As published on CLAUDIA

I only noticed that I couldn’t stop smiling at Diego Luna when I saw myself on the video after the end of our online chat, with him in Mexico and me in Brazil. The conversation via Zoom was to talk about the huge success of Andor, chosen by critics who had access to the full episodes as the best drama series of 2025. I’m among them (hence the inevitable smile).

Diego is the big star of the spin-off of the spin-off: the first time we saw him as the rebel Cassian Andor was in the film Rogue One, in 2016, that is, almost 10 years ago. The Andor series arrived on the Disney+ platform in 2022, leaving us even more amazed by the brilliance of director and screenwriter Tony Gilroy, who brought the “common” rebels to the Star Wars universe, those who did not have the luxury or skills of Jedis, but who gave their lives to save the Galaxy from the tyranny of the Empire. Now it is not just about action, but the entire political and tense plot that wove together the rebel movement, later led by Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker.

If Rogue One anticipated the film Star Wars: A New Hope, the Andor series anticipates by five years everything that happens in the 2016 film, forever changing our vision of what we thought we knew. There are sacrifices, there are romances, there are fights, there are disagreements, there is despair, and there is hope. Everything is tied up in the smallest details, nothing – NOTHING AT ALL – is left loose, and the emotion is inevitable, especially for big fans of the franchise like me.

The initial idea was that each season of Andor would cover one year in Cassian’s life, but that would be unfeasible, and the second season will be the last: advancing one year every three episodes. I know it sounds rushed and difficult, but it’s not. We can easily follow the twists and turns (and there are many). There are surprises right up until the very last scene, but it’s so much better without SPOILERS that I’ll try not to go into details. Sorry!

We find Cassian increasingly involved with the rebellion, living a romance with Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona), the traumatized mechanic who brings an even more complex layer to my favorite hero of the entire saga. In the first season of Andor, it is precisely Bix who, indirectly, changes Cassian’s destiny by putting him in touch with the plot that will culminate in Rogue One. She is a character who remains mysterious within the Star Wars universe because, despite her importance, she is absent from all the following plots. Still, SPOILER ALERT, after Andor, it becomes clear that Bix is ​​a key player in keeping the rebels’ hope alive. And in an unexpected way.

With this in mind and in mind, when actor Diego Luna comments that we will see a completely different Rogue One after the series, he is not exaggerating. Without wanting to disguise my obvious romanticism, after the conclusion of Andor, my “certainty” of the connection between Andor and Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) gained a new perspective, and I put the actor on the spot about the legendary “elevator scene” in the 2016 film. He was elegant in his response. Here is our exclusive chat – NO SPOILERS – with CLAUDIA.

CLAUDIA
Congratulations on the great work in Andor. For me, Cassian is on the same heroic level as Luke Skywalker and is even more active than Han Solo.
DIEGO LUNA
Thank you very much, thank you for that. For me, Cassian is also very special. It’s been 10 years since I’ve worked with a character who made me fall in love with the Star Wars universe again, seeing it from a different perspective. These are stories I had never heard before. In the films that left their mark on me [the initial trilogy], there are many names, there are many anonymous beings who were crucial in the history of this saga, right?

CLAUDIA
Of course. For you, what is the moment – or scene – that most symbolizes Cassian’s transformation into a hero?
DIEGO LUNA
Well, look. I would say that episodes 8 and 9 are crucial for Cassian to get to where he is and become the guy we met in Rogue One, the moment when he finally understands this. The importance of getting involved has a lot to do with the events of episodes 8 and 9 of this second season. I can’t say anything more because they haven’t been released yet.

CLAUDIA
Yes, I saw the episodes and I know exactly what you’re talking about.
DIEGO LUNA
You know exactly what I’m talking about.

CLAUDIA
But, as a fan, I have to ask a question. I always had the impression that there was a very special connection between Cassian and Jyn Erson in Rogue One, even if it wasn’t romantic (because they didn’t have time), but in that elevator, it seems like there was a kiss that we don’t really see. Now, knowing everything we know about Cassian and Bix, could that be romantic imagination? [Diego starts laughing] Don’t break my heart.

DIEGO LUNA
Without a doubt, Rogue One takes on a new meaning when you see Andor. But you also have to accept the complexity that these characters have, and that this reflects ete in Rogue One, giving them the possibility to be contradictory. I’ll let you answer the question because I think all the information is there now. Now you have all the tools to decide what it means not only that moment, but every moment of Rogue One, and what’s behind those words he says and those decisions he makes. [laughs] The only thing I can tell you is that yes, Rogue One becomes more complex once we have Andor in mind.

CLAUDIA
Okay, I’ll continue with my imagination: there was a moment, I’m a romantic, and after all, it was their last moments…
DIEGO LUNA
[laughing] … I’m also a romantic! I’m also a romantic, and I think Cassian is a romantic, even if he doesn’t seem like it.

[It’s official then: Diego Luna allowed me to fantasize about the kiss between Cassian and Jyn in the elevator]

CLAUDIA
So I have more hope that it wasn’t just imagination. But… knowing what we know now about Andor’s final surprise, which we won’t say here: do you think Cassian would have done anything differently if he had known?

DIEGO LUNA
[surprised and after a long silence, reflecting]
I don’t know. It’s a good question, I don’t think so, I don’t think so…

CLAUDIA
It’s something that changes the ending of Rogue One quite a bit…
DIEGO LUNA
Yes! [Thinks for a while longer] But I don’t think so. I don’t think Cassian would have done anything differently, but, well, we’ll never know…

CLAUDIA
True, really, very sad. And after these 10 years, what is the main message you take from Andor and Star Wars, and would like us to take with you too?
DIEGO LUNA
Without a doubt, both personally and professionally, both as an actor and producer, this character and this story are the importance of community, not the importance of being part of a community, but of recognizing and finding yourself in a community. I am deeply grateful to the [Star Wars] Community to which I belong today thanks to this project, to all the people who have followed our wor,k and for whom what we have done is important. The community of professionals and collaborators, with whom I have worked all these years, and learned and grown together.

CLAUDIA
Again: congratulations. For me, this is the best series of the year and one of the best in the Star Wars universe.
DIEGO LUNA
Thank you very much. Thank you.