Anticipation for the upcoming Disney+ limited Star Wars prequel series Andor may not be quite as buzzy as it's been for some of the other upcoming shows in the eminent space wizard franchise, but that doesn't mean it doesn't deserve the same amount of excitement. The Diego Luna-led show has finally reached an important milestone in its production, and Star Wars fans should definitely be paying attention.
Luna has just confirmed that Andor has officially wrapped filming, and he's absolutely brimming with anticipation for audiences to finally enjoy the fruits of his labor and that of the rest of the team behind the upcoming 12-episode run. Serving as both the star and an executive producer, he definitely has plenty of reasons to be excited about this big step. But it looks like that energy is coming from more than just his intricate involvement with the Star Wars project.
"You’ll definitely see familiar faces," Luna teased when speaking with Deadline (a claim supported by Forest Whitaker's return as Saw Gerrera). "To be honest, it's been such a blessing to do this job and to do it under these circumstances. I had the chance to work with a team that I couldn't be more proud of and admire more. It's a hard-core moment to be out there shooting, and we were really lucky. We're done with the shooting now and getting it ready for audiences to see it." He then went into a little more detail about why Andor is so important to him. "While I can't say much," he said, "what I can tell you is that the experience was literally a transformation for me. It's something that I really wanted to do and that I thought I was not going to be able to do. I'm more than happy."
To Luna, Andor seems to be much more than just a spinoff that he got to star in. As a Mexican-born actor taking a prominent role in one of the biggest media franchises on the planet, he's making a big stride for Latine representation in mainstream cinema. In the same interview, Luna spoke passionately and gratefully about how audience reaction was a big reason he was able to come back as the character and help further that ongoing goal of representation. "We have a voice as audiences, and we have power," he said. "We have to send the right message when you buy a movie ticket or when you click on the various platforms, you're sending a message. And when you don't, you’re also sending a message. So, let's be responsible because we can transform things and make sure we are represented more and represented better on screen."
Aside from his role as Cassian Andor in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (and also now in Andor, of course), Luna previously enjoyed a modest career starring in Mexican telenovelas before gaining international notoriety from his role in 2001's Y tu mamá también directed by Alfonso Cuarón. From there, he continued to steadily grow his reputation with prominent parts in films like 2008's Milk and 2013's Elysium before landing arguably his second breakout role in Rogue One. He even created the film production company Canana Films with his business partner and fellow actor Gael García Bernal in 2005. Even as recently as this year, Luna earned a Daytime Emmy for his work as the host of the Amazon Prime talk show Pan y Circo.
It's great to not only witness Luna continuing to see mainstream success, but also more Latine representation in such a high-profile area of Hollywood. However, this doesn't mean that fans should get complacent. More diversity is a perpetual goal that's always worth pursuing, and every step should be a launching point to go even higher. Of course, that isn't to say there's no time to appreciate the progress right now. More Star Wars is always worth attention and more representation is always worth celebrating.
Andor is set to release on Disney+ in 2022.
Source: Deadline