Kyle Soller chats with THR at the 'Andor' season two premiere and explains why he thinks the work of Tony Gilroy and Diego Luna made the show so popular with fans. Plus, he describes how the backstory of 'Andor' will change the way fans will watch 'Rogue One.'
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00:00Why do you think that this show has resonated with Star Wars fans in a way that maybe some other Star Wars series haven't?
00:07Well, I think it's the combination of Tony Gilroy and Diego Luna and what they achieved on Rogue One.
00:15I remember when I saw that, I just thought, oh my god, wow, this is so different.
00:19This feels a different temperature leading the Star Wars universe gently into somewhere new.
00:25And it was darker, it was grittier, it felt very real and had a lot of throwbacks.
00:32It was carefully considered.
00:34And I think what we've achieved with Andor has just dialed that up to 11.
00:41I think it's wrestling with the themes that we've always wrestled with since we tried to live together in communities and tribes
00:47and take things from one another and exert power over one another.
00:51So this story is relevant to now, but you could show Andor a hundred years ago or a hundred years from now and it would be just as potent.
01:02And I think because the heart and soul is deeply woven within the fabric of it.
01:08And it's a story of sacrifice, ultimately, and a story of people trying to push the needle forward to make a better place.
01:23And you really get to see the other side of that.
01:27So you get back seats to the Empire's construction, which we haven't seen before.
01:35And you get the back seat view to the building of the Rebel Alliance.
01:40So you're really understanding the intricate structure of each of these systems and going to go,
01:46Oh, wow, that's why they're doing that, because they believe that that's right.
01:49And you get to see these characters who are operating all in the gray zone, making bad choices, making bad decisions,
01:58making sometimes good decisions.
02:00You know, ultimately sets the tone of Cassian killing someone in the first season, scene one, you know,
02:08Oh, I know what story we're in.
02:10We're in a story of like, somebody is just trying to survive.
02:13They're just trying to get through.
02:15And I think that story of survival and sacrifice and heart.
02:18And I think that, yeah, really resonates with people now.
02:23Diego Luna has said that this season will make people see Rogue One differently.
02:29Is it because we get so much of that backstory or why do you think that is?
02:32Oh, my God, because you are getting you are getting all of the the bells, cogs and whistles to leading up to the choices that were made in Rogue One
02:43and ultimately the choices that are made in A New Hope.
02:46So watching Andor and then Rogue One and then the original trilogy.
02:50Well, like, I can't imagine what that would be like, but the payoff of being with Cassian for 24 episodes
03:01and then seeing what happens to him and the choices that he makes in Rogue One.
03:07Oh, my God.
03:09I mean, like, super powerful.
03:11And you understand what this guy has been through, the sacrifices he's made and the lives that he's touched.
03:19Because what's happening in season two with these time jumps that Tony has created is you are just dropped in a critical, crucial moments in these characters' lives where huge things are happening.
03:32And it's all building to the moment that we know at the end of Rogue One.
03:37So, I mean, it's darker. It's more ambitious. It's sophisticated. It's very adult. It's very real.
03:47I mean, when I watched season two back, I was stunned that this was Star Wars. I thought, wow, this is art. This is like an incredibly powerful piece of storytelling.
04:02It's unbelievably relevant to now, but also it's timeless. And I think that, yeah, I mean, it's wild.
04:11We can't wait to see it. And finally, before you have to go, we're asking people, May the 4th is coming up.
04:17What's your favorite Star Wars movie?
04:19If it's not Rogue One, it's Empire Strikes Back. Yeah, big time.
04:28Awesome. Thank you so much. Congratulations.