All eyes are on Obi-Wan Kenobi this week as the series finally debuted on Disney+, but three months from now another highly anticipated intergalactic adventure will make its way to the streamer. Andor is the prequel series to widely acclaimed movie Rogue One, and it brings back Diego Luna as title character. Set five years before the movie, the show will chronicle how Cassian Andor went from selfish nihilist to one of the selfless rebels who gave their lives to try and stop the Empire.
Also returning to Andor is Genevieve O’Reilly, who reprises her role as Mon Mothma once again for the series. During this week’s Star Wars Celebration event, O’Reilly spoke to Collider’s Arezou Amin about her long stint in the Star Wars universe, and what it was like returning to the much celebrated role of Mon Mothma.
O’Reilly spoke to Collider about the shift the Rebellion leader undergoes during Andor, and how excited she was to be able to “reinvestigate” the character of Mon Mothma to give her the depth audiences are looking for:
“It’s genuinely a gift to come back to a character, to be able to reinvestigate. What’s brilliant about Andor is that we’re in a completely different space with this woman. Previously, and as we know from Rogue One, she’s leader of the Rebellion now, she’s within the Imperial Senate. So we know that there’s something that has to shift and change and go probably terribly wrong before she lets go of being able to affect change from within the Senate and then becomes the leader of the Rebellion. So there’s so much to discover, there’s so much to learn, there’s so much I’m curious about and I think the fans will be curious about it.”
She also revealed that having shot a small portion on Revenge of the Sith way back in the day allowed her to better understand where Mon Mothma is at when Andor begins, and what kind of woman she is when she’s between being a senator and a Rebellion leader:
“It was a boon to have done that tiny bit on Revenge of the Sith, because she was also a senator at that point, and she was very young, and so I knew that this woman had been within the Senate from that age, and I know she ends up as a leader of the rebellion. To find her in the middle of that, as a woman, and clearly the failures she’s had in trying to affect change within the Senate, trying to affect change against an autocracy that is looming ever closer and failing…and what that feels like as a woman there, to be fighting for change that we know is not going to come any time soon.”
The first teaser for Andor was unveiled at the Star Wars Celebration, and it reveals a gloomy setting of paranoia and despair as the Empire continues dominating the galaxy and eliminating anyone who poses as a threat. This is what prompts the Rebellion to act, in a series of events that are chronicled across the Star Wars franchise, including the very first movie in the saga, A New Hope.
Andor is helmed by Tony Gilroy (The Bourne Ultimatum), who serves as showrunner, writing and executive producer. He will once again team up with Beau Willimon (The Ides of March), with whom he worked in House of Cards. Also writing is the showrunner’s brother Dan Gilroy, who previously penned Nightcrawler and Kong: Skull Island. The team has probably done a good job with the first season’s 12 episodes, since Disney is reportedly starting production of Season 2 later this year.
Aside from Luna and O’Reilly, Andor will also see the return of Forest Whitaker as Saw Guerrera. Newcomers include Stellan Skarsgård (Dune), Adria Arjona (Pacific Rim: Uprising), Kyle Soller (Anna Karenina), Denise Gough (Under the Banner of Heaven), Robert Emms (Chernobyl), and Fiona Shaw (Killing Eve).
Disney+ premieres Season 1 of Andor on August 31. Check out the official synopsis here:
The ‘Andor’ series will explore a new perspective from the Star Wars galaxy, focusing on Cassian Andor’s journey to discover the difference he can make. The series brings forward the tale of the burgeoning rebellion against the Empire and how people and planets became involved. It’s an era filled with danger, deception and intrigue where Cassian will embark on the path that is destined to turn him into a rebel hero.
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