Denise Gough on How the Writing Enhances Every Character in Andor

Actress Denise Gough spoke to IndieWire recently to discuss her character in Andor, ISB Supervisor Dedra Meero, and the actress couldn't resist praising the writing on the show. Besides sharing her reaction to learning about her character's developments, both in seasons 1 and 2, she also pulled back the curtain and told some behind-the-scenes stories to illustrate the way showrunner Tony Gilroy likes to work with the cast.



Similar to Gilroy, Gough came into Andor without a deep love for Star Wars. The offer surprised her when it came, but what was even more surprising to her was the fact that Gilroy had spotted her years ago in a theater play and immediately thought of her for the role. She said:

According to the actress, this is how Gilroy pitched the character to her:

Supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) in Lucasfilm's ANDOR, exclusively on Disney+. ©2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.



Her interpretation of the character went a bit beyond that, as she explained. It reminded her of a famous scene from the premiere episode of Breaking Bad season 4:

In fact, she got very much into character to perform the scene in episode 9 where she tortures Adria Arjona's Bix:

She also gets vibes from The Handmaid's Tale's Serena Joy, though we may have to wait for season 2 to see what she means by that:

She then expanded on that, teasing what the end of her character arc in the second season of Andor might be:

This may be reminiscent of the final scene of Dedra in the season 1 finale, where she and Syril Karn seemed to be having a romantic moment after the latter rescued the former. That was very much not the case, though Gough had discussed her trepidation about it with the crew:

(L-R): Supervisor Lonni Jung (Robert Emms), Major Partagaz (Anton Lesser) and Supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) in Lucasfilm's ANDOR, exclusively on Disney+. ©2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.



Finally, she shared a moment that she had with Gilroy recently, when he was walking her through the season 2 arc, which really sheds some light on the behind-the-scenes dynamics of the crew:

The next season of Andor is currently filming in the U.K. and will be released on Disney Plus in the second half of 2024. The entire gang is returning, including the cast and writers, with the addition of Tom Bissell. A new trio of directors will be taking over. According to Gilroy himself, they will also be dealing with 'legacy characters', though we don't know which ones yet.



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