We’re racing through the second and final season of Andor, with the third chapter of three episodes landing in just a few hours. Here, five of the actors from the show (Genevieve O’Reilly, Ben Mendelsohn, Stellan Skarsgard, Diego Luna and Adria Arjona) discuss their characters and the show itself.
First, Genevieve O’Reilly delves into Mon Mothma, and the precarious situation she finds herself when faced by Krennic during the events of ‘What A Festive Evening‘, and chats with Virgin Radio about the ambition of the filmakers to make something very special.
Mon tries to maintain her usual mask, particularly as she’s accompanied by Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård), but when Krennic starts justifying the Empire’s brutality, she can’t stay silent. “She’s dancing on a knife’s edge there,” O’Reilly notes. “She would love to bring him down, but she can’t. She’s only effective if she maintains composure.”
Though Star Wars fans will know that a big moment is still to come from Mon Mothma in her work with the rebellion, for now her greatest asset remains her position in the Senate and the respect she curries. “Her diplomacy is her superpower,” O’Reilly says. “If she takes off that mask of composure and diplomacy, she’s useless to the rebellion. She’s only effective to the rebellion if she can hold all of it. And so, she must wear those masks.”
Next, Ben Mendelsohn on joining the cast of season two and how the season and Krennic’s part in it enhances his appearance in Rogue One.
V: How would you compare what we see of Krennic in Season 2 of “Andor” versus what we see of him in “Rogue One”?
BM: When we see him in “Rogue One,” we see him at the pinnacle of his achievement, but we also see him at the time when the other marshals of the Empire are going, “That looks pretty good. I think perhaps that’s actually my department now.” So he’s a lot more animated by that, you know, and obviously the great secret being that Galen Erso is the creator of the Death Star. Although I will never let go of the idea that I built the Death Star. It’s just it’s too good of a line.
Stellan Skarsgard chats with Tom Power about the new season, and with Gizmodo about all manner of subjects, including the politics of the show.
“In this show, there’s a society and you feel the society, you feel the oppressive society. You have different worlds and you have different cultures and you feel them. And you see that, ‘oh, they think differently than we do.’ And it’s a much more personal and colorful life. And it, of course, becomes political. And we have to see the functions of… I mean, it’s been going on for thousands of years that we have had revolutions and counterrevolutions and stuff. But it’s good to be reminded about it now and then.”
Speaking with IndieWire Diego Luna discusses his role as an actor/executive producer, and also the lessons learned from Luthen Rael, things we see Cassian take forward throughout the season, as well as introducing and hosting the Academy’s annual Scientific and Technical Awards Presentation at the Academy Museum on 29th April 2025.
“I enjoyed showing how much he’s learned from Luthen (Stellan Skarsgård) and how exciting it can be to play characters. Suddenly, we see an ability we didn’t know he had. And you can tell that this year he’s been very close to Luthen, learning so much, and understanding Luthen in a way.”
Finally, Adria Arjona on her belief that Bix is far from a victim, and despite a backlash from some quarters of the fandom, the scene in question needed to be shown.
“It’s not really important whether it was controversial or not,” she says. “If we’re showing all parts of history, then you’ve gotta show that part. Rape and abuse of power lives in our world and also lives in the galaxy far, far away. It’s sad, but it’s important.”
