With Andor arriving on Disney+ September 21st, I recently got to speak with Diego Luna about making the newest Star Wars series. During the interview, Luna talked about how Andor is about people just trying to survive on both sides of the fight, why making the series on Disney+ allowed them to do things that couldn’t be done in a movie, how showrunner Tony Gilroy tried to make everything as real as possible, and how the show is a very intimate journey of characters.
Andor is a two-season event that starts five years before the events of Rogue One. The first season will cover a year, while the second season will cover the next four years in 3-episode blocks. Meaning episodes one through three will be year two, episodes four through six is year three, seven though nine is year four, and the final episodes will be year five and the plan is to end episode twelve right before Rogue One starts.
In addition to Luna, Andor features the return of Genevieve O'Reilly as Mon Mothma and Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera. Newcomers to the series include Stellan Skårsgard, Adria Arjona, Kyle Soller, Denise Gough, and Robert Emms. The 12-episode first season will feature episodes directed by Toby Haynes, Ben Caron, and Susanna White.
Watch what Diego Luna had to say above, or you can read our conversation below.
COLLIDER: I loved the first four episodes. Straight up, I loved them so much. I really can't wait for the rest of the series.
DIEGO LUNA: Man, I was really wanting to get to this interview because I wanted to hear your opinion. I'm so glad to hear that.
The show's incredible. And my favorite part of the show is that it's the Star Wars I've been waiting for. It has no Jedis, it has no lightsabers, it has no desert planets, and no Skywalkers. I just want to explore more of the Star Wars universe, and this show is doing that. Can you talk about that aspect of the series?
LUNA: Yeah. It is a show about the people in both sides. It's quite unfair, I mean, I understand why, but it's quite unfair to call it Andor because it's pretty much an ensemble piece where people matters and storylines are important. The people you'll meet here is just regular people surviving in very dark times of the galaxy, in both sides. In the Empire, in that bureaucratic system that doesn't allow people to be people to be themselves, where they're just numbers.
Then you have these other people surviving oppression in very hardcore moments. It's about that need for people to unite, to articulate a reaction that involves community. It's about the strength of community. I think it's a pretty pertinent story, also, these days. This long format, I mean, I grew up watching film. I wanted to do film. I've done film all my life, but I tell you one thing, the freedom that this long format has brought to us is quite unique because we can ambition to be, yes, the action and adventure story that Star Wars wants you to be.
But at the same time, [s]ometimes be a very intimate journey of characters, just relating, and then go to a spyish thriller, a political drama, and come back and transform. And we don't have to make choices that would alienate us from trying other stuff, new stuff. And we are allowed to be different, in a way, in the world and universe of Star Wars. And we're really pleased with that.
How much have you and Tony discussed the full arc of both seasons prior to committing to making the series?
LUNA: I don't know if he would like me to say this, but I'll say it, because he was completely honest to me. And I love that about Tony. He is just honest and open and the best collaborator. We had a phone call, and he said, "Look, I'm going to pitch you what I have in mind. And I want to know your opinion before I sit and start writing, or before I commit to this, because we have to be on the same page and I need to know what you think. And I need to know you would like me to go there, otherwise there's no point on sitting down and writing this." And he pitched me his first idea, the full picture. And I just couldn't believe it. It was so in tune with what I had in mind in terms of my backstory, the one I just needed to answer to myself in order to portray Cassian in Rogue One.
But also it was so rich and so full of that, of truthness. I don't know. He says it has to be real, but that doesn't look real, and you go, I love that we are trying in Star Wars to be real. But it's true. We are trying, and we want these moments to feel like moments you've lived, or you've witnessed, or your friend is telling you about. And anyway, yes. We did connect at the very beginning, and since then we have [had] an open conversation. We are partners in this. I owe him everything, and he knows how to work, how to lead a team. He's a great leader in many ways, because he loves collaboration.
Andor premieres September 21st on Disney+ with the first three episodes.