Diego Luna is back for Andor season 2, the final series, which begins on Tuesday, April 22 2025, in the US and a day later on Wednesday, April 23 in the rest of the world including the UK. Diego’s rebel space outlaw character, Cassian Andor, is again caught up in the major struggles of the Rebel Alliance against the evil Empire.
One of the most iconic structures in movie history is the foreboding Death Star from Star Wars back in 1977, and the story of how this deadly planetary weapon was constructed by the Galactic Empire continues in this second season, which of course leads into the events of the hit 2016 movie Star Wars: Rogue One.
The first season of Andor showed us how space outlaw/smuggler Cassian Andor was imprisoned on Narkina 5, where the Death Star was being secretly built by slave labour. After a dramatic mass escape, it’s now a year later in season 2 and Cassian is an integral part of the fledgling rebel alliance, with the Empire growing ever stronger and Death Star plans coming together.
Andor season 2 is broken into four groups of three episodes (shown weekly), each covering a concurrent year leading into Cassian’s heroic but ultimately tragic ending in the 2016 movie. It kicks off with Cassian at the Empire’s test facility on the planet of Sienar.
Meanwhile, villainous Orson Krennic, played by Ben Mendelsohn, reprising his movie role as the Empire’s Military director, holds a top-secret meeting with various cronies to reveal evil plans for one particular planet. There, ruthless security agent Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) and Major Lio Partagaz (Anton Lesser) share ideas on how to impress Krennic.
On the rebels’ side, wily senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve Reilly) is still subtly plotting rebellion from within the Empire’s ruling elite, along with the mysterious Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) and their friend Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay), but danger rears up for them during and after an eventful family wedding at Mon Mothma’s lavish Chandrila estate.
Adria Arjona again plays rebel mechanic Bix Caleen, and look out too for Onderonian resistance fighter Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), troubled rebel-hunter Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), plus the first appearance of the movie’s much-loved droid, K-2SO (voiced again by Alan Tudyk). Rumours are rife that even legendary Jedi villain Darth Vader steps into the fray later in the series.
Diego Luna, the 45-year-old Mexican actor who plays Cassian, spoke to What to Watch on a recent Zoom call to tease on what to expect from Andor season 2…
What challenges did you face in showing Cassian’s story this time in Andor season 2?
Diego Luna: "The amount of time our story travels through made it challenging but as an actor it’s beautiful as you have time to bring every possible colour to your character. You can find all the nuances and small details that a film doesn’t allow you to find so you can see Cassian experiencing life in every possible way and of course, we must end up how Cassian is for the movie that finishes his story. It’s a fascinating approach, and I don’t think that’s ever going to happen to me as an actor again."
How do you see Cassian and his motives this time?
Diego Luna says: "He’s very wounded but he must find a way to understand and become part of something bigger like the rebel alliance. He’s very afraid of how life has taken everything away from him and he doesn’t know where to place his anger, resentment and pain. He lives in a very selfish way. In his struggle to survive he forgot he could be part of something bigger. In the first season he kind of understands something about that and realises he has that potential but in this final season he has to deal with all his fears and get on with the huge fight ahead."
Was it difficult to act out the yearly time jumps in every three episodes of Andor season 2?
Diego Luna explains: "Yes because Cassian has to go through many phases. There are major changes and big jumps in time this season. Every three episodes, you move on a year. There are four blocks of three episodes and each block is a moment in time and then a year jumps on and viewers go on to another moment in time. Keeping that in mind and planning the story arc wasn’t easy. On a personal level, every step in the journey was a step closer to the heroic end of Cassian. I went through saying goodbye to Cassian in the movie Rogue One and I was ok with that. But then the prequel Andor happened and I got to play him all over again but at en earlier time and when I was older!"
Were there any challenging moments for you when it came to filming scenes for Andor season 2?
Diego Luna says, while chuckling: "Well I wasn’t any younger so the physical side of all the action scenes had become ever more challenging. You do feel it every morning on set when your body reminds you how old you actually are! We also shot a big chunk of it in England in January which is pretty cold for a Mexican like me! They always found a way to shoot on a very warm planet when it was bitterly cold weather so you could see your own breath.
"You think, this isn’t going to work on screen, but they could fix that digitally! What they couldn’t fix for actors is that you’re absolutely freezing and shivering and have to pretend you are nice and warm. That is challenging for anyone, but cold weather is definitely worse to cope with for a Mexican! Also very challenging was trying to keep all the information in my head, such as where we were in the story and how this affected things. Following events over four different years was hardcore."
Andor reveals the history of how the rebellion started… so what significance does this show have for the whole of the Star Wars franchise?
Diego Luna explains: "Cassian’s journey matters in the Star Wars universe because it shows regular people having to get their hands dirty. They have to get involved in the rebellion for survival and that’s why Andor is unique. It’s about how the community understands their strength. The cherry on top is definitely the movie Rogue One. There you see the rebels risk everything to the point where they are sacrifices to a greater cause…"
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