Andor Director Benjamin Caron Reveals Film and Real-World Inspirations Behind the Season 1 Finale

The Andor bits of news have been arriving fairly consistently these past few days. It was only last week that series lead Diego Luna commented on the positive response to season 1 and his feelings about the show ending after season 2. Then, we found out more about the show filming soon in eastern Spain. Now, one of the directors behind the first season has once again discussed his approach to the series and working with showrunner Tony Gilroy.



Director Benjamin Caron, who was behind the camera for three episodes of Andor, recently spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about directing the season 1 finale. He also talked about Tony Gilroy's storytelling philosophy and the real-world rebels and revolutions that influenced the series' writing:

Many fans and reviewers praised Andor for believably depicting the start of an uprising against a brutal, totalitarian regime. It makes sense that Gilroy would look at revolutions throughout history for inspiration. However, the show's creators didn't just draw from history to come up with Star Wars story ideas. They also looked at classic cinema. For the finale, both Caron and Gilroy looked to the 1966 war movie The Battle of Algiers to help them figure out how to portray the riot on Ferrix:

'The Battle of Algiers' (1966) Movie Poster



A crucial part of filmmaking is properly communicating with actors and working with them to help draw out their best performances. As it turns out, Caron and Doctor Who actress Jodie Whittaker helped Denise Gough, who played Dedra Meero in Andor, with a particularly difficult scene:

(L-R): Supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) and Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona) in Lucasfilm's ANDOR, exclusively on Disney+. ©2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.



Characters like Dedra Meero and Syril Karn helped Andor give the Galactic Empire some added nuance by showing its inner workings. The show also made the Empire fearsome, oppressive, and omnipresent. Even the stormtroopers, who viewers everywhere have always liked to make fun of because of their supposed incompetence and poor marksmanship, were depicted as deadly and capable soldiers. As Caron tells it, the production team had some help from military service members in developing its portrayal of the Empire's troops:

The stormtroopers in Andor definitely seemed more menacing than their counterparts in other Star Wars productions. The series doesn't introduce them until its seventh episode, and when they finally show up, they're presented as ruthless occupiers on Ferrix and Coruscant. The only major action scene they participate in during the first season is the Ferrix riot in the finale. While the stormtroopers take casualties of their own in that sequence, they also manage to kill a fair number of rioters. Andor played the long game when it came to showing the Empire's most iconic enforcers, but its approach paid off.



It's a shame that Benjamin Caron, like his fellow Andor season 1 directors, won't be returning for the next batch of episodes. Still, fans of the political-spy thriller series will undoubtedly have plenty to look forward to when the second season premieres in late 2024.



If you want to read the full interview, you can visit The Hollywood Reporter.



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