It took Andor's Stellan Skarsgård a couple of tries to get his iconic Luthen Rael monologue just right.
Appearing on Entertainment Weekly's Dagobah Dispatch podcast, Skarsgård reflected on filming his speech in the episode "One Way Out" and what about its production stood out to him the most. "I mean, of course I knew I had a speech that was very well written, and it was probably one of the best scenes in the season. And I worked on it," he said, adding, "When we shot it, somehow I was tense. I think I said, 'Let's go again, let's go again.' I think I did it 10 times in a row, very fast, right on top of each other. 10 times, like "Go, go, go." And then it was good. Then, I was satisfied, and the director was satisfied."
The speech -- in which Luthen tells informant Lonni Jung how much he's personally sacrificed for the Rebel Alliance -- also ties into Andor's overarching theme of what it takes to build and sustain a wide-scale rebellion. Speaking on the radical ideas that drive Luthen forward, Skarsgård compared his character to, "Che Guevara or the Rote Armee Fraktion in Germany or any terrorists, really. But also, as a revolutionary, he is like George Washington. So, he's got all those ingredients that make him very exciting. He has this conflict between doing the right thing and also being able to kill for the right thing."
Since its release last year, Andor received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike, with many deeming it the best Star Wars show on Disney+. Following the origins of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story's Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), the series also tracked early Rebel operations pre-A New Hope and the Galactic Empire's gradual recognition of the Rebellion as a widespread threat. Alongside new characters like Luthen and Bix Caleen, Andor marked the return of multiple Rogue One actors, including Genevieve O'Reilly as Senator Mon Mothma and Forest Whittaker's rebel extremist Saw Gererra.
Andor's second and final season is currently scheduled for August 2024 but, while a trailer was shown at Star Wars Celebration, it has not been made public yet. According to showrunner Tony Gilroy, his season 2 scripts were completed right before the WGA strike began, though Gilroy ceased all producing duties until the strike is over. Compared to season 1, each of Andor's three-episode blocks in season 2 will follow Cassian via year-long time jumps, with its final episode tying directly into his Rogue One debut.
Season 1 of Andor is currently streaming on Disney+.
Source: EW