Andor is over—but its impact will linger on as one of Star Wars‘ proudest accomplishments. The Disney+ show won over fans and critics not just with its thrilling story and performances, but by pushing the boundaries of what the sci-fi franchise had ever attempted before. For that you can thank its creator, Tony Gilroy—who in turn has one person he’d like to thank: Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy.
In fact, as Gilroy revealed in a new interview with Vanity Fair, he almost walked away from Andor until Kennedy intervened. “There was a period of time where I really wanted the show to die and I wanted to get out of it,” Gilroy admitted, and said he was actually hopeful that the pandemic would “kill the show” so he wouldn’t have to do it.
He explained his reluctance was because he’d started to realize just how much work Andor was going to require, and how unprepared he felt about it. At the beginning, he said, “I was just absolutely naive about what it would take to make the show. I really did not know what I was doing at all, in terms of the scope of work.”
However, the pause necessitated by covid actually ended up helping the show rather than signing its death warrant. “During that spell, we really figured out how to make it,” Gilroy said. “We figured out a system to do it and got enough of a reset and a deep breath.”
Throughout, he said, Kennedy “protected the show and protected me.” She also proved extremely willing to take risks, even with material as sacred as Star Wars.
“When we started challenging Kathy, Kathy just kept saying yes,” Gilroy recalled. “‘Oh, I’m going to put the first scene in a brothel.’ ‘Okay.’ ‘I’m going to have them kill two cops.’ ‘Okay.’ ‘We want the production designer from Chernobyl.‘ ‘Okay, good idea.’ She backed our play and got everything that we were doing.”
Though Gilroy admitted he doesn’t know what George Lucas thinks of Andor—or even if Lucas has actually watched it; incredibly, they’ve never met in person—he had Kennedy’s blessing and that was enough. “We’ve been through everything, she and I, on this—all the good and all the bad,” he said.
“There’s no show without her. For all the shit that she takes online, it’s just insane. This show exists because she forced it to happen. What a tough job she has, man.”
You can watch both seasons of Andor (and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story while you’re at it) on Disney+.
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