Andor has been packed with one of the biggest Star Wars ensemble casts ever put to screen, with characters new and old tagging along for the Rebel adventure. Sitting at the heart of it is Diego Luna's Cassian Andor, exploring his Rogue One hero years before joining the Rebel Alliance as he evades the wrath of the Empire.
At the crux of the mission to arrest Andor is Kyle Soller's Syril Karn, a Deputy Inspector working for Preox-Morlana under the Empire. He may be the one with his heart set on hunting down Andor right now, but he isn't the only Imperial in the picture, with Denise Gough's Dedra Meero also trying to climb the ranks.
Between the two Empire stories, Cassian's own travels across the galaxy, flashbacks to his youth, and the inception of the Rebel Alliance, Andor has plenty of stories working separately and simultaneously. Now, two of the series' villainous stars have opened up about how they will all connect in the future.
Andor Stars Tease Season 2 Team-Ups
Prior to the premiere of Andor, The Direct exclusively spoke to Syril Karn's Kyle Soller and Dedra Meero's Denise Gough, who teased exciting team-ups to come in the Disney+ series.
When asked whether the many separate storylines of Andor will start to come together going forward, Gough teased that "towards the end of Season 1 and into Season 2" the stories will "start to cross paths:"
Soller: "Yeah, absolutely."
Gough: "Us certainly. And then I think that's what's so clever about what Tony has done. Because also it was really helpful during the pandemic that none of us really worked had to work altogether so we could all be safe and film separately, but I think what will start to happen, certainly towards the end of Season 1 and into Season 2, you'll see how they all kind of start to cross paths."
Soller: "Yeah, they're all connected, but they don't really know it yet."
The Andor stars also discussed whether they consider their morally questionable characters to be villains truly. Soller explained how he considers his Empire officer to be the "hero of his own struggle:"
"You know, we were speaking about this, and I think I definitely view Syril as a hero of his own struggle of his own journey. Part of the way into both of our characters was trying to find what makes them tick, what are the reasons that they are the way they are, the choices that they make, and the sacrifices they make for their own idea of the greater good. And saying all of that. It's really fun to play a villain."
Discussing both Syril and Dedra, Gough noted that both are "looking for control and power" which will lead them to "find each other" eventually:
"They're not really nice. They're not heroes, but equally, you can't approach a character just by thinking they're either bad or good. There are many shades in both of them, and I think the reason they find each other is because they're both doing the same thing. They're looking for control and power to feel a stronger sense of self. And I think that can make people quite dangerous when they are looking for anything outside themselves to make them feel like they have worth."
Soller described both characters as being stuck in the Empire's "fascist regime" and "not really knowing where [their] place is:"
"Yeah. And certainly when they're seeking that within the confines of a bureaucratic structure system and a fascist regime. So that gets pretty dangerous pretty quickly. But it comes from that sense of not really knowing where your place is, and that structure is so complete, and so controlling it, I think it's much more difficult to try and find your way outside of a system like that. it's harder on you, it takes more empathy and compassion and stuff, but if you shut those things off, you can find your way to the dark side quite quickly."
Teasing the direction of the two Andor characters, Gough promised both are "really heading towards the dark side, but heroically."
Speaking on the performances that influenced her role as Dedra, Gough noted Jennifer Connelly's Melanie Cavill from Snowpiercer and Giancarlo Esposito's Gus Fring from Breaking Bad as key influences:
"I did like the look and style of Jennifer Connelly in Snowpiercer, I didn't get very far in it, but she has a sort of steely elegance to her that I sort of stole. Because that's what actors do isn't it, we're all stealing from each other all the time, both in real life and in character life. You know who I really like, Gus from Breaking Bad is my ultimate villain character. In his meticulous... You know when he kills somebody, and he takes off his suit really perfectly, and he folds everything, and then he brutally murders someone and then comes back and showers? So yeah, him, Gustavo Fring from Breaking Bad."
Lastly, The Direct asked which Star Wars characters they hope to appear alongside in the Disney+ series:
Gough: I mean, I am looking forward to my days with Cassian. Stellan, I hope I get to work with on this show. I want to hang out with Luthen.
Soller: I want to hang out with some Mon Mothma. Do some evil staring at her.
Gough: Yeah, and more of each other.
The two actors, who come from a stage background, explained how Andor is "populated with a lot of [their] heroes of the stage:"
Soller: "It's a difficult question to answer because this series is populated with a lot of our heroes of the stage."
Gough: "Like Kathryn Hunter for me, who plays Kyle's mom."
Soller: "And [Fiona Shaw] and stuff."
Gough: "We feel like because our background is in theatre, we feel like Tony has brought all our favorite theatre actors and put them in space. So we're all getting to hang out with each other in this wild theatrical world in Star Wars, it's incredible."
Andor Has a Big Villain Team-Up Coming
In introducing multiple separate stories from the beginning, Tony Gilroy has created Andor in a way that allows each character to be explored in great depth. But eventually, these pieces will come together to reveal the bigger picture, one they will greater appreciate due to the time spent with every character.
While the bulk of these storyline crossovers won't be coming until later in the 12-episode season and into the second, some may take place sooner. For one, Dedra and Syril appear to be heading toward a collision, presumably for a mission that will put them on the warpath for Cassian Andor and the emerging Rebel Alliance.
Both Syril and Dedra appear to be on their way to the dark side, and from what Gough has already teased in Disney's official Andor press release, they will get up to "some seriously reprehensible things" on that journey - one can only wonder just how horrific these things will ultimately be:
“She will do anything for the cause and so much of the time, she’s looking around feeling like a lot of her colleagues are very mediocre... For me, although she’s on the side of the villains, she’s also evangelical in her belief in the Empire, and, in common with all great villains, she has this absolute belief that what she’s doing is right, no matter what she does—and she does some seriously reprehensible things.”
Clearly, Tony Gilroy has pieced together a sprawling and weaving narrative for Andor, one which will come together over two seasons and the span of five years as Cassian's Rogue One death moves ever closer. In terms of what the journey to that point will look like; fans will have to wait and see.
The first five episodes of Andor are streaming now on Disney+.
