Andor Showrunner Says Series Is About 'Ordinary People', Talks Collaborating With Lucasfilm Story Group

The upcoming Star Wars: Andor series has been featured on the cover of the latest issue of SFX magazine, which also released a new set of images from the show. As part of the cover story, the magazine also had the chance to sit down with some of the creatives involved, including showrunner Tony Gilroy and main actors Genevieve O'Reilly, Denise Gough, and Kyle Soller.



Check out the new images here, courtesy of r/StarWarsLeaks:



[gallery size='large' ids='133940,133937,133938,133939,133941,133942,133943']



Gilroy, who has been the face of the show's promotional campaign since the panel at Star Wars Celebration (along with Diego Luna), addressed how they approached writing the show. (Hat tip to r/StarWarsLeaks for putting together this information.) He started by explaining the overall context of what he had to work with on Andor:

He continued by saying that the show is ultimately about the people that formed the Rebellion, and not about the battles themselves (though there will probably be plenty of them):

Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) in Lucasfilm's ANDOR, exclusively on Disney+. ©2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.



He also broke down briefly the structure of the first season of the show, saying that the first three episodes will be mainly focused on one story, before we start branching out. He said:

This is something we already speculated after the last trailer was released -- from what was depicted in that two-minute spot, it seems like we are going to see Cassian Andor get stripped away from his adoptive home, and we are going to explore that in detail, over the first three episodes. You can read our trailer breakdown here, where we tried to piece together the story of the first three episodes. No spoilers here, as we are simply speculating and not basing it off any leaks.



Gilroy also confirmed that the Andor writing team was in constant communication with Lucasfilm creative executive Pablo Hidalgo:

Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) in Lucasfilm's ANDOR, exclusively on Disney+. ©2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.



From what we've seen so far, one of the elements that have been highly praised about the show is its production design. Not only was Andor shot on real locations, but they also built actual (gigantic) sets that helped the actors dive into each scene. Even Diego Luna said recently that they didn't use green screens at all in the show, that it was all practical and the props were real. Gilroy said this was thanks to production designer Luke Hull, who brought a galaxy far, far away to the U.K.:

Another great collaborator Gilroy found on the show is Genevieve O'Reilly, who plays Mon Mothma. About the character, the writer/director said:

Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) in Lucasfilm's ANDOR, exclusively on Disney+. ©2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.



O'Reilly herself also spoke to SFX Magazine, giving a few additional details about her character in Andor:

Denise Gough, who plays supervisor Dedra Meero, the face of the Empire in the show, told the magazine that one of the most challenging aspects of working on Andor for her was the Star Wars dialogue. Apparently, she even called Jodie Whittaker and Sebastian Stan, asking for help. She also added that she was tuned out when she walked on set and saw people in droid costumes:

Kyle Soller, who plays another Imperial officer in the show named Syril Karn, weighed in on his character's obsession with Cassian Andor:

Kyle Soller as Syril Karn in Andor.



His costume is definitely not one we've seen a lot in Star Wars, so when asked who he works for exactly, Soller said:

The ISB is the Imperial Security Bureau, the Empire's version of the CIA. We've known that they are involved in the series since a few set photos leaked last year, featuring characters in the background wearing their standard white uniforms. You might remember them from Admiral Yularen in A New Hope, and most notably, Orson Krennic in Rogue One. Ben Mendelsohn, who played Krennic, has not been officially announced as part of the series, though there's plenty of speculation that he'll at least be making a cameo. Having one of our main characters work for the same Imperial department that Krennic works for, definitely increases the chances of him showing up.



We will find out for sure in just a few weeks, when Andor premieres on Disney Plus. The series will have a three-episode debut on September 21st and will air a new episode every week until November 23. Stay tuned for more Andor news soon, as the marketing campaign is ramping up quickly.



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