven't thought that far.
05:18This is, I'm so excited to be here today.
05:20This is all I've had in my mind, just was to make it through today and to celebrate today
05:26and to celebrate us going to L.A. and releasing the show.
05:29So that's as far as my brain capacity can go.
05:32But it's bittersweet though, because you know it's the end, which must be really difficult.
05:37It was.
05:38Saying goodbye to Bix was one that I really, I have a little tattoo of an ex for Bix.
05:43And it's, I love this character so much.
05:45And I was, I was a rep when I had to say Vladimir.
05:47But now you've got a Bix tattoo, are you going to have to get a tattoo for every character
05:51you ever play?
05:52No.
05:53And you're part of Andor's.
05:54That's really cool, no?
05:55It's very Star Wars.
05:56Isn't it?
05:57Very Star Wars.
05:58And when you were growing up, were you cosplaying as Star Wars characters?
06:01I never saw it.
06:02I never, it was never my thing.
06:03I think my brothers were into it.
06:05I think maybe I saw it, but it wasn't my thing.
06:08I was like a Batman girl.
06:09And so no, no, it wasn't.
06:12When you told your bruvs that you got this role, what was their reaction?
06:15Because they had to fill you in on what's going on.
06:17I don't really have anyone in my life that's a huge Star Wars nut.
06:22Yeah.
06:23Probably a good thing.
06:24Yeah, probably because it meant that it didn't overwhelm me.
06:27You know, I was just able to go to work on this brilliant thing and then it turned out
06:31to be, oh right, I'm in a really great Star Wars show.
06:34I love it.
06:35It was intense Series 1 for you.
06:37Where does your ambition take you in Series 2?
06:39Can you tell us anything?
06:40Yeah.
06:41She remains really single focused, Deidre.
06:44Yeah, she does some pretty reprehensible things.
06:48It'd be interesting.
06:49Oh, jeez, I love that.
06:51How do you tap into the...
06:52I shouldn't even have said that.
06:54Oh well.
06:55Is that a terrible thing to say?
06:57It's out soon.
06:58Don't worry about it.
06:59How did you tap into the psychology?
07:01She's really nice.
07:02She's really nice.
07:03She does lovely things.
07:04She redeems herself in the eyes of everyone.
07:07You've redeemed it yourself as well then.
07:09I hope so.
07:10Psychology wise, how did you get into that kind of psychic of...
07:13She's so loyal to the Empire.
07:15How did you get into that?
07:17I don't really find any of that difficult.
07:20It just happens.
07:21I don't know what that says about me.
07:22I'm an actress.
07:23It just happens to be really easy to get in the mind of an absolute fascist.
07:27No, it was really...
07:29Listen, in all seriousness, it's the writing.
07:32If you get great writing, everything else falls into place.
07:35I didn't actually have to do that much.
07:37Put in one of those amazing costumes.
07:39Put your arms behind your back and do what's on the page.
07:42And it's Tony Gilroy and his team.
07:44Like, they are insanely good at creating characters.
07:48So this is Series 2 of Andor.
07:50Yes, Series 2 of Andor.
07:51Were you very, very aware throughout it that Rogue One was on the horizon?
07:54Yeah.
07:55Or was it just really sad?
07:56No.
07:57No.
07:58I mean, I'd already done Rogue One, so it wasn't like...
08:01I'm so sad about it.
08:02You know what happens.
08:03Of course you do.
08:04Yeah.
08:05A bit.
08:06And what was the best thing about the spin-off?
08:10Because you were in Rogue One.
08:11Did it kind of meet your expectations?
08:13Did you enjoy it?
08:15Were you talking about Rogue One?
08:16Or this?
08:17And, yeah.
08:18Spin-off.
08:19The best thing about it is...
08:23The best thing about it is seeing how this gets done.
08:27And seeing what gets done to various of these characters.
08:31And how it gets done.
08:33That's what's the best about it.
08:35It's really...
08:36To just step out of it for a second.
08:38It's really kind of...
08:40I mean...
08:42It's...
08:43There are moments where I've been like...
08:45I don't think I like The Empire anymore.
08:47You know?
08:48It's really like...
08:50There's...
08:52It's...
08:53It's pretty good.
08:54Yeah, it's pretty good.
08:55Can you hear the noise of those hearts breaking out everywhere?
08:56No, they'll deal.
08:57Once they see it, they'll know what I'm talking about.
08:58They'll know what I'm talking about.
08:59Looking around, is this pretty cool for you?
09:00You've been to some cool stuff, Dylan.
09:01This is a cool place.
09:02And it's very, very deliciously made.
09:03Yeah.
09:04Does it ever surprise you what is capable in this industry?
09:05When you look at what you just made and or two.
09:06Do things keep surprising you all the time about what you can achieve on screen?
09:08I mean, I've been lucky enough to be surprised quite often.
09:30I mean, most...
09:31I mean, you try to make films that have never been made before.
09:34and and the most scripts you read they are the same film or they are a copy of an old film you've
09:39seen so i'm really happy because this film hasn't been made before and why is it so special to be
09:45involved with andor compared to what you've done in the past because you've done a lot
09:51it's it's the this the way it is very talented people i mean tony gilroy is a fantastic writer
09:58and it started with him and diego luna coming together to make this this prequel to uh rogue one
10:07and it's uh it has gathered in its there's so many good talented people in in terms of cinematographers
10:17in terms of props making in terms of sets everything everything is fantastic in it dresses costumes
10:26bake up everything and all and it's there's so many actors and all are good and you you feel
10:34very privileged to be caught to come on the set to do your work you meet a new actor and it's fantastic
10:39and you don't even know what they got to do and they do it and you i mean i've had a very happy
10:44time here did you manage to get any star wars memorabilia that you managed to sneak in your
10:49pocket i try to avoid memorabilia i i i don't i don't collect things you're getting it all by
10:56yourself yeah it would be full and what can fans not expect where's your where's your partner what
11:02you can stuck in traffic not expect tony said romance
11:09what you can't expect well you can't expect your romance from me at least
11:12i want to see a bit of kissing from stephen you just really want to see uh luce and rail naked
11:22wow what a moment i'll spare you that one
11:27and fast approaching us is may the fourth how do you celebrate star wars day
11:33oh i don't celebrate you don't have to know anything about
11:36star wars i mean i i've been i've been having kids since 1976 i've been growing up with star wars
11:43my kids and i've seen them over and over again all those new kids to see to see the star wars
11:48i'm just i'm pleased with just having them that's enough i don't have to celebrate that
11:52and they must think you're the coolest guy ever you know that you're you are the top of the family
11:56you're in star wars spin-off yeah but they're not really we just they asked me so why don't you
12:02work with uh we tried to make sure we weren't getting Robert De Niro more why don't you work
12:06with Scorsese uh sorry we doubled it feels like a uniquely london space so to be here launching
12:14this i mean you know pinch me all about mommy tonight love that yeah so word series two were
12:20you aware the whole time that it's kind of going to end because it broke one on the horizon what was
12:25it like knowing that it's done then you put it out into the world there's a number of things
12:30around that but really where it finishes and that's it you know i think knowing that this
12:35was finishing knowing that we had 12 episodes knowing that there was this extraordinary cast
12:41and these beautiful artists creating all around us i think it lifted us all i think we could reach for
12:47a work that maybe i don't know maybe we wouldn't have if it might have been gone again or again but we
12:53knew it was ending so it felt uniquely special yeah the collective ambition of everybody was just
13:01tantalizing what about what fans can't expect what what what what will they not expect when i watch
13:06series two i think what um is so special about andor is that it feels unique and different from the
13:18the genre it feels deeply human and i think the humanity we reach for in season two perhaps will
13:25surprise people i know it's in a galaxy far far away but it's about us it's about the courage of ordinary
13:34folk it's about what it takes for a person who might be feeling lonely or oppressed or bullied to reach
13:44out to find allies and to collectively stand up it's worth it it's amazing it is and the fact that
13:53you're part of this star wars world when you were growing up and stars came out you know all those
13:58were you playing the character like in your head were you cosplaying i mean yeah i mean of course i was
14:03who are you i mean princess leia obviously how are the space buns on this everything i was all in all in
14:11i loved and when i was a kid i just remember the ewoks and jabba the hush and um but i remember princess
14:19leia but leia being super cool and now my daughter has ray has you know so i do think that star wars has
14:28always had great heroines i think what's really special about andor is that there are many that there
14:36are many women of many different facets of humanity and he's written all these women so beautifully
14:45that's so special isn't it and about time as well so great and star wars day is fast approaching may
14:51the 4th yes how are you celebrating i mean i will i must i will i shall i shall be back i mean obvious
14:59oh well i wish those outfits michael wilkinson's costumes are are galactic but no mine will probably
15:07be um i don't know princess leia trouser sushi tell me about being here at this incredible event
15:13series day yeah i mean it's it's a bit overwhelming actually and i'm kind of sad that this is the last
15:18one we're doing um but yeah so thrilled to be here and be part of this massive important story it is
15:24this is sweet isn't it because obviously we're leading up to rogue one was that on your mind as
15:28well during filming definitely we were all very aware like on my last day i definitely hung around
15:32the unit base and the trailers for way longer than i should because i just didn't want to admit sorry
15:36i didn't want to admit that we were going and i wouldn't be coming back so what what are the biggest
15:40surprises then that we can expect you give us any little tidbits i cannot i no bits i cannot give
15:45you any bits i just think it's gonna break hearts and it's um it's gonna be pretty intense in parts when
15:52you grew up what star wars character were you playing in the playground or maybe at home oh god
15:57i don't even know i don't that's a really good question either ah probably skywalker i'm into that
16:07yeah i'll go for that one i love yeah yeah and may the fourth is fast approaching yeah how do you
16:12celebrate more medical i'll probably get my bell doll out and i'm joking i'm joking that was a big moment
16:17for me that i got my own what i call a barbie um it's my dad's birthday actually so we'll be doing that
16:22maybe watching some star wars that is a sign that your dad is born on star wars day amazing
16:27and just finally just sum it up for us seriously and or sum it up in a couple of words it is
16:33heartbreaking powerful and necessary it's such a huge show and it was scary to make it
16:41it's comforting to know where you're going to end it really helps you get through the hard days
16:45a bittersweet though knowing that rogue one was on the horizon was it on your mind quite a lot
16:51oh i mean it's in my head i know where we're going i mean i don't i wasn't thinking about it every day
16:57but yeah so series one was raw and grounded what can we expect from series two pretty much the same and
17:03how does it evolve we're going bigger um we're going over four years it's the effect of time
17:10it's i mean there's a revolution coming i mean it uh the tsunami that was building last time is
17:18going to start rolling now i mean that's this is when this is when things really start to happen
17:24what about what fans won't expect from series two anything you can say oh yeah i'm going to tell you
17:29a little tidbit go on uh what won't they expect they won't expect romance let's do that i'll just
17:37stick with one answer many many many things but there's romance snogging it's disney plus be careful
17:45we're fast approaching may the fourth how do you celebrate may the fourth i'm going to tokyo for
17:51the star wars celebration that's i've been it'll be my third star wars celebration i went to anaheim
17:56i went to london now i'm going to tokyo um i don't know what i'll do may the fourth uh i don't know