Tony Gilroy talked to StarWars,com about the smash-hit series Andor, and the importance of making villains believable beyond the black hat villainy we so often receive.
Even when we know the minions of the Empire are the bad guys, we still can’t help but find them a little relatable in their struggle. “I can’t imagine writing black and white. I mean, I have believed in every villain I’ve ever written, you know?” Gilroy tells StarWars.com. “You’ve really gotta believe in him. You gotta love him. You gotta know why they’re doing it. You gotta feel for it. And there has to be a reason for it. You’ve gotta get behind everybody.”
For Meero in particular, Gilroy was hoping to build in a sense of empathy from the audience. “You go quite a few episodes where this is a woman who’s fighting her way up in a male environment. This is a person that’s really trying. I’m on her side and she’s doing the right thing and other people aren’t listening. She’s better at her job than everyone else. And then all of a sudden you go, ‘Oh my God, I wish she wasn’t so good at her job.’ If you’ve been rooting for somebody all that time, can you stop rooting for them just because they have some occupational flaws? I don’t know.”
