‘Andor’ stars praise the beauty of using practical locations and effects

Andor stars Diego Luna and Fiona Shaw heap praise on the practical locations and the effects used in the Disney Plus series. Luna plays the titular role of Cassian Andor and Shaw plays Maarva, a new character in the Star Wars universe. Both of them are excited about the choices made for the series that will set it apart.

In an interview with Empire, Luna commented on how the old-school approach to Rogue One prequel series helped him dive into the character and the world.

“As an actor, it’s beautiful. Everything is mechanical. You’re interacting with real stuff. In Pitlochry, Scotland, we had to walk for hours up a mountain to set up one shot. Huge effort. Really dangerous to get there. All you can see around you is sky, trees, rivers, lakes. Amazing! Like being on another planet.”

The official Andor Trailer showed beautiful, sprawling shots of the natural environment as people looked to the skies and saw the Empire descend upon them. The report confirmed that while massive sets were built at Pinewood Studio, the series also shot in real-world locations, leaving behind the infamous Volume in favor of the real thing.

Shaw talked about how Maarva relied on actual physical props and her reaction to this choice.

“My character’s house is built from parts of old spaceships. I used to go out and just stare at it. Breathtaking.”

Details are scarce about Maarva, but based on what’s seen she’s well aware of the impending doom all of them face. She delivers a line stating, “People are standing up. That’s what a reckoning sounds like,” which appears to be a major theme in the series.

Another sign that this story is going old-school is that Andor is bringing back an iconic Star Wars Location. Since the series takes place five years prior to Rogue One, the Senate on the City Planet of Coruscant will be revisited. The Imperial Cog was a major setpiece in the prequels as it was where Palpatine manipulated his way to power, and with this series being so political, it will likely be just as important here.

Andor‘s premiere date has moved three weeks later to September 21, but it will launch with three episodes, which helps take some of the sting off of the delay.