Diego Luna on How Andor Helped Him Realize a Childhood Dream

When I used to be rising up, the cultural influence of Star Wars as a worldwide phenomenon is one thing that felt prefer it was only a common a part of life. The first films I used to be uncovered to have been the unique Star Wars movies—my father, who immigrated from Mexico City with my mom in 1989, used them as a instrument to be taught English by a narrative he already knew and liked, having seen the films in Spanish after they had their theatrical run in Mexico.

So Star Wars films have been a continuing all through my childhood, and coincidentally so was a younger Diego Luna when he was part of varied Mexican telenovelas that will air on Spanish networks my household would watch. As I acquired older, Luna starred in films that have been formative to my cinematic tastes like Y Tu Mamá También, Book of Life, and sure, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. So to interview him for Andor, the prequel spin-off of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, was a momentous, full-circle second for me.

When Luna was introduced as a lead in Rogue One, taking part in Rebel spy Cassian Andor, it was large for the Latin American neighborhood; for my household particularly, he’s hailed as a hometown hero from Mexico City, so to see a Mexican in Star Wars was a extremely huge deal. When I spoke to the actor about this he shared it meant quite a bit that he’s held on this regard inside the tradition—and the way it was a extremely huge deal to him, too. “Star Wars represents in my early childhood, around when I was I believe five, six years old, the tool to belong, to feel part of the world of my cousins,” he instructed io9 over the telephone. “I’m the youngest in the family, so I had many cousins all over [Mexico]. They were all fans of Star Wars, most of them at least. And getting to know Star Wars was indispensable, you know? Like it had to happen for me to be able to interact with these guys.” Many Star Wars followers—particularly those that additionally come from huge households—will know this sense effectively.

“So I started looking at it already wanting to love it,” Luna mentioned. “And then gradually, because it became really important in my growth as part of an audience, I started looking at cinema through Star Wars in a way. It was very important, and I believe the origins of my desire to do film [are] based on that stuff I saw when I was a kid that blew my mind—and Star Wars is on that list.

“As a kid I remember waiting months to get my first Darth Vader case,” he added, describing what I feel (and Star Wars toy skilled on employees Germain Lussier agrees) was this early Empire Strikes Back piece. “It was a case of the Darth Vader mask that inside it had the crayons I would take to school. I would paint with them at home. I remember just like it became my portfolio [school carrying case]. Yeah, I was hooked, [Darth Vader] scared me so much but at the same time was intriguing and my favorite character.” (We additionally know he has a tender spot for Jabba the Hutt.)

As Rogue One followers will recall, Luna didn’t get to share displaytime along with his favourite villain in that movie, since his first look inside the Star Wars universe concluded with the sacrifice of his life to stay it to the Empire. After Cassian Andor’s sacrifice within the movie stealing the Death Star plans, Luna by no means anticipated to proceed the character’s story. “To me, it was pretty clear that the deal was, ‘You are here to do a film. It has a beginning and an end and that’s it.’ And I was happy with that and I never challenged that, ever,” he defined. “And then when I got the phone call, it was to ask me if I would be willing to explore the possibility of doing something like this. And, you know, it made complete sense because Rogue One is a story about an event—an event where you get to meet all these great and interesting characters that are willing to sacrifice everything for a cost. It is about how this mission, how this event happened and the challenges to get there, you know, but you don’t get to explore or understand too much about the scenes here and there.”

Andor was undoubtedly a hero Star Wars followers wished extra of; one oft-heard critique of the movie was that it launched after which, effectively, principally killed off a improbable ensemble, which included expertise like Felicity Jones as initially reluctant hero Jyn Erso, Riz Ahmed as former Imperial pilot Bodhi Rook, Donnie Yen as Force-sensitive warrior Chirrut Îmwe, and Jiang Wen as his companion Baze Malbus. Prequel star Jimmy Smits, final seen in Obi-Wan Kenobi, additionally returnsed to reprise his position as Bail Organa.

“This long format allows you to go deep into those kind of crucial decisions that had to happen for this character to get there,” Luna mentioned of the upcoming Andor TV sequence. “And it allows us to explore what needs to happen to a character in order to get to that moment where he’s willing to sacrifice everything. You know, because we have to remember, this is not a Jedi. There’s no superheroes here, or superpowers, or mystical powers or anything like that. It’s just regular people, you know, regular people having to do something special, something extraordinary. And that journey is quite interesting to witness.”

When Andor was first introduced, Luna described it as “the story of a migrant,” and that also rings true to the story he desires to inform. “No one asked when I when I was promoting Rogue One, why does Cassian speak with such a different accent than everyone else? You know, there’s no one around that has his accent. No one. Therefore, where does he come from? How come he can be calling these people his family? No one asks that.”

Luna defined that Andor’s origins are explored within the sequence’ first few episodes, the place we see a younger Andor pressured to flee his residence at a really younger age. It all goes again to some key traces of dialogue he had in Rogue One. “He says, ‘I’ve been fighting since I was six years old.’ What does that mean? Was he forced to grow before everyone, because who fights at six years old? You know, who asked to fight at six years old when you were supposed to be a kid? All of those questions are going to be answered now about that very traumatic childhood,” he mentioned, referring to how Andor will mirror the form of diaspora skilled by migrant individuals in Latin America and globally all through historical past. “The character is full of that energy. You know, it’s clearly someone that is being forced to move, like many in this show. So that is an important part of the story and definitely something that you can answer and that hopefully we can deliver.”

The sequence has 12 episodes throughout its first season, main into its already confirmed second season, to just do that. I requested Luna how his continued collaboration with showrunner Tony Gilroy has impacted him whereas creating this spy thriller origin story on the planet of Star Wars. “[Gilroy] pays so much attention to detail,” Luna mentioned. “His writing is so complex but everything has a reason. Every question has an answer. It’s very juicy when you approach the material written by this man because it has that complexity that takes time. He challenges you as a reader and as an actor. Well, it’s beautiful to have that material in front of you to perform as work where you have such a strong lead. Because at the end, that also is freedom, in terms of where you can go with that because you have the tools. you have the answers. Therefore, you can commit to your choices and go all the way, knowing that there’s something there to catch you.”

In reality, the extra grounded spectacle that can later intersect with a lot greater Star Wars occasions is what Luna’s most excited to discover. “It’s very special in this universe to have this standalone by itself. You know, as Rogue One was stand-alone in the world of film in Star Wars, with the series we have the same thing. It’s a series that has a beginning and then we’re going to do 24 episodes. We are going to go through the five years prior to Rogue One, and we have that freedom to [have] different tones that are not the first thing you think of when you think of Star Wars—and at the same time, still have that epic adventure and action that make Star Wars what it is.”

The sense of pleasure and pleasure for Andor is one thing that I couldn’t assist however share with Luna as we acquired off our name. He’s a Star Wars toy now too, I reminded him, and requested how he felt about that, having as soon as been a child along with his personal action-figure assortment. “It’s a weird thing—it’s something you can’t get used to, to have toys of your character because that doesn’t happen often,” he laughed. “It is definitely a fun ride to have when you have kids, because we can share every part of the process with them and they’re as excited as I am. I really love to be able to make them part of my world in this way.”

As we acquired off the decision I thanked Luna and he despatched my whole household saludos. It meant a lot as a ‘90s kid whose Mexican dad introduced her to this universe when he came to America—and whose love for movies came from that galaxy, far, far away—to talk about it with Diego Luna, and it truly made it feel like we’re lastly seen as a giant a part of Star Wars.

Andor will start streaming September 21 on Disney+.

Want extra io9 information? Check out when to anticipate the newest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on movie and TV, and every little thing you’ll want to find out about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.