Diego Luna, Adria Arjona Reveal Story They’d Return For

Andor may be ending its critically acclaimed run with season two, but lead actors Diego Luna and Adria Arjona both have a very specific story they’d come back to tell. 

The original plan for the Tony Gilroy-created Disney+ series was to produce five seasons of Cassian Andor’s five-year evolution into the Rebel hero who makes the ultimate sacrifice in 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. However, after making season one, Gilroy and Luna both realized that their initial aim was too ambitious and likely required at least a decade of their lives to fulfill. As a result, Gilroy instead devised a narrative structure for season two that spans four years’ worth of time. Each block of three episodes explores a few significant days during that particular year before jumping another year to the next block of episodes. Upon each continuation, the characters reference unseen stories during the preceding one-year gap in story.

Thus, season two’s premiere episode begins in 4 BBY, one year after the violent events of Andor season one’s finale. Cassian and his surviving Ferrix friends — consisting of Bix Caleen (Arjona), Brasso (Joplin Sibtain), Wilmon (Muhannad Bhaier) and B2EMO — are hiding out on the agricultural-based planet of Mina-Rau. And through Cassian’s off-planet mission, as well as the marketing for season two, it’s established that Cass and Bix have rekindled the romance that they presumably had during their adolescence on Ferrix.

There’s no explanation for how it happened; it just transpired in between seasons, and that’s exactly the story that Luna and Arjona want to capture.

“I would love to tell the story of these two characters during the year we don’t see between season one and season two,” Luna tells The Hollywood Reporter in support of Andor season two’s three-episode premiere on April 22. “This moment of history in a galaxy far, far away is at its darkest, and to have the opportunity to see a love story and build a love story could be so beautiful and unique. And it’s also cheaper!”

Below, during a recent conversation with THR, Luna and Arjona also discuss Andor’s impact on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and how it recontextualizes key moments.

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There are references to unseen stories in between each block of episodes. Do the two of you know all the details of those one-year gaps? 

ADRIA ARJONA There were little references on the page, and I’m going to reference one that Diego is always referencing because I love it. In the first episode, he goes, “I need to call home.” And with one line, he sums up the one-year gap of what happens between these two characters. They have found home within each other. That’s all you really need to know about that one-year gap and to understand their dynamic. So, sometimes, it was on the page, and other times, there were discussions that me, Diego and Tony would have. I don’t know how it was with other characters, but that was our process. 

DIEGO LUNA There was a need to answer specific questions, sometimes. With wardrobe, for example, why is he wearing this? What’s behind this piece? And that would fill those gaps. As actors, we would also have those conversations on set with the directors. Tony is a very meticulous writer; he has an answer for everything. But then, as a producer, he’s very smart. There’s a moment where he delivers [the script] and gives room to the directors to start doing their job and bringing their own perspective. This show ended up being like [eight] films because of that. There’s rules Tony sets, but then it’s the work you do with the directors. So we had to fill some of those gaps with the directors, and it was a fun process because it kept everyone very alert. The answers are there for you to find, but you have to do your work. 

Theoretically, if you were pitched a cool movie idea involving one of those off-screen stories, would you both be willing to come back?

ARJONA Look, I love a job!

LUNA (Laughs.) She’s already in!

ARJONA I’m in!

LUNA I would, yes. I want to say yes. This second season is very clear that, for revolution, there’s a lot that needs to be happening. The political and social climate has to be very specific. There’s a lot of loss, pain and injustice. But there’s something else needed, which is love and belonging. And I would love to tell the story of these two characters during the year we don’t see between season one and season two. 

ARJONA Oh yeah!

LUNA This moment of history in a galaxy far, far away is at its darkest, and to have the opportunity to see a love story and build a love story — and connect them the way they seem to be connected when we find them again [in season two] — could be so beautiful and unique. It’s interesting, no?

ARJONA Mm-hmm!

LUNA And it’s also cheaper! 

ARJONA & LUNA (Laugh.)

LUNA We could do it fast because we just need an apartment. 

ARJONA Right!

LUNA It all happens indoors. 

Diego, when you think about Cassian hugging Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) at the end of Rogue One, has Andor completely changed the meaning of that moment for you? And Adria, when you see Cassian hugging Jyn Erso, do you now tell yourself, “Yeah, he’s thinking of Bix”?

ARJONA & LUNA (Laugh.)

ARJONA Um, I don’t know. I actually haven’t re-watched Rogue One after filming season two, and it’s something that I want to do. Once I’m done with press, I think I’m going to do it. If not, I’m going to get in my own way. But I don’t know. I want to believe that that moment belongs to him. But Diego, you should say what was on your mind. 

LUNA (Laughs.) “You should save me now.” 

ARJONA (Laughs.) Now!

LUNA It didn’t change my perspective at all.

ARJONA So you weren’t thinking about Bix?

LUNA Well …

 ARJONA & LUNA (Laugh.)

LUNA To me, the meaning of that hug goes beyond what you’re thinking. They’re saying goodbye to everything, and what they find in each other is the strength for a decision like that to be made. But I think the audience’s perspective will definitely change. The perspective you now have as a viewer of Rogue One is enriched with all this information and images [from Andor]. Now you have the answers for all those questions. Now you know what Cassian means when he talks about sacrifice and doing terrible things for the Rebellion. Now you understand what’s behind his relationship with K-2SO. Now you know what he’s carrying. Now you know what it all means, and now you know what life he’s leaving behind. 

As mentioned earlier, Cass and Bix have rekindled their romantic relationship from adolescence, and there’s a beautiful moment of intimacy involving their hands. Is that a Ferrix custom of some sort? 

ARJONA Oh wow, I’m glad you picked up on that. It is, and that’s probably one of my favorite moments of Bix this season. Tony hinted or told us that he wanted a Ferrix ritual, something that transported you into their childhood for a few seconds, something that you know that they had already done for years and years. It’s a way for them to connect, and only the two of them know where they are in that moment. So Tony left it there, and then a beautiful choreographer came in and she had all these ideas. But Diego slowly started doing this thing with his hand, and then I just followed in a way. It was really beautiful, and it was a moment of connection between two actors. So Diego was leading the way, and I was just following him in this sort of dance that he was doing with his hand. And that just became it. It was so simple, but it had so much depth to it in the making of it and even the performing of it. I had to be so present because I didn’t quite know where his hand was going to go, but it was really moving. When I watch the series, it’s one of my favorite moments.

LUNA It’s a huge lesson. You want something to be really charged and to say so much with choreography. And then, suddenly, it became something that simple. That very simple gesture says a lot about their whole lives.

ARJONA There’s so much history in that.

LUNA It was cool. 

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Andor season two’s three-episode premiere releases April 22 on Disney+.