With the final season of Andor having concluded its run on Disney+, creator Tony Gilroy is finally pulling back the curtain on the creative process behind the critically acclaimed series. In an expansive new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the showrunner opened up about the show’s eerie similarities to modern headlines, his relationship with Lucasfilm’s creative brass, and why some stories were left on the cutting room floor.
Art Imitating Life: The Politics of Andor
Throughout its two-season run, fans and critics alike have noted how Andor depicts the rise of authoritarianism in a way that feels uncomfortably familiar. Gilroy, who has previously been cautious about making direct political comparisons to protect his cast and crew, felt more liberated to speak now that the journey of Cassian Andor is complete.
“We were pretty much doing a story about authoritarianism and fascism, and the Empire is very clearly a great example of that,” Gilroy told THR. He noted that while they used a “Fascism for Dummies” handbook of historical tropes to build the Empire’s oppression, he was stunned by how closely modern events mirrored the scripts.
“How were we supposed to know that this clown car in Washington was going to basically use the same book that we used?” Gilroy remarked, adding that the “prescience” of the show is actually just the “sad familiarity of fascism.”
Addressing the Dave Filoni Rumors
One of the most persistent rumors in the Star Wars fandom has been a supposed creative friction between Gilroy’s “grounded” approach and the more “Force-centric” vision of Lucasfilm Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni. Some reports even suggested Filoni wasn’t a fan of the show’s gritty tone.
Gilroy was quick to put those rumors to bed, emphasizing a relationship of mutual respect. “We’ve always gotten along with those guys, and we’ve never had anything but high praise for everything that they’ve done,” Gilroy stated. He went as far as to credit the success of the “Mandoverse” for making his show possible. “There’s no Andor without The Mandalorian. It would not exist. So it has never been anything but cordial and pleasant.”
The “Missing” Cassian and Bix Mission
For fans wondering about the gaps in the timeline between seasons, Gilroy revealed that a specific mission involving Cassian and Bix Caleen was originally considered but ultimately relegated to off-screen dialogue.
In Season 2, Episode 4, the characters reference a mission where Cassian had to kill someone who saw their faces. Gilroy admitted it would have been “fun and easy” to write that action, but for the sake of pacing and budget, he chose to focus on the emotional weight of the aftermath rather than the spectacle of the mission itself.
The End of an Era?
As Gilroy moves on to new projects, he expressed a bittersweet sentiment regarding the scale of Andor. With the industry shifting toward AI and tighter streaming budgets, he questioned if a production of this magnitude, shot on massive practical sets with thousands of live performers, would ever happen again.
“We got away with it, and we feel pretty good about it,” Gilroy concluded.
For even more from Tony Gilroy, visit the original interview at THR. With the political statements thrown on the table by Gilroy, please keep the comments section free from politics. We don’t care what side of the aisle you are on, but it just creates a nightmare to moderate.
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