Speaking with StarWars.com, actor Ben Bailey Smith – known to audiences for his performances in Law & Order: UK and David Brent: Life on the Road – discussed his role of Lieutenant Supervisor Blevin in Star Wars: Andor, and how he’s pleased to be playing an Imperial.
“First and foremost, I was so happy that he was part of the Empire. That was the first thing, because I’ve always been an Empire guy. Always. So just on that surface level, I was excited. Secondly, I’ve only ever played one villainous role before, so on another surface level, I was really excited about that,” he says. “But when I started reading the lines and saw how snide this guy was, and how weaselly, and kind of cowardly he was, I thought I could have a lot of fun with it.”
“My take on that — in homage to the films that I fell in love with, A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back — was that if you get it wrong in front of Vader, the pincer fingers are coming out and you’re gonna get whacked. So that’s the way I played it with Blevin,” Bailey Smith says. “I thought, ‘More than anything, he’d love to get rid of her (Dedra Meero) and just keep rising his way, weaselly, to the top. But when he knows he can’t, playing the game is the most important thing.’”
