‘Andor’ Star Diego Luna on ‘Bold’ Season Two and Why He’s Done With Cassian
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Diego Luna just left London’s Pinewood Studios after a long day of shooting Andor’s second season, and as he signs onto Zoom from the back of a car heading home, he realizes he’s still wearing the day’s makeup — including what appears to be a fake bruise on his left cheek. “I don’t want to give anything away,” he says, only half-jokingly, and starts wiping off the makeup.
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The first season of Andor, with Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, the Bourne movies) as showrunner, was a minor miracle: a cerebral, grounded, politically charged Star Wars show for grown-ups. Season Two will move much faster, covering four years of rebel leader Cassian Andor’s life, with time jumps between arcs. With awards season looming, Luna looks back at Season One and gives some hints about what sounds like a jampacked Season Two, set to debut in August 2024.
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It’s awards season, obviously, and there’s always been some prejudice in the Emmys and elsewhere against sci-fi and other genre shows. How do you see that affecting Andor’s chances?
If there is that prejudice, as you say, this is the show that can bring that down. I mean, to me, one of the things that has been celebrated since day one about the show is that it’s realistic, that it’s grounded, that it feels very, very intense, that it’s dark and mature. Basically the reasons why I was so pleased to do it, and why I decided to dedicate what’s now going to be a little more than four years of my life. I grew up for a long time thinking that the shows I love, the style of acting I celebrate, were never going to be popular. And this show has proved me wrong. I was really pleased when the first nominations came and people were putting our show next to shows the critics were liking at the moment. So, yeah, I’m hoping this show gets the recognition that it deserves, period. I think there’s a lot to celebrate about this show.
A lot of people’s favorite story arc in Season One was the Narkina 5 prison break. What stands out in your memory about shooting that, and also about sharing scenes with Andy Serkis, who made a major impression as Kino Loy?
I didn’t understand 100 percent what we were doing in that arc until I got into the clothes and until I was basically in that prison. It was kind of like a revelation to me. For me, Kino read as a very important character, but definitely not as important as it turned out. And a lot had to do with the delivery and what Andy Serkis brought. Suddenly I understood how important that character is to shape Cassian’s perspective, and to [create] the moment where he realizes he can become a leader. When you meet Kino, he believes the big lie of this life, you know, of being in this prison, not questioning anything. I understood that by having the ability to turn him, Cassian would find the ability to turn everyone. That’s the spark he recognizes in himself. And the last thing we shot in the series was us jumping out of the prison. So we didn’t just come out of the prison that day, we came out of prison the next day. We were also out of Pinewood, back at home and out of shooting. It was like, wow, that jump represents that kind of feeling of getting our life back. We made it.
You’re filming Season Two now. What are the biggest challenges and the biggest satisfactions of this time-jump model you’ve settled on?
The challenge is to be clear on what happens in the blanks, in those jumps. The same way you have to create what we call the backstory every time you go into doing a film, well, we have to do that four times. Another challenge is that the amount of time we had for Season One is not exactly what we’re having for Season Two. Basically, Season Two was getting ready while we were putting Season One out, and that makes it already very different. There is never time to celebrate what happens. The machine doesn’t stop.
We knew this character’s fate, that he dies in Rogue One, but Season One managed to be filled with surprises. Based on what you’ve seen of him at work, how hard has it been for Tony Gilroy to manage the same in Season Two?
He’s gonna say it was really tough. And I’ll tell you not to completely believe that [laughs]. Because I know the guy. I mean, his brain just doesn’t stop. He can come up with a better and better and better idea. And then he works with a beautiful team of writers where everyone starts to bring another layer and another layer and to question things to get them better and better. And he established so many characters, you know? And there’s so many characters where one thing is clear: They’re not in Rogue One, right? So there is a lot for you to explore there. And Tony doesn’t drop things. He doesn’t forget about stuff. He doesn’t write stuff that then never doesn’t pay off. So you can just imagine, with this universe of characters, a second season is gonna feel short for the amount of stories that we have. And he commits with a lot of love to give every character their time, and I do think people will be very pleased with the approach and surprised with a few very bold decisions, you know? Because if there’s one thing he does, it’s take risks. He doesn’t play safe.
It’s not inconceivable that Disney might want to make a movie or something that intersects with Cassian’s timeline, and might give you another chance to play him, at least while you’re still young enough to do so. Would you be comfortable with another another return to this character?
If I were thinking about that, I would just go crazy, you know? I was really happy with Rogue One because it was the language I speak. It had a beginning and an end, a very definite one. And I went back home and made many jokes about me being gone, my one-hit-wonder appearance in Star Wars. My kids were making fun of me over and over. And then I got asked to do this. And with this one, we had the same rule. The most interesting part of Star Wars is that the stories from their conception have a beginning and an end. And that makes the process different.
That sounds like you’d want to be done after this show.
Well, it’s not that I want to be done. I will be done. Because there’s nothing else for me to do, like the character in Andor walks into Rogue One, you know, unless it’s a dream, or …
They could grab you somewhere in the timeline, you know, somewhere in one of the gaps between Season Two arcs. You see what I’m saying?
Yes, but I truly don’t think that way. I don’t like thinking like that. And in fact, if I can complain about something that this new format is bringing to actors, it is this constant anxiety of not knowing what’s coming. You’re working on something, and … you signed contracts that talk about a future that might not happen. And that fucks with you. That is terrible, because you’re not living the moment. So I don’t like it. I don’t like thinking that way. I committed four and a half years of my life. I gave everything. I had to work in the worst circumstances of Covid. Made a family here. A lot has happened. And I am very, very, very excited that people are enjoying the show. And that there’s someone out there saying, like, “Hey, guys, we appreciate you took the time. We appreciate you. You aged so much! [Laughs.] Thanks for doing that.”
Tony told me the most amazing thing: that he got the idea for the robbery in Season One from the real-life robbery that Joseph Stalin committed to fund the Russian Revolution. And he also said, “Diego looks like young Stalin.” Were you aware of this?
[Laughs.] The second part of your comment, I was not aware. I do love how everything [on Andor] had to remind us of a moment in our lives or in history, had to relate to the world we live in. That was a beautiful thing that Tony said to me once, “Find the reference, find the reference.” And I started finding references for everything. Like this person is that person in my life, this moment is the exact same thing that happened to me. The moment Cassian is lying to his mom, the first thing he does is go into the kitchen and start eating, and that reminds me of my childhood.
Over in The Mandalorian, you have Pedro Pascal, who stars in that show, and he has a great situation because there’s a helmet, and he doesn’t even have to be on set a lot of the time. Given what you’ve had to go through, is there any part of you that feels kind of jealous of that setup?
No, no, no, no, no. Not at all. Not at all. No, no, no. Man, I like theater. I like being there. If I’m not onstage, I like watching from outside what’s happening onstage. I’m the opposite. I don’t like running home. I’m the son of a set designer, you know? I’m used to being there before things are happening, you know, before the shooting is happening. And stay until the end, until they clean up everything. And I really enjoyed that. So, no, I am very happy with my role in Andor, and I’m happy to wake up every day and drive in the rain like today, and get to Pinewood and shoot with this team.
You would look good in a helmet, though.
[Laughs.]
I was hoping enough time had passed that you could finally share a little more about what happened when Tony took over for reshoots on Rogue One, and what changed about Cassian in that movie due to his input.
He definitely came with a new read of Cassian that was very helpful. And listen, he’s doing this show because we found a connection there, obviously — a very strong connection. And definitely when Tony joined the community, he triggered many things that we were not seeing.
Right. Someday, hopefully, we’ll get the specifics on all that.
[Laughs.] It doesn’t matter, man. Lassie was five dogs, but do you need to know that? No! You don’t need to know that. It’s a wonderful performance by a dog. Let’s put it that way.
With Andor, do you feel fully part of Star Wars, or perhaps a little more off to one side?
I do feel very much that we are part of Star Wars. I think Star Wars has been changing since the beginning. And I’ve been changing as an audience [member], so I really appreciate that it’s not something that that got stuck in an era and just repeated itself over and over and over. It keeps transforming. Every day I’m on set, I am on Star Wars, you know? We are in this galaxy far, far away. And in a way, we are a response to everything that has happened to Star Wars. After everything that’s been done in Star Wars, we are here because there was a need to go, like, “Well, what else can we do? What are the stories that haven’t been told?” And this is one that is really important, because we are talking about revolution, we are talking about the Empire’s oppression. The regular citizen matters. Let’s do one about them. So I do feel really very much part of Star Wars. And it’s also part of the Star Wars that I can bring something to, one where I feel useful, you know?
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