Andor’s Strength Is It Doesn’t Require Knowing All About Star Wars

Prior to Andor, the Star Wars universe by no means actually acquired right down to the grit of how and why the Rebellion got here collectively outdoors of the Skywalker saga. Disney+’s Rogue One prequel sequence led by Tony Gilroy has injected the franchise with complicated, heady themes which have astounded and made Andor can’t-miss, weekly appointment tv.

It’s a formidable feat—Andor is possibly even the best present on air proper now—so with that in thoughts, io9 talked to author Beau Willimon (who scripted the Narkina 5 jail arc) and producer Sanne Wohlenberg about making the sequence with Gilroy, collaborating with star Diego Luna, writing without having to heart Star Wars Easter eggs and lore, and crafting characters to anchor the present.

Sabina Graves, io9:  I need to dig into the meat of the behind-the-scenes right here and begin off with this: what actually stood out to each of you about Andor that units it aside in style?

Beau Willimon: I knew Tony was tackling this this huge story and was chatting about it beginning to come collectively. He gave me a name at some point and mentioned, “Hey, do you want to come work with me and my brother [John Gilroy] and help out? Maybe write a few episodes and break some story?” And I felt overwhelmed as a result of—I imply—right here’s this beloved huge franchise. I used to be born the 12 months it got here out, and I’ve a deep love for it. There are many followers that know way more concerning the canon than I do.

io9: On the identical web page right here, I like Star Wars. I want I knew all the little small issues. There’s a lot!

Willimon: My first worry was like, “Tony, I can’t name every ship. I don’t know every type of blaster. I don’t know every mid-rim planet.” He was like, “You don’t need that, we’ve got Lucasfilm for that. We’ve got a whole team that will make sure that we’re staying true to the canon, and that’s available to us if we need to come up with very specific and obscure ideas about this stuff. I want to tell a human story. I want to tell a story of regular people who are trying to pull a rebellion together. And what does that mean from the perspective of the human heart?” And that actually excited me, that you could possibly take that method of bizarre folks in extraordinary circumstances and apply it to this huge, beloved, huge franchise at that scale. That’s what actually attracted me and acquired me excited. Just the chance to work with Tony—I like Tony as an artist. He’s a pal and so I simply knew it could be one thing particular and totally different. Whatever Tony was going to do was not going to be one thing you’d seen earlier than. And to get to be part of that in any approach is very thrilling and a privilege.

Sanne Wohlenberg: Definitely very thrilling. [It’s] his voice creating his personal sequence and sure, it’s a prequel to Rogue One—so you recognize the place you’re heading, however he has such a specific voice to have the ability to return to a personality and actually tell the origin story in how he turned the person that gave his life for the trigger. To work in a format the place you abruptly have display time, you’ve got sufficient time to essentially dig into the humanity and the character-pushed storylines of who’s at these childhood of the Rebellion—who turns into the [inspiration] for folks to make inroads to combating the Empire. It was only a actually thrilling prospect to go on this journey with Tony Gilroy and his key collaborators for the writing. You have one other Gilroy after which you’ve got Beau. It actually is a proposition that doesn’t come alongside fairly often. And it was a extremely thrilling and straightforward factor to say, “Yeah. I’d like a bit of that. Thank you.” 

io9: Beau, this query is instantly for you as a result of I’ve been wired for the previous few weeks watching each episode. We see Andor’s life unravel at an early age, and the present sort of picks up on him on the level in his life the place he’s operating away, however by way of these occasions he chooses to run towards the trigger. Is it worrying so that you can write these very worrying episodes?

Willimon: When we have been breaking all this story [like] the jail sequence, [which] Tony knew he needed there to be one, there was loads for us to determine. We have been shifting very quick underneath a while constraints. And this was pre-pandemic—so we have been like barreling in the direction of manufacturing and wanted to develop the stuff. So there was a kind of vitality and tempo to the room. We have been caffeinated, we have been shifting quick, we actually had each other, and so I feel a few of that pulse-racing was within the course of itself, which actually knowledgeable the jail sequence. When you begin to actually construct the structure of the story, actually construct the structure of the jail itself, and you must virtually clinically, methodically work out all of those layers in a approach, it stops. I’m not riddled with nervousness whereas I’m engaged on that. It’s virtually such as you’re working like a surgeon step-by-step in a gradual, considerate, intentional approach and kind of constructing all of these items up.

And if you’re writing the scenes themselves, in fact, you’re attempting to place your self within the footwear of those characters, and no matter they’re feeling you may really feel a few of it. But I imply, it’s a months-lengthy course of to get to these, you recognize, 43 minutes or one thing. What’s loopy is, many months later, you watch these episodes once more—[I] myself not too long ago [did] with full VFX, rating, totally edited, and every thing. And I had texted Tony “I just finished watching episode 10 again, my pulse is racing. I’m deeply moved.” Even although I knew every thing that was going to occur, it was nonetheless a intestine punch. Wow. And it virtually feels like I simply get to look at it as a viewer and have the identical expertise and really feel what you need the viewers to really feel. And on this case, I completely did even when knew it was going to occur.

Wohlenberg: Really, by the top of it, you recognize each line by coronary heart, you recognize precisely the place everyone’s trying. And but what was extraordinary as you’re placing it collectively, we have been all the time all utterly engaged and moved once more. That is admittedly not one thing that occurs each time. And you then sort of start to really feel, you could have carried out one thing proper.

io9: Diego Luna’s presence in on the present is simply so unbelievable as kind of our by way of line into the origins of the Rebellion. I actually appreciated his stance on it sort of being impressed by the migrant story. I need to know extra about his enter on the method in growing Andor’s arcs. Is it one thing that he’s closely concerned in earlier than it’s on the web page, or does he give notes after he’s learn the scripts?

Wohlenberg: Mostly that truly. It all begins with Tony sitting in a room and creating the general story and actually bringing a complete load of gold nuggets to the desk, and fleshing them out together with his trusted companions [and] actually digging deep into these episodes. Diego, as a lot as he’s very a lot a part of us, he tends to essentially give Tony the prospect to sort of ship one thing which is a real imaginative and prescient and a spotlight. And then he will get concerned after which he begins to collaborate. It is a present that actually has a voice and I feel that’s the great thing about Andor. Everybody, from Disney to Lucasfilm and Kathleen [Kennedy], everyone appreciates that it’s particular to to have a voice and touch upon it if you gave any individual an opportunity to specific it. [Luna] and Tony are very shut; the minute the entire course of begins he’s extremely concerned and has enormous instincts of who his character is and the entire story. That’s a collaboration that’s actually fruitful and thrilling.

Willimon: Even although he wasn’t sitting within the room after we have been starting to develop the story, his presence loomed giant in an excellent approach. He was one of many few givens at that time. Many of the characters hadn’t been solid but. You knew that there have been folks like Mon Mothma that hopefully Genevieve O’Reilly would need to do, but there was a number of stuff so as to add on to. But you knew on the heart of this was Diego Luna, so each time we have been breaking that story, you could possibly image him. Tony, I consider, had shared the [Andor story bible] with Diego earlier than we ever got here to the room, so Diego already knew the framework of what we have been discussing. And Tony’s deeply collaborative. Like, he’s not a kind of present runners that retains the secrets and techniques from the solid as to what’s going to occur the following episode. He walks them by way of the complete story arc for the character, desires their enter, will keep his imaginative and prescient, however additionally realizes that they’re the folks that need to embody these characters and that their enter is efficacious and might make it even higher. So they belief him, which is nice. Diego knew the broad strokes of what was going to occur and Tony comes again with some protein on the plate and says, you recognize, how does this style to you? You’d add slightly little bit of this there. And earlier than you recognize it, you’ve got this superb efficiency on the heart of the present.

io9: Eedy Karn is my one among my favourite characters. She’s fabulous, unbelievable, and so iconic together with her presence. What’s it like writing these very scathing strains?

Willimon: So Eedy is a kind of characters that was totally fashioned to Tony when he got here into the room, just like the Syril/Eedy factor. He had written full scenes already to give us a way of this dynamic. And we’re studying this like, “Oh my god, Eedy. Wow.” Like, Syril… that is what he has to cope with. It was totally [there] from the start. So everytime you’re tackling an Eedy scene, you’re actually simply attempting to channel what Tony had already created and realizing that no matter you write, he’ll are available and swoop in. He may polish up anyway as a result of that complicated combination of venom and love is someplace in him, sprouting forth into the character of Eedy, and also you simply sort of maintain onto it and go for the journey. And in order a author, it’s enjoyable as a result of he’s gifted you this character that you just virtually simply want to take a seat again and hearken to, and he or she’ll write herself.

io9:  And Kathryn [Hunter] does such an amazing job delivering these killer strains—

Willimon: And she’s extra crushing and oppressive than the Empire. When when the Bureau of Standards is your refuge from residence, you recognize.

io9: Was it intentional to have her mirror Dedra Meero in a approach? Karn may be into that kind of therapy.

Willimon: I imply, from my perspective, not essentially as a result of I’ve by no means truly considered them mirroring deliberately. But should you see it, there’s one thing there. Yeah, that’s an attention-grabbing factor to think about.

Wohlenberg:  A extremely attention-grabbing statement I ought to take into consideration.

Willimon: There are undoubtedly some powerful ladies round this man, that’s for certain.

Wohlenberg: You know what I imply? It’s an enormous pleasure. You know, Tony writes superbly robust and complicated and attention-grabbing feminine elements. And I feel that could be a actually lovely factor and all the time a pleasure.

New episodes of Andor stream Wednesdays on Disney+.

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