Diego Luna Knows Why Andor Is So Praised
Diego Luna credits Tony Gilroy, the showrunner of Andor and writer of Rogue One, for paying attention to details and answering every question the audience could have about the characters.
The perfection of Star Wars lies in the smallest bit of detail and scale, which is counterintuitive when talking about a franchise known for creating a universe more expansive than almost any in history. However, the franchise has proven that the large-scale films of late were more divisive than the smaller-scale storylines of the series that have premiered on Disney+. According to Collider, Diego Luna believes that the success of Andor is due to attention to detail and that no moment of screentime is wasted.
Diego Luna on the success of Andor: It’s Tony Gilroy. He’s so ambitious, and he takes so much time and he delivers. Every character has a meaning, has a reason, has a journey, and he pays attention to all the details. There’s no characters there just because we need to trigger something. There’s an important reason. We are talking about the journey of someone that decides to give everything for the cause, you know? What has to happen in the life of someone and what events he has to witness, what people he has to meet? [Tony] has answered all those questions.”
Disney+ has found some pretty impressive success by diving into the smaller stories of the Star Wars universe in tv series like The Mandolorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Andor added to the streak of success by dropping a show that some fans are saying is better than Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back, which is some of the highest praise anyone could hope to get from the fanbase. While Diego Luna deserves a fair amount of praise for the kind of success Andor is getting, he believes that Tony Gilroy deserves the praise for not wasting any time or character and focusing on every detail they can.
The Rogue One: A Star Wars Story actor gives all the credit to the writer and creator of Andor, saying that he leans on his ambition, takes his time, and delivers on what he wants. Diego Luna says that Andor doesn’t waste any time and doesn’t add any character into the storyline simply for the purpose of triggering something, but instead focuses on every character for a specific reason. He says they are trying to tell a story about why a person would sacrifice everything for the cause, telling the backstory of the character he made famous in the prequel to Star Wars: A New Hope.
We first met Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor when he was tapped to accompany Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) on the mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, leading into the events of Star Wars: A New Hope. While the team was ultimately successful in stealing the plans and getting them to the ship we see Darth Vader chase in the opening sequence of the original movie, they paid the ultimate price when they all perished in the battle. Andor finds the character five years before the events of Rogue One and chronicles the Rebel Leader as he rises to the level of respect, meeting influential people that groomed him.
Diego Luna also spoke about the process he took when he first singed ontp the role by saying he created his own backstory to explain why he made the decisions he did in the film. Now in the series, he says that one of the most critical aspects of this project is answering questions, saying that if the audience still has questions that still need to be answered, then the crew isn’t doing their job. Diego Luna and crew may have had a slow start when Andor launched, but the series became one of the better-received projects in the franchise, and fans are eagerly awaiting Season 2.
