Before Rogue One was in theaters, Disney held a huge press junket for the film in San Francisco. Unlike Star Wars: The Force Awakens, where we interviewed the cast without seeing anything but the trailers, Disney showed us almost thirty minutes of the film at Skywalker Ranch so reporters could learn more about the story and new characters since Rogue One takes place before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope. Like I said on Twitter and during a Facebook Live chat (which you can watch here), the footage was fantastic and left all of us wanting more.

What I loved about the footage and film is that even though Rogue One takes place before the events of Episode IV, it feels completely unique and original. It looks and feels like a war movie that happens to take place in the Star Wars universe. In the footage, we saw plenty of scenes showing how the Empire is trying to take control of the universe and the brutality that happens when you try and resist. Part of the reason it feels like a war movie is because that’s what director Gareth Edwards set out to make. As you can see him explain in this interview, he shot Rogue One like a documentary embedded in a war zone. And after seeing the footage, I can say he succeeded.

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Image via Lucasfilm

During my print interview with Ben Mendelsohn he talked about how he landed the role, if the story changed compared to what he was told going in, how they would shoot different versions of the same scene to give Gareth Edwards choices in the editing room, what it’s been like working for Steven Spielberg on Ready Player One, Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour, and a lot more.

If you’d like to know what people thought about Rogue One after the world premiere Saturday night in Hollywood, click here. You can also click here for Matt’s review. And if you missed my video interviews with Mads Mikkelsen and Ben Mendelsohn, Felicity Jones, or Diego Luna, click the links.

COLIIDER: How are you doing?

BEN MENDELSOHN: I’m good. I’m a bot bamboozled, but I’m actually doing better today than yesterday.

Jumping on in, how did you get into Rogue One? Did they come to you?

MENDELSOHN: Yeah, Gareth [Edwards] did.

Was it one of these things where he discussed the character with you or did he show you a script?

MENDELSOHN: No, he discussed the character and told me the story. And then there was a period of months that went by with nothing, then it became more formalized and then I think –I can’t remember the first time what happened with the actual script itself. I mean, I know there was a bunch of things that had to be signed and stuff. I don’t remember if I had to go to Disney and read it there or something, the first time. But yeah, that’s how it came to be anyway.

I’m curious, from what he told you that day to what people are seeing on screen, is it very similar to what he pitched you?

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Image via Lucasfilm

MENDELSOHN: In terms of the overall swoop, yeah, very much. I think that Krennic developed sort of along as we went, he had different ideas. And he settled yet on exactly –He was still thinking of a couple of variations in a lot of things at that stage. If you want to talk about alternative takes on things, there’s been quite a few different renderings of this within Gareth’s mind, and I dare say some of it’s been captured on film. So there are different renderings.

I heard from a lot of the people I’ve spoken to –and I could be wrong– that when you shot it they would sort of play it multiple ways on set, so that way in the editing room…

MENDELSOHN: Yep, absolutely, very much. We did have multiple, multiple ways of going at any given scenario, we had multiple readings of it. So should they ever decided to, there would be a wealth of ways of approaching these different things. And I know from having seen sort of the crucial kind of scenes throughout it, I know there’s vastly different readings of at least four of those scenes.

So in essence there’s basically a completely different version of the movie that could be played on like an alternate cut of the entire film.

MENDELSOHN: Absolutely, with enormous differences within I would’ve said 20 or 30 of the scenes.

That’s crazy.

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MENDELSOHN: There really would be. There would be enormously different renderings.

You’ve seen the finished film.

MENDELSOHN: Yes, sir.

When you were watching it, were you like, “Oh, he went with that take that I was angry when I was playing it…”

MENDELSOHN: Yeah. And there were a couple of times I was like, “Oh wow! He went with that. That one, yeah. Ok, I get it.” Because there were some scenes that I had seen as we were constructing and thinking about doing it this way or that way, and I had seen various scenes where we would come in and done something. And I’d seen the scene and it was cut this particular way and so we did the ADR, and then when I saw it the other day I was like, “Oh wow! That all –Yeah now it goes like this.” So there is a bunch.

I heard that the film did additional photography and some reshoots, and that one of the reasons was that because it was played in a lot of alternate ways, they needed to do pickups to connect some of that tissue.

MENDELSOHN: Well it could have well been that was the reason because in the construction they went, “Well, this is actually the version we love. So now let’s grab that, and that, and that.”

Your character seems like he has a fire inside, seems like he could be a little bit angry. What drives the character?

MENDELSOHN: What drives Krennic is he’s an outsider, essentially. He’s an outsider in so far as he’s not a born officer class guy, he’s a guy that worked his way up and regards a lot of the officer class a just not really worth their salt. And there are them, there are a lot of them that aren’t really worth their salt. And he is a guy that as it were has come up through stuff, so he has a great force of will, he also very much believes in the empire’s agenda, he’s very onboard with it. He’s risen his way up to become the head of military intelligence and operations and he’s going to build this Death Star and he’s gotta bring that sucker out. That either gets done, or…you know. It has to be done, and there’s a lot of half-steppers around.

Before I run out of time with you, you’ve been filming Ready Player One, or maybe you’ve wrapped on that. I have to ask you, what the hell was it like getting to work with [Steven] Spielberg and getting to be a part of that project?

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Image via Lucasfilm

MENDELSOHN: It’s a great double to be on, Spielberg sort of referencing Spielberg is kind of something that is like a dream, it’s a dream. He’s not like anyone else that I’ve ever worked for in terms of the fluidity that he has on a set, the amount things change. I mean, you want to talk about a guy that can really just mix it up bam, bam, bam, and that’s the last things you expect when you got to a Spielberg film, the idea that this is a guy who can just create all this more or less on the fly which is exactly what he does. He gets there and he just goes, “Oh let’s have go…and then you go…” but that team he has, they’ve been with him for decades, so they can do whatever he needs to do [snaps fingers] like that.

I also wanted to jump into Darkest Hour, you working with Joe Wright. You basically won the director lottery here, you’re just working with all-stars. Talk a little bit about working with Joe on that project, because that’s also an interesting gig.

MENDELSOHN: Well, that’s a deeply flattering gig too. I’m playing King George to Gary Oldman’s Churchill.

He looks unrecognizable.

MENDELSOHN: You’ve seen it?

I’ve seen a picture of him as Churchill.

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Image via Disney

MENDELSOHN: That’s what I meant, yeah. It is the most outstanding prosthetics I’ve seen. In terms of for a human rendering, etc., etc., it’s outstanding. Look, if you want to talk about the phasing moments with Darth Vader, there was a lot of phasing moments with Gary Oldman as Churchill too because there are times when you literally see him in front of you. It’s a real honor, I just feel very…I’m still pinching myself, this is really beyond what I had –I wouldn’t have fantasized I would be asked to play King George in such an illustrious company.

I think it’s interesting because his prosthetics are so crazy that I almost wonder if he went out and casually just took it outside of the studio and just walked around to be like, “Does anyone even recognize me?” because it’s so not him.

MENDELSOHN: No, it’s not, it’s not. He got some amazing prosthetics maestro out of retirement, Gary went and got him out of retirement for this job. He knew what he was doing, he’s an incredibly intelligent man, Gary Oldman is smart. And look, to actors of my generation he is a God, he is a God.

What are you doing next, what’s your next thing?

MENDELSOHN: I think it’ll be… I better not.

Don’t tell me then, I don’t want to get you in trouble.

MENDELSOHN: Yeah, I think I better not, but it’s a cool thing and then there’s another cool thing after that [chuckles], two cool things.

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Image via Disney

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