Diego Luna on returning to Star Wars with Andor : 'This story matters'

There's a line in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story that Diego Luna has been thinking about for years. It's a brief moment about halfway through the film, as Luna's Rebel spy Cassian Andor trades barbs with Felicity Jones' Jyn Erso. At one point, Jyn questions his motivations for joining the Rebel cause, arguing that he could never understand her own sacrifice and loss. As Cassian turns toward her, he's nearly shaking with rage. "I've been in this fight since I was 6 years old," he spits. "You're not the only one who lost everything. Some of us just decided to do something about it."

Luna has pondered that line ever since he first read it in Rogue One's script more than half a decade ago. How does a 6-year-old get wrapped up in a rebellion? he wondered at the time. And what would that kind of lifelong crusade do to a person?

Now, years later, he aims to finally answer that question.

Six years after Rogue One, Luna is returning to a galaxy far, far away, this time headlining his own Disney+ series Andor. This sprawling Star Wars show will explore Cassian's origin story, and when the 12-episode first season debuts Sept. 21 on Disney+, it'll follow the young Cassian from childhood up to his early days as a thief-turned-freedom-fighter. A planned second season begins filming this fall and will lead right into the events of Rogue One.

For Luna, who had assumed Rogue One would be his first and only appearance in the Star Wars galaxy, Andor is welcome opportunity — a second chance to explore a character who's long fascinated him.

"There's so much that this series answers, that Rogue One just questions," the 42-year-old actor tells EW. "For me, Rogue One is very much about an event, and now we're going to get the chance to actually understand and get to know this character — who he is, what pain he carries. What are his fears? What is his real motivation? It's all going to be answered here."

Lucasfilm Diego Luna in 'Andor'

In some ways, Cassian Andor's origin story is fertile ground. The young Rebel isn't a powerful Jedi or a Skywalker in hiding; instead, he's just an ordinary man, trying to make his way in the galaxy. The show follows him as he finds himself tangled in an early version of the Rebel Alliance, crossing paths with other characters like a Rebel leader played by Stellan Skarsgard and the enigmatic Imperial senator Mon Mothma (played by a returning Genevieve O'Reilly).

But like all prequels, Andor faces one major challenge: How do you tell a story when the audience already knows how it ends? Cassian, of course, famously dies in Rogue One, sacrificing himself on Scarif alongside his crewmates. But when Luna and series creator Tony Gilroy started shaping the TV show, Luna says that challenge turned out to be one of Andor's biggest strengths.

"It's creativity at its best because you can't do what you've been asked to do all the time, which is try to get to an end that no one sees coming," Luna explains. "Here, it's the opposite. Everyone knows already how this ends, but the trick is in telling you a story that you can connect with, that explains how someone gets here. How does a man get to a point where he's willing to sacrifice everything for a cause? What needs to happen to him? That's what this story is about."

Since Andor's 12-episode first season is "the length of four movies," Luna says the show was a massive undertaking with a years-long development process. When he finally started shooting, he adds, the "first days on set felt very weird." Then, the pandemic delayed production even further.

But the more time he spent on set, the more he says he started to "enjoy the process," once again falling in love his favorite former thief/future Rebel leader.

"This story matters," Luna adds. "It matters to me, mattered to the team. I believe it's pertinent to put it out there, so it felt like we are doing the right thing. We're telling a story about community, about people doing something for your neighbor, bringing change, reacting to an oppressive system. I thought, 'Wow, it's a good time to be talking about the origins of a revolution and the awakening of a revolutionary.'"

For more of EW's interview with Diego Luna, listen to the full conversation on EW's new Star Wars podcast, Dagobah Dispatch.

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