Andor star Kyle Soller reveals more details about the Imperial officer Syril. The prequel series takes place five years prior to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and follows a cast of characters rising up and fighting back against the Galactic Empire.
In an interview with Screen Rant, Soller explained Syril’s motivations for wanting to capture Cassian Andor (Diego Luna).
“Syril is working in a kind of bureaucratic sector of the Imperial constellation, except he’s on the very far reaches of the galaxy that we know as Star Wars, where the Empire doesn’t really have a very big influence yet. And he is struggling to make his way up the ranks because what he sees all around him is incompetence and bad business-ship, bad colleagues, and bad bosses.”
“He has quite a strong moral core, and that’s what attracted me most about the character. In one sense, he could be lending his strong moral character and his sense of right and wrong to the Rebel Alliance, but he’s actually choosing— because of his history, his past and his pain, and his circumstances in life—to throw that energy into the Empire. As a result, he’s power hungry. He is desperate for recognition, desperate for things to change, and desperate to capture Cassian Andor.”
Soller’s assessment fits neatly into Luna’s description of Andor, which he describes as an ensemble piece where character’s storylines really matter. Syril isn’t merely just another villain out to get the hero, he has morality and sees how poorly the Imperial constellation operates. Of course, he then uses his gifts against the Rebel Alliance, which puts him back in the bad guy category.
His co-star Denise Gough also explained her character Dedra’s motivation. She too has the propensity for morality, even if she ultimately sides with the Dark Side, and like Syril, she notices how insufficient the Imperial constellation is.
“When we meet her, she’s working for the ISB… Dedra is super ambitious, so I don’t think you could ever have considered if Dedra had used her powers for good. I don’t think she was ever gonna go down that route; she wants to be part of the most powerful organization in the world. And so the way to do that is to prove yourself by doing something that somebody else isn’t doing. And that is catching Cassian Andor—or at least putting everything together so that she can make the ISB really aware of this person. But she’s surrounded by lazy, slouching, corner-cutting boys. And she doesn’t like it, so she’s going to climb the ranks at whatever cost to everyone else.”
Andor will be 12 episodes which makes it the longest season for a Star Wars season to date. Showrunner Tony Gilroy said that he wanted to use Star Wars as the backdrop for genuine dramatic storytelling, and everything coming out about it supports that idea. A great deal of thought has been put into the characters, themes of freedom, and the use of practical effects and real-life locations to make Andor feel distinct from its fellow shows.
Andor premieres September 21 with the first three episodes on Disney Plus.
