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‘Star Wars: Andor’: Diego Luna Helped To Create Cassian Andor’s Backstory

Diego Luna as Cassian Andor in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Star Wars: Andor is set to release on Disney+ on August 31, and it has been a long time coming for fans of Rogue One’s Cassian Andor. Played by Diego Luna, the character first appeared in the prequel about the mission to retrieve the Death Star plans, and it was the only time we got to see him, given the fate of the main cast by the end of the movie. So, when it was announced that we’d be getting a prequel series about his life as a spy for the Rebellion, fans of the movie (myself included, because look, I bought every Funko available after Rogue One) rejoiced.

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In a new interview with Den of Geek, Luna revealed that he worked with the series’ creators to help build Cassian Andor’s backstory for their new tale, because while we saw Cassian in the last act of his life in Rogue One, we didn’t really have that much time to get into what made him into the man we saw with Jyn Erso. We knew he’d been in the fight since he was a child, but outside of that, we knew very little about him, and knowing that Luna got to bring his own inspiration in for the character to Star Wars: Andor is amazing! Especially considering we’ve already heard why he thinks this story is worth telling.

“All this story just happened in my mind. It wasn’t relevant to anyone. He talks about a traumatic past, but there is no specificity,” Luna said. “Obviously, as an actor, I had my backstory. You don’t arrive on set without knowing where you’re coming from and what motivates every decision your character makes, but that’s information that no one cared about for years.”

The series has Luna working with Rogue One screenwriter Tony Gilroy, and Luna went on to talk about how working with Gilroy “was like when you dream something, and then suddenly, you’re talking about that dream with others… I was asked so many times, ‘What were you thinking when you said this? What was your backstory in this moment?'”

When ComicBook.com spoke with Luna at Star Wars Celebration, he gave them some insight into how the show impacts Rogue One.

“The only thing I can say is you’re going to see where he was five years before Rogue One, and you’re not going to believe Rogue One was possible,” Luna said. “That’s the idea, to see a transformation and an awakening. I can’t tell you how that will be represented, you’ll have to wait until the 31st of August. But it is about that, and it’s about how much we’re all capable of changing and transforming, and that’s the beauty of storytelling. Not many times you start knowing the end, here you know what happens. It’s not about, like, ‘Oh this happened!’ No, no, it’s how it happened that matters. It’s about the little details and what’s in between lines and every layer of the character. Even though we are on a very epic kind of show and a huge spy adventure show, we’re going to have time for intimacy. You’re going to go deep into the character and the people around him. It’s going to be interesting, I think, and it’s going to be dark and fun and different from what you see out there now.”

The joy of having Cassian Andor back

For someone like me, the idea of having more to Cassian Andor’s story in any capacity is exciting. It was wonderful seeing how much Diego Luna loved being a part of the Star Wars world, and if a new series means I get more of one of my favorite characters, then all the better. Cassian was such a fascinating look into the Rebellion and how the fight trickled down into even children, and at the time, it made me sad that it seemed like his story was over.

So, I’m beyond excited about Star Wars: Andor not only because I want Diego Luna to finally touch Jabba the Hutt, but because Cassian deserves to have his story told.

(via ComicBook.com, featured image: Lucasfilm)

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Rachel Leishman
Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh.

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