If you’ve been catching up with the latest shows on Disney+ then you would know that the highly anticipated Star Wars series, Andor is set to make its debut this week on the popular streaming platform with a three-episode premiere that will surely knock the socks off many diehard Star Wars fans around the world.
For the unacquainted, the series will transport fans back to five years to trace Andor’s troubled past and follow his path to becoming a revolutionary hero.
“The series is a prequel to ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,’” explains creator and showrunner Tony Gilroy. “It rewinds back five years from the events of ‘Rogue One’ to follow Cassian Andor on his journey to get to the movie. We’ve done twelve episodes for the first season. The twelve episodes that we’ve done cover one year in time. We’re going to do another twelve that are going to take us over the next four years into ‘Rogue One.’”
But if there’s one actress we’re looking forward to in the upcoming series, it’d have to be none other than Genevieve O’Reilly herself. Reprising her role as Mon Mothma, the Irish-Australian actress will take on a bigger role in the series so fans can look forward to seeing more of Mothma’s story than ever before.
In an exclusive interview she did with Her World, she shared more about how her character has transitioned from what we know of her in the past. “Previously we have seen her and she’s been a very public figure and a noble figure like a pillar. This time, we get to see her behind the scenes, and we get to see her struggle and wrestle, in a way that we haven’t before. And so, I’m thrilled to be a part of it and share it with everybody.”
And while it’s a known fact that she didn’t actually get a lot of screen time, this time ‘round, fans can definitely look forward to seeing her in the spotlight. Besides, who doesn’t love seeing a strong female lead, right?
“I love this woman. I really do. I’m so grateful that Disney, Kathleen, Tony and our producer Sana wanted to invest in her because I think she deserves a platform,” the actress explains. “When George Lucas wrote this and wrote Return of the Jedi, he put a female as a leader of the Rebel alliance. That is an extraordinary thing. And what I love is with Andor, we get the opportunity to fill that role, to step up to the platform that George Lucas started to step into this woman and I feel fortunate and grateful to have the opportunity to fill her shoes.”
And while it has been nearly four decades since the actress is finally getting her time in the spotlight, she shares that she never expected to return to the series. “I didn’t expect to be doing this again. I loved the opportunities I had before and Rogue One, I loved being a part of that, but I never expected to come back again. I’m grateful to be given the opportunity to stand up for her and for her to be a proper part of the Star Wars world and to share her story. And perhaps her backstory a bit.”
Of course, it took more than two years since the announcement of the filming of the series and her return, so we would have definitely expected that filming the series would have been pretty troublesome considering the restrictions during the pandemic. In the interview, she also shared with us that “filming was quite isolated, like everyone’s experience”. And most production houses have eased the restrictions, she shares that she hopes she never has to film with the restrictions again. “I hope we don’t have to do it again. I’d love for it to go back to being a bit more normal. I think it was great for Disney to be front-footed and to really invest in all the testing and all the intricacies and difficulties that it took but to still plough forward to tell this story.”
The live-action Star Wars series, Andor will premiere on Disney+ on Sept 21.
