In the two weeks ”Andor“Author gathered at the Soho Grand Hotel in New York In order to break the second seasonThe Beau Willimon were in the room. He even took the whiteboards they used for brainstorming and his own assistant to take notes. But during the following weeks, when the small staff spread to describe their individual sections and write the first drafts, Willimon held meetings with Showrunner Tony Gilroy over Zoom.
At the same time, he wrote “Andor”, he traveled abroad to work on another project: a documentary on Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which meant working in a nation during siege. “You know, I didn’t tell Tony that I was over there,” Willimon said in an interview with IndieWire. “But at a certain time he figured it out.”
War was already in the mind for the “Andor” team. Willimon said the authors talked about Ukraine “much” when they broke season 2. It was February 2022, the start of Russia’s invasion. But being there, says it itself, was different.
“It really did, I think somehow, taste at least some of the work I did in my episodes,” he said. “War and High Stakes and Hearing Air Raid Sirens and Being in a Highly Militarized Environment – None of that was abstract for me. It was all very real. Rockets were exploding just a few miles from where in was staying. Some of Those Same Elements? Not that there were any direct parallels, per se, but the Environment Certainly informed some of the work I was doing. “
As the leadership of “Rogue One”, “Andor” Season 2, a dangerous four years in the Time Line “Star Wars” chronicle. Empire’s authoritarian range widen and sharpen. To strike back, the uprising grows and matures. Ghorman becomes a critical battle when the Empire occupies its peaceful capital and escalates a conflict for its own abominable gains. Citizens meet nightly curfew and armed militia marches on public streets. Bombs go off. Arrest is made. War breaks out.
The parallels between what is happening in a galaxy far, far away and what is happening here on earth could not be clearer. Since the premiere, “Andor” has been adopted by real resistance groups, regardless of whether they fight against state -driven genocideThe Fascismor an illegal occupation. Willimon emphasized that “Andor” was not written with “direct parallels” in mind, but living in a country that was demolished by war “really informed part of the work I did.”
Historically precedent, so often repeated, was also a “huge part of the process” to shape season 2.
“We were constantly cherry -picking different moments in history that we could use as inspiration or to put a brilliance on a certain story aspect of ‘Andor,'” said Willimon. “The nature of the show, but also the franchise in general, is that it has the room, the width and the depth to be able to absorb many different historical events.
Willimon said he and the Gilroy brothers are all historic buffets. They recommend history podcasts to each other “all the time” and enjoy episodes of Dan Carlins “Hardcore History.”
“Many of the themes in the show are things that people are dealing with for millennia, obviously,” Willimon said. “Kyle (Soller) had A good quotationAs I am going to steal right now and can slaughter a bit: This is the kind of show that would have been as relevant a hundred years ago as it is today, and the hope is that it will be relevant – yes, in some ways you hope it is not Relevant a hundred years from now on because some of the issues it concerns go to some nuclear deficiencies in humanity, right? But these themes and historical paradigms and political moments are evergreen. So it was natural to pull from history. ”
Reflecting recognizable moments in time not only helps to add dramatic heft to “Andors” different space battles, it can also help inspire viewers at Visceral level – which is much the case in a famous scene from the end of section 5, “I have friends everywhere”, written by Willimon.
Located on a rainy remote plane in the middle of a risky heist, the extremist’s extremist leader Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) saw a arousing speech comparing the very volatile fuel rhydonium with the resistance itself. Obviously, Saw’s words are intended for his latest recruits, Wilmon Paak (Muhannad Bhaier), which helps him to pilgrim the potentially deadly source of energy. But when SAW continues to speak, his enthusiasm shows contagious, both for Wilmon and the audience at home.
“Have you ever seen a man die of rhydonium?” Says Saw. “Maybe you are like me. Maybe you love … (sniff) the smell of it. And maybe just breathe a little too deep. Burned from the inside. You look at your skin blister as it melts away. Or, you die high. Cut a line? Release a wrench? Let that spill? Don’t even need a spark, do you, boy? “
When he was asked to share the origin of the stage – especially considering his proximity to a real war when he wrote the section – Willimon’s explanation was so thorough and generous, it is worth sharing in its entirety (with some light edits for clarity):
“First of all, what happens more in the section?”
“You’re not starting to say,” OK, we will have a big speech for Saw Gerrera, where he sorts his dissertation and motivation, and that we are trying to do something affecting that will blow many people’s minds and have a subreddit thread “or something,” Willimon said. “You really just start from a much pedestrian place to create a story. And there were some things that happen in that section that contributed to that speech.”
The other stories (quoted by Willimon) include:
- Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’reilly) “Standing up against the Emperor Palpatine” by lobbying for voices in the Senate.
- “An ascending, inexperienced, rebel underground” in Ghorman prepares to take his first major action against the empire.
- Bix (Adria Arjona) “Handle PTSD” from her prison, torture and subsequent attacks, all in the hands of the Empire.
- At the same time, Saw saw Gerrera on the “outer lashes, just trying to get some jet fuel to continue raising hell over the galaxy.”
“We wanted to show how the formation of the uprising is the merger of all these extremely different parts; that it is a spectrum, (extends from) a senator at Coruscant to the insanity in Saw Gerrera and his Motley Crew out there in the middle of nowhere,” Willimon said. “We really wanted to show how these things coexist (even though they are) so far apart.
“So you are starting to ask yourself: What kind of things are up to?”
From there, Willimon said Shaping Saw’s story came from “thinking about composition” – which promotes the contrasts between “Andors” rebel characters while strengthening their connection to the cause. A key meeting came into what the audience understood saw before and after this moment.
So far, “” has been reluctant to play with others, “as Willimon put it, but he is still a key member in the rebel team, so why not build it in?
“As crazy as he can work in this bow, he is still, to some extent, plays ball. He works with one of Luthen’s guys,” Willimon said. “Now we might be thinking,” maybe not. Maybe he will kill this guy. Maybe he just uses them. “That’s really what we can expect from Saw.”
“I think the big surprise at the end of (the stage) even saw that Gerrera is welcome. You are part of our tribe and we are part of yours. It is the least likely place you expect to hear it: that we all share this madness to want to change the galaxy and fight against the forces that are.
“Wilmon Paak, as Tony Glled (I) – I didn’t name that character.”
Despite the phonetic similarities, Willimon did not come with the name Wilmon, but the young courtyard is the next critical step towards Saw’s big stage. In section 5, Wilmon has been sent to help build a machine that can safely extract rhydonium.
“We track this child who is increasingly becoming a player (in the uprising). We see his age,” Willimon said. “So during this section, you just try to track what happens for Wilmon to develop him from a guy who is just trying to work with this technology to actually feel the rebellion in his leg.”
“The cherry at the top here is that we have Forest Whitaker (playing) saw Gerrera, a loved character that is absolutely wackadoodle,” said Willimon. “So you have the opportunity to do something super strange and cool. With all these things in mind, what do we want to do in this scene? Of course there is an aspect of let’s give Forest Whitaker something juicy to do.”
“But in a real way, what does (looked) to this child say?”
“Why is he even talking to him?” Willimon said. “He’s just standing there while this child is doing this thing? It felt like we needed to activate that scene.”
Given that he is in the middle of a life-or-death mission, the tension in Scnee can come from Wilmon’s difficult procurement of rhydonium. But when SAW continues to talk, focus shifts. It’s not about Wilmon will steal Rhydo without dying from the exposure; It is about Wilmon will accept the danger he faces in this assignment is the same danger as he will always face as a rebel. How much of himself is he willing to give to the cause? His sweat? His blood? His life?
“Revolution is not for the sensible,” Saw says. “Look at us. Unloved. Hunted. Cannon feed. We will all be dead before the Republic is back and yet … Here are we. Where are you boy? You are here! You are here! And you are ready to fight. Breathe in it! Let it run!”
With the astonishing flower (made the more memorable of Whitaker’s triumphant oration), inandar Wilmon input he was terrified to move a few minutes earlier. And at the same time, Astute fans will discover an important piece of Saw Gerrera’s Backstory: why he wears a mask in “Rogue One.”
“We were not sure of the first pass exactly what it was, but then the idea came to us:” Wait a second. The answer is forest all the time. It has been in “Rogue One” (but in “Andor”) we have not seen him with the mask. Here is an opportunity to explain how you get to it in “Rogue One.” “
“It feels like all this is super intentionally, as if we have reversed it back to this moment, where you get to kill several birds with a stone, which is not just that we get our forest whiter Aria, and not just do we do this is that we also tell this mum”
“Then it only took your own life.”
Just like “Andor” – a “Star Wars” story built to hold.
“Andor” is available at Disney+.
