Andor has received praise for bringing a new approach to Star Wars storytelling, but it took some work to get everyone on board.
Showrunner, writer, and creator Tony Gilroy, who previously worked on Rogue One, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about how his lack of reverence for the Star Wars universe has helped him craft some of the franchise's most admired stories. "It wasn’t that I didn’t like it. It just wasn’t on my radar," Gilroy said of Star Wars. "I wasn’t in awe of it. So when I came in here to futz around and repair [Rogue One], I knew I'd do my thing. I was going to bring my thing here. And it worked. We won, and then everybody was incredibly euphoric and everything. So my sort of imprinting experience was, 'Well, that's how you do it.' And that's what I do. That's the way to go. So I didn't have to relearn that [for Andor].
Of course, not everyone takes the same approach as Gilroy. The writer revealed that when he was assembling the team to craft Andor, he had to convince creatives not to change their approach to fit into the Star Wars mold.
The Star Wars Universe Is a Blessing and a Curse
"It's really fascinating. We have this experience all the time. In every department, we've had all kinds of people come in, and they know it's Star Wars, so they change their behavior. They change their attitude. They change their thing," Gilroy said.
It wasn't just the crew that needed to adjust. Gilroy spoke about how actors would alter their style from the audition to the show once they learned they were in a Star Wars project.
"An actor will come in off a Ken Loach movie or something, they'll put on a Star Wars [costume], and all of a sudden, this great actor, who auditioned for you and didn't know what it really was, starts acting differently," Gilroy said. "And you go, 'Wait, no. Do your thing. You're here because we want you to be real.' So it's a testament to the potent power of Star Wars. It really gets into people's heads, but to change the lane and do it this way, it takes a little effort. It's interesting."
The first three episodes of Andor are now streaming on Disney+. New episodes premiere Wednesdays.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter