Courtesy of Lucasfilm
Diego Luna is well aware that you know how Cassian Andor’s story ends, but he’s certain that Andor, Disney+’s upcoming Star Wars series, is going to change the way you look at the character in 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The prequel series begins five years before the events of Rogue One as Cassian is looking for someone from his past, but he instead finds some trouble that quickly escalates. According to Luna, the younger Cassian’s journey on Andor will recontextualize the future Rebel hero’s role in Rogue One.
“In fact, we’re going to challenge every idea you have, or every answer you came up with, for why or how things happened and why this character did what he did,” Luna tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Everyone who watched Rogue One thinks they have the answer. So we’re going to challenge that, and we’re going to come to you and say, ‘No, listen, things were not the way you imagined. They were this way. This had to happen for someone to become the person you know.’”
Series creator/showrunner, Tony Gilroy, who co-wrote Rogue One, has already mapped out Andor season two, which will shoot 12 episodes in four three-episode blocks, with each block representing a year of story. So naturally, Luna is excited about the ambitious format.
“I think it’s perfect. It’s lovely. It’s almost like four different movies [via four three-episode blocks],” Luna says. “There is also space in between each block where time passes, so we’re allowed to evolve and transform.”
In a recent conversation with THR, Luna also explains why it took him a little while to find his footing as the character again.
So can you tell me about your first day back on set as Cassian?
The first day was so weird. It felt almost like a dream. When you have a perspective that you are living the dream, but also witnessing the moment from afar and judging yourself, that’s what happened to me. I was there and not there at the same time. I talked about it for years, literally two or three years before we started shooting, but just being there, I couldn’t believe it. I’ve dreamed about the [Rogue One] experience, because it was so unique and bizarre and interesting and different to anything I’ve done before, so being back there was a very weird feeling.
So it took me some time to adjust and to realize I had to deliver. I was there to work; it wasn’t just a revival. It was an actual job that I needed to execute, but it took time because a lot has happened to us in the years since. It’s been a long time since Rogue One. So I started enjoying it by the third or fourth day. At the beginning, it felt like the costume was either too big or too small. So I guess when you think and talk too much about something, it’s hard to digest when it’s actually happening, and you have to execute and be fast.
Did it also feel strange because you had played his death years earlier?
Probably. I let the guy go. I mourned. I even had ceremonies to talk about him. (Laughs.) And then there I was, being Cassian again. But I was also coming out of the worst time of confinement during the pandemic. So it wasn’t just the weirdness of going back to play a guy whose death I already played, but it was also because I was coming out of many months of being the most stationary I’ve been since I was a baby. I couldn’t move in the crib. (Laughs.) So, social interaction was gone in our lives, and suddenly, I was going back to a set.
So it took time, but it was fascinating at the same time because I was relearning a language and relearning to communicate. It was very interesting and very unique, like no other job, and being far away from my house during such a difficult moment was very intense in many ways. But even when things seemed impossible, we found a way to shoot the series and make sure it was safe for everyone. So it was a reminder to ourselves that what we do matters.
Tony Gilroy has said in the past that his superpower was not being a lifelong Star Wars fan, as that’s what allowed him to make bold choices on Rogue One. And I feel that lack of fear on Andor as well. Could you also sense that he was unafraid to tell a new type of Star Wars story?
I think so. Tony is just not afraid, period. (Laughs.) It has nothing to do with Star Wars or his work. I admire the guy so much. He experienced freedom in a very rigorous way, which I love. It is very interesting to have a voice like his in this story. You never approach a story this way where you know what the end is and the creative team doesn’t have to deliver an ending that you’re not expecting. We don’t have to think about that.
In fact, we’re going to challenge every idea you have, or every answer you came up with, for why or how things happened and why this character did what he did. Why was he willing to sacrifice everything for the cause? What did it mean when he said, “I’ve been in this fight since I was six years old”? What did he mean when he said, “I’ve done terrible things on behalf of the Rebellion”? So that’s what we’re going to challenge because everyone who watched Rogue One thinks they have the answer. We’re going to challenge that, and we’re going to come to you and say, “No, listen, things were not the way you imagined. They were this way. This had to happen for someone to become the person you know.”
So the freedom Tony Gilroy has to execute his writing is needed, otherwise, there’s no way to come up with a story that you would care about. You need a strong voice like his and a complex writer, which he is. So the energy, the strength and the boldness of this story comes from Tony Gilroy and the creative minds behind the show. When you put Tony Gilroy in the lead, other voices emerge that are really important for this show, such as [producer] Sanne Wohlenberg, [production designer] Luke Hull, [costume designer] Michael Wilkinson and [Hair and Makeup Designer] Emma Scott. We had all these voices that were willing to challenge every expectation this show can create, and I feel pleased to be a part of this team.
With Rogue One, we were asked to be different. We were a standalone. We were a different Star Wars story that had a beginning and an end. And now, we have a Star Wars series that is a standalone again, with a beginning and an end. And it’s meant to be different. It’s meant to be its own thing.
Courtesy of Lucasfilm
What do you think of Tony’s plan for season two as every three episodes will represent a year’s worth of story?
I think it’s perfect. It’s lovely. It’s almost like four different movies [via four three-episode blocks]. Three episodes will be a very strong block to explore a year, another year, and then another year and another year. There is also space in between each block where time passes, so we’re allowed to evolve and transform. But I think that’s part of season one, too. How many episodes have you seen?
The first four.
Yeah, so when you saw episode three, you probably went, “I think I know the characters, the tone and what the series is going to be about,” but then we take you where episode four goes. And you were like, “What!? Where are we going? What’s going on? What happened?” So I think that’s something that this long format gives us. It’s the flexibility to literally transform and go somewhere else and meet other characters and find other planets and discover new things. It’s a fantastic format, and it’s very ambitious. It’s complete freedom. You have room, you have space, you have time, and that is lovely when you have something to say.
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Andor premieres Sep. 21st on Disney+. This interview was edited for length and clarity.