Diego Luna has been a mainstay in our communities for ages. For many, they got to know this Mexican actor years ago in the 2001 drama Y tu mamá también. While others have been impressed by his talent in Narcos: Mexico or Maya and the Three. But it’s his presence in the Star Wars universe as Cassian Andor in Rogue One that has opened doors to worldwide stardom and which has led us to where we are now: about to embark on a journey like none we’ve seen before in Disney+’s new series Andor.
Remezcla got a chance to interview Luna about the upcoming series, which premieres three episodes on September 21st. And before we dived into the heavy stuff as to what makes this series something worth watching, we had to break the ice and put Luna on the spot. Because, thanks to the last couple of years, he isn’t the only ‘space Latino’ out there.
That’s why we asked a doozy of a question: if he had to choose between Pedro Pascal’s The Mandalorian and Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron, who would he pick? Luna’s answer? “Can I say both?” Even after being told that would be cheating, however, Luna still picked both. No controversy here, just a lot of love for the work of two other “space Latinos” and artists he respects.
But Luna did have stronger opinions on the topic of his best friend Gael García Bernal and who Bernal would play if he ever joined the Star Wars universe. Given many different choices, Luna was clear on one thing. “He would never be part of the empire,” adding that Bernal would definitely join the rebellion. That’s a lot of faith in his friend, something Luna confirmed with a line that we’re not saying gave us some heart palpitations, but we’re not denying it did either. “More than I have in myself.”
Andor might not feature Gael García Bernal, but Luna did have a chance to work with someone else from our communities, Adria Arjona (Father of the Bride), who he went out of his way to praise. “Adria is fantastic, and I was really pleased to be working with her,” he told us, adding that she’s very committed and works really hard, but also has a lot of fun when she works, something that ended up being especially important considering when Andor was filmed – in the middle of the pandemic, with very few people around.
“We were shooting this in the pandemic, in the worst moment of the confinement. So the rules were very strict, and there was no chance or no interaction with the rest of the team.” Luna told us, adding that “it was important to work with someone like her because she understands what teamwork means.”
As for the refugee aspect of a story like Andor, Luna made it clear that as much as the way he’s playing Cassian, this character reflects his own experience and that the real-life references for a story like this are everywhere. “I think it’s a global issue,” he told us, adding that in every city you “see the cultural interaction, and the diversity,” which is something the show is reflecting.
But not content with that, Andor is using this unanswered question as a jumping-off point for another, deeper story set in this world of Star Wars that feels more and more expansive by the second. “No one asked why when we came out with Rogue One,” Luna told us, referring to Cassian’s accent. “Where is he coming from? What needed to happen for him to call this team his family, even though no one talks like he does?”
We didn’t know then, but Andor is set to explain that and “what had to happen for him to be willing to sacrifice everything” for the rebellion, for the greater good. “What is that very dark past he talks about in Rogue One that he’s not specific about? Now we’re going to see it,” Luna promised.
Find out more about Cassian Andor’s past as the Diego Luna-led show Andor premieres with three episodes on September 21st on Disney+.