What inspired you to create the series, and what was your vision for it?
That was the buy-in.
Its a potent moment in history.
Image via Disney
A lot of people are facing a lot of really difficult times and difficult decisions, along the way.
Thats what the show is about.
The opportunity to do that on a large scale and big canvas is why Im here.
Image via Disney+
Diego, what do you find most exciting about stepping back into the role of Cassian Andor?
DIEGO LUNA: Definitely.
Collaborating with him is amazing, so it just felt great being back.Rogue Oneis a film about an event.
Image via Disney+
You dont get to know those characters.
You dont get to understand exactly where they come from, or what needed to happen.
What gives meaning in the life of someone to be willing to sacrifice everything for a cause?
Image via Disney+
What needs to happen?
That journey matters to me.
The character says stuff that haunted me withRogue One.
He started to fight since he was six years old.
What does that mean, exactly?
Why would a six-year-old miss his childhood and start a fight?
That, to me, is really interesting to know.
He talks about a dark past.
He talks about doing terrible stuff for the Rebellion.
What is he referring to?
I think that story matters.
That story is interesting.
There is a lot of material there for us to play.
I was really excited to be able to go into that journey and give those answers.
Tony, this story feels so big, and yet really grounded in reality.
Who do you see as the audience?
Who do you think this story will appeal to?
There are many different version and factions within it, but theres a huge dedicatedStar Warscommunity that shows up.
Thats our whole card.
That audience is our primary concern.
Theres nothing cynical about our show.
The word we use every day is real.
We want to make this real.
This place is real to us.
We hope they really appreciate the passion we have to make a run at make it real.
Our show is designed so that this could be your entry point into Star Wars.
You could watch our 24 episodes, and that could be your way in.
Were doing a show that does not require any prior knowledge whatsoever to get involved.
Can we attract another audience thats interested in that, as well?
Can we marry those two things together?
Thats what were trying to do, and thats why were here.
Diego, what did you want to explore the most, when it came to Cassian and his past?
LUNA: How far can someone be from learning that he could be a tool of change?
How far can we find Cassian?
You see the guy in the first episode, and you dont see any possibility of that happening.
That to me gives me hope, in the world we live in.
If thats possible, anyone can do something.
We can all find out what we are capable of.
Its about what we find and the people we meet in our journey.
I thought that story matters.
Its a story I would like to tell to my kids and my friends.
Its a story that I would like to see, as an audience.
Otherwise, I wouldnt care.
I always saw the potential in this story.
When you think about this shoot, what are the moments or highlights that stand out?
LUNA: There are many, of course.
I go, Lets do a very simple one.
I need to get back into this.
I pretend Im 10 years younger than what I had to play in this show.
I cant handle this anymore.
Every part of my body ached.
I felt like I went into a battle, and it was just the first rehearsal.
No ones gonna believe me.
Im gonna have to spend the first two months in a chair.
Tony, were there any specific real-world inspirations forAndors home world?
GILROY: Just life.
I grew up in upstate New York.
I wont go into details about it, but it was a blue-collar place and everybody always had jobs.
When you were 12, you went out and got working papers.
It was an odd thing.
I worked for masons.
I was a plumbers apprentice.
I had all kinds of jobs.
I ran a painting company.
We dont really have any economic diversity there.
I suppose its my utopian mechanical side fantasy.
Hes a young production designer, and hes just soaring.
They built an eight-and-a-half-acre city for us, that we used for all 12 episodes.
Its a 360 set.
Its a fantastic maximal expression of imagination to be able to do this.
Its just fantastic to be able to do it.
LUNA: I think the industry is reacting to some things happening out there.
Were supposed to be a mirror for audiences to be able to see themselves.
When you buy a ticket, you send a message.
When you dont buy a ticket, you also send a message.
When you click, you send a message.
When you dont click, you send a message.
The industry will respond to that, and thats whats happening.
If were talking about refugees, they come from different places.
They gather in one place, and they sound and look different.
That diversity is what makes the reality I live in very rich.
I celebrate the stories that we see reflect that.
How do you hopeAndorwill stand out from the other Star Wars shows that are currently available?
LUNA: First of all, this one is written by Tony Gilroy, which makes it very special.
Tony is not a writer that lives in the language of right and wrong, or black and white.
He spends his time in the complexity of the gray areas and the contradictions of the characters.
Thats where I think this real thing comes out of.
Its full of that experience of being someone trying to live your life and having to make choices.
This is a show about real people.
Its very dark times in the galaxy.
There are no Jedis around.
These people having have to articulate a reaction to oppression.
Its the most grounded kind ofStar Warsthat youll get.
Its a show about us.
Its adventure and action at its best.
Its what you expect fromStar Wars, but then it gets very intimate.
Its very subtle, and it takes time to understand each character.
It has time for each storyline.
I just think its very rich and powerful, and people are hopefully gonna like it.
Andorpremieres September 21st on Disney+ with the first three episodes.
