Ahead of the finale, Colliders ownSteve Weintraubhad the opportunity to chat with the actor and unpack the series.
COLLIDER: I’m glad that you’re already filming.
Tony [Gilroy] obviously told me you guys started yesterday.
DIEGO LUNA: We did start yesterday, and man, it’s incredible.
Here we go again.
It’s just like this format of series.
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It just doesn’t give you time to celebrate.
I finished the looping for the Spanish-speaking territories, basically two weeks and a half ago.
I mean, I’m happy we’re doing it, but it’s just like nonstop.
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12 episodes, it’s like 4 films.
And now it’s the bestStar Warssince 1980, and people are just raving about it.
InRogue One, we had the same kind of feeling.
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Like the first reaction was, Really?
You’re going to what?
Now you’re going to do a film that has a beginning and an end?
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Is that the cast?
There [are] no Jedi.
What do you mean?
I mean, is the tone going to be different?
I had the same reaction when I was offered Cassian forRogue One.
I was like, “What?
What do you mean?
Really, me for this?
What makes you think I’ll be good in this show?”
So I think I understand.
You know what’s beautiful?
The darkness, the complexity, the depth, the intimacy, the realism.
Just letting people be [imperfect], as we all are.
Making sure there was always complexity and contrast in each moment, and each character, and each relation.
I was excited to be part of this show.
People are celebrating what I celebrated when I spoke for the first time to Tony.
And we did commit, and there was a big risk, and it paid off.
Do you think that Cassian’s search for his sister is over?
LUNA: I don’t think so.
I don’t think it’s over.
I don’t think it’s ever over.
I don’t think it’s over inRogue One, because I see that as one thing.
That kind of thing.
And I think that’s behind the decision of that last mission, that suicide mission inRogue One.
That’s for her.
That’s for Maarva, that’s for his people, for his community.
I think it’s going to be quite amazing to watchRogue Oneafter you see Season 2.
I think you’ll see a different film.
What do you think Cassian and the other prisoners were building on Narkina 5?
LUNA: I don’t think so.
I think you’re free to think of something, right?
I think that’s what I love from Tony Gilroy’s writing.
He’s just celebrating the opportunity of you creating your own version of the story.
And what we do should suit that too.
That’s when you are just celebrating the intelligence of audiences.
I think that’s something Tony does pretty well.
And that’s going to happen in Season 2 even more.
I asked this of Tony two days ago.
That is a good question.
I don’t know.
I’ll tell you what Tony said after you tell me.
Or do you want me to tell you what Tony said?
What did he say?
Because clearly in the show there is no sign of them knowing.
He doesn’t think they know about anything.
LUNA: I agree.
At least from what we see.
He doesn’t know and clearly doesn’t believe in that.
Even if he had heard of them he clearly doesn’t believe in them.
But I don’t think they’ve even heard of that.
Yep, I agree.
LUNA: We’ll see the second season.
And so I was listening to the music in a moment, and then the words.
With the music, it was just before the words.
Let’s talk about the music.
And I didn’t want the character to cry there.
It was like, Shit, no, this can’t be happening.
I got so emotional.
It was really tough to keep my emotions.
To keep it strong because I didn’t want him to break there.
It had to be later on.
I didn’t want it to break there.
And it was impossible.
The first take, it was impossible.
The second, probably, I started behaving better, and I was more in control.
But all of that sequence is just so strong.
And the work of Tony and all the writers, it’s so perfect.
12 is very strong for me.
Every aspect of the show is just so well done.
LUNA: I think it’s both.
The prison is about, he realizes how fucked up things are in this galaxy.
He realizes how little the life of people means to the Empire.
You’re a white suit.
There’s no personality there.
He realizes that prison is just a metaphor of the life out there.
You don’t have to be in that prison to be living in a prison.
He’s always running away.
He starts running away.
That he can’t call that life.
But I think Maarva, in a personal way, is what ends up setting him up.
It’s the wake-up call, and it arrives too late.
He just realizes he always had it there.
That the words she was saying were true.
He understands what he’s against.
But in a professional level, its that he finds the strength.
I love the finale, the last scene, where Cassian is talking to Luthen.
Either kill me or let me in.
Can you talk about filming that scene?
Take this thing I have away from me because it means nothing unless you let me fight for freedom.
He’s saying, There’s no point of living like this.
He finally gets it.
That there is a chance to transform, to evolve, and to become part of a solution.
I think that’s what makes Cassian a beautiful character, because he’s imperfect.
But there is one thing about him, I think makes him different.
He’s willing to forgive himself, therefore give himself another chance.
And he might fuck up many times, and mess up, but he gives himself another chance.
And I think it’s a very strong finale, man.
And also the one you need for another season to happen.
And we were not comparing our show with anything else but our show, basically.
We were always just thinking, What’s the first version of this show we are doing?
We haven’t done many of these.
I’ve done one before.
I did two seasons of a show before.
I cannot call myself an expert in this format or anything.
I think we were thinking of a very long film.
That’s exactly what it is.
The arc of robbing the Empire could be leading toward the finale of another show.
But I want to ask you some other things before I run out of time.
LUNA: But just very quick.
The finale is this because what the show is about is the characters.
It’s about them.
It’s about who makes a revolution, and why a revolution is needed.
And about characters being vulnerable.
Again, I completely agree.
Tony told me that Season 2 will feature Yavin, which people know from the originalStar Wars.
He mentioned you guys are going to film Cassian meeting [K-2SO].
Most of what’s happening in this season, [Ive known] since we started planning Season 1.
Structurally, it got tighter.
And obviously, by deciding to do just two seasons, things got compressed.
But structurally he had it clear from scratch, from the beginning.
That’s why it doesn’t feel like TV.
It’s not like, What should we do now?
It was never that way.
It was never that way.
Everything was there from the first time he pitched me his idea.
But now, reading it is delicious.
Now I can very selfishly say this.
It’s clearly the best time in my career so far.
I’m enjoying this.
I’m part of the whole process.
I was scared every day.
And I know this journey can be much more enjoyable this time.
I really hope that we get the chance to go have a beer after we achieve something difficult together.
So I can’t tell you how happy I am to be doing this second season.
What can you tease about the first thing that you filmed for Season 2?
LUNA: Well, I’ll say two things.
First, I haven’t shot anything yet.
I am coming from set, but from doing tests, not from filming.
So I haven’t stepped on stage as Cassian yet.
I still have a few days for that to happen.
But I can tell you one thing is that… What should I tell you about this?
Well, I’ll tell you that… No, I can’t tell you anything, man.
LUNA: I’ll say that I knew how important Kino [was] in the story.
And that’s the beauty of it.
It doesn’t matter how well-written it is, it is about everything coming together at the same time.
And Andy showed up, man, in a way.
He was so ready.
He was so Kino, man.
And I suddenly realized how important that character was for Cassian.
It’s two episodes, and the warmth and the humbleness he brought to Kino is incredible.
His energy is always the top.
It was inspiring to see him work.
I love that about this show.
There’s nothing better on set than being in a scene that has room to grow.
And that happens with every scene in this show because the scenes are meatier, or very full.
Actors like Andy make that a very joyful journey.
But I think the casting of the whole show is great.
Andy Serkis is fantastic.
Anyway, thank you, man.
Thank you for the interview.
And thank you for the support and for all the love for the show, for the work.
Thank you very much.
Andoris available to stream on Disney+.
Check out our interview with Andy Serkis below:
