As the award season got underway, it wasn't surprising to see Tony Gilroy's critically acclaimed series Andor pick up nominations left and right, following its brilliant and groundbreaking debut season. While the series is undoubtedly strengthened by its impressive ensemble cast, the heart and soul of the series is its titular star Diego Luna. Following Luna's Critics Choice Award nomination for Best Actor in a Drama Series, Collider's own Perri Nemiroff sat down to chat with him about Andor and where Season 2 will take audiences.
Since the series was first announced in 2018, we knew that the series would deliver audiences to the doorsteps of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and the tragic fate that would transpire for Cassian Andor and the rest of the rag-tag team of rebels that he worked alongside. While Cassian makes a bold claim to Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) that he has been involved in the fight against the Empire since he was just six years old, Andor revealed that his journey into the rebellion was not as linear as expected. At the start of Season 1, Cassian is apathetic about the rebellion—opting instead to bury himself in his endless search for his long-lost sister, when he isn't busy burning every bridge forged with the friends in his life. It's only after he's thrown headfirst into Luthen Rael's (Stellan Skarsgård) rebellious efforts, and experiences the oppression of the Empire on Narkina 5, that he finally arrives at his turning point. Which begs the question of where his arc might be headed in Season 2.
While discussing Cassian's revelation that he can—and must—become a leader in the final act of Season 1, Luna hinted at the fact that just because Cassian has overcome one challenge, it doesn't mean he's perfect or immune to weakness. Alluding to the conflicting opinions that Cassian is faced with in Rogue One he shared, "I mean, weaknesses you get to see even in Rogue One. It never ends." He went on to focus more specifically on where that turning point was for Cassian, saying:
"[I] think what happens also after prison and in the next episodes is that he understands really what he's fighting against. He understands the need [for] a revolution because he understands what oppression means basically and how little freedom he has and how unfair the world he lives in is. But there's still so much for him to learn in terms of working as a team."
Luna also went on to share the differences between Season 1 and where Cassian is headed in Season 2 as he evolves into the roguish devil-may-care man that he is in Rogue One, noting, "I think in the first season we see him trying to survive and which is not necessarily being part of something. It's reacting to it. But now, yeah, he has to learn a lot from Luthen and from others, from other experiences, other events in order to be that person we meet in Rogue One." He also points out that in order to arrive at who he is in Rogue One—the man the rebellion is willing to trust on securing the Death Star plans—he will have to go through a large transformation, both personally and within the rebellion. He went on to say:
"The responsibility he takes on at the beginning of Rogue One is huge. Imagine what has to happen for someone to say he's the right person to do it. Cassian Andor is going to be the person we're going to trust with this. There's a lot for him to discover and a big transformation to come. He's really far from that. The one of episode 12, it's so far from that, but the spark is there. There's an awakening and it has happened. Now we need to witness four years of the life of this man."
Who Is Returning For Andor Season 2
While the cast list for Season 2 hasn't been officially confirmed, given the finale it's safe to say that Luna, Skarsgård, and Genevieve O'Reilly will return, given their involvement in Rogue One, in addition to Kyle Soller who was the first one on set for Season 2. Gilroy has assured us that no one will die between Andor's Season 1 finale and the start of Season 2, which means we can likely expect to see the return of Adria Arjona, Denise Gough, Elizabeth Dulau, Faye Marsay, and Varada Sethu. As we previously reported, Ariel Kleiman, Janus Metz, and Alonso Ruizpalacios will be joining the series to direct blocks of episodes for the final season, with Gilroy's brother Dan Gilroy and Beau Willimon returning to write alongside newcomer Tom Bissell.
Stay tuned for our full interview with Diego Luna next year, but check out our interview with Andy Serkis below: