“Endor” is finally here.
The long-awaited “Star Wars” series, which takes place (initially, at least) five years before the events of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (which itself follows from the events of 1977’s “Star Wars: A” just before. New Hope”), out today on Disney+. In the new series, Diego Luna returns as Cassian Andor, a bitter soldier ready to lay down his life for the rebellion in “Rogue One.” The Cassian we meet in the first three episodes of “Endor” (all dropping today) is very different; he’s a smuggler, of course, making a living and trying to stay out of the way of royal officials. He has not been radicalized yet.
Developed and written extensively by Tony Gilroy, “Endor” is inspired by an incredible performance by Luna, whose performance in “Rogue One” was one of the highlights of that film. This particular series is a completely different take on ‘Star Wars’ in the space. It’s tough, gritty, emotionally raw. And that all comes down to Luna’s performance.
TheWrap spoke with Luna about where the new series came from, how different shooting “Endor” was from “Rogue One,” and what they thought when they first heard Cassian’s crazy electric guitar theme music.
When did you and Tony first start talking about the possibility of endor shows?
It was a long time ago man. It is from a long time ago. I think it’s been four years, to be honest, because I think it was a little longer than that that I got the first phone call, and that phone call was just to see if I could figure out the opportunity. I’m ready for the chance to tell Cassian’s backstory. It was as simple as that and I was shocked because I didn’t think it was going to happen. I never thought that I would be able to return to this role and this universe. And I was like, “Yeah, absolutely.” Also, because it sounded so smart to me, yeah, listen, we know what these characters are capable of, because “Rogue One” is a great movie, but it’s about an event. You don’t get the answer of who Cassian is, where does he come from, what was the need for him to be a man who is willing to give up everything.
I thought it was a really cool idea, and quite risky and interesting, to go back and challenge every idea you had that Cassian and say, “No, no, no. No, really. In, he was very far from that guy for five years before there was ‘Rogue One,’ and then it was really interesting to make that arc. But then it was just an idea. Later, I chatted with Tony, where he said, “Look, this is what I paint, this is what I see. That’s how I would love to approach it. This is what I think might be, “In a very structurally and very simple conversation we worked on for 20 minutes where he gave me everything he worked on and it felt so right.
I don’t think there is a better writer to do this, I think his writing is always in gray areas. He is not someone who sees the world as black and white. There is no good and bad. And it’s interesting enough, that in the “Star Wars” world, because this is the time where there are no Jedis, it’s just about humans. It’s just people like you and me, these people alive, and this is the time where everyone is living in those gray areas.
Like I said, everyone is just trying to make the day and survive. So I thought it was very interesting, you will see the complexity he was bringing to the story. And the beauty of this long format, which gives you the opportunity to have the action and adventure you’ve always expected from “Star Wars”, but at the same time, get more greedy and sometimes intimate with these roles and become closer to the characters. and the way they are related. All of a sudden, it becomes a spy thriller, very political and intense, and then it goes back to the larger realm that “Star Wars” we all know.
I thought it was really bold what he had in mind, and then again, interesting, complex and a really cool challenge, because you never approach storytelling like that. Usually, it’s the other way around. Here, we don’t need to impress you or surprise you with the ending. You know the end.
The interesting part is the arc to get there and that’s where we can get mad. So anyway, after that chat, I was pretty sure I wanted to be a part of it, and I wanted to be a part of it from the beginning. My feeling in “Rogue One” is that something was already happening to me. I went there and I had to find my place there and understand where I was.
It was definitely like being in a fantasy and it had nothing to do with the sets and structures I had been working on all my life. And now, I’ve had time to be there throughout the process, to see things from the moment they were sketches until they started to form, and then all of a sudden you go on a set and you’re in that place. Know that you own it. You can tell, you can say, “Yeah, this is my home, this is my place. This is the droid I love and I’ve been around for years. This is my town.” Anyway, I really appreciate the whole process, but it’s been long, man. it’s been long. Sorry for my reply.
Music is obviously very important to “Star Wars.” And Cassian gets a very cool, electric guitar theme at the end of episode 2. What did you think when you first heard this?
Just, again, I’m sorry, I’m going back to Tony and the way he takes every move and the music so seriously, he’s already thinking about the music before writing the script. You’ll see, I mean, you haven’t gotten to that part of the series, but there’s a piece of music that was present before a scene was shot, for example, and we listened to that piece when I was on set. Could have known what the score was going to be. That never happens.
With an obsessive mind like Tony, where he looks at everything before he writes, he knew the piece of music that was going to play at that moment and to shoot and articulate all of that for us, we had the music there. Was, as if we were doing a kind of music video.
How much attention was put behind the music and I am very happy with the result. But not just the music, I would say the amount of work behind every decision here is huge, in the set design and the costumes and the looks of the characters. The rigors behind “Endor” are the rigors of the most intense filmmaking I’ve ever been a part of.
The first three episodes of “Endor” are now on Disney+, with new episodes starting weekly.
