Writer-directorTony Gilroyhas garnered a lot of praise — rightly so — for his contributions to the galaxy far, far away. He made hisStar Warsdebut with the highly-acclaimedRogue One, which he co-wrote withChris Weitz, which followed the titular Rebel group on a mission to steal the Death Star plans.
Now with the Disney+ seriesAndor, which has also received widespread acclaim, Gilroy is bringing his sharp,incisive storytellingto the small screen — even if the stories themselves don’t feelany smaller in scale. Gilroy has put pen to paper for five of the first season’s 12 episodes, specifically the first three— which premiered on September 21 — and the final two, which are scheduled to release on November 16 and 23 respectively.
But for all that Gilroy has been enjoying writing these glimpses into the life of Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), as well as playing a part in theoverall creative processas the executive producer of the series, it does make one wonder: has he ever been tempted to take a turn in thedirector’s chair? After all, he is a talented director who countsMichael ClaytonandThe Bourne Legacyamong his credits. As he told Collider’s ownSteve Weintraubin a 1-on-1 interview, the answer is, in a word, no.
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As he told Weintraub:
“It’s just impossible. It’s absolutely impossible. I couldn’t even think about it. I have way too much else to do. I can’t do it. And also, you know what? It’s not good for the show because it’s really good when they come in if they can get infected with what you’re doing. They have three [to] four months to prep and 55 days to shoot. It’s big. They get a lot of time. We spend a lot of time with them. But if they can really be infected with the vibe of the show, and do everything, they come in and they bring all their new energy, and they bring all their new ideas, and they bring all their stuff, and they go farther. There are scenes where if I directed them, I would’ve been half as ambitious as the directors that did it.”
The Syril-Dedra Interrogation Scene
Gilroy is quick to give credit where credit is due, however, and as a director himself, he recognizes where other perspectives come into play and can heighten the material.
Citing a scene whereDedra Meero (Denise Gough) interrogates Syril Karn(Kyle Soller) at the Imperial Security Bureau, Gilroy commends directorToby Haynesfor how it all unfolded, saying:
“Toby’s interrogation scene between Syril and Dedra where she brings them into the ISB and there’s a two-part scene? My version of that would’ve been like, “Oh my God, it’s like a police interrogation room and there’s a mirror and there’s a thing…” I was tired, and when I saw what they were doing, I was like, “Really? We’re going to have this set and this whole thing. Do we really need it? Is that going to be okay? Go ahead.”
“Man, when I saw what he did, I was like, “Man, God bless you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” So that’s what they do. When it works well, but there’s another version where you don’t get exactly what you want. But mostly it’s up and you really need that.”
The first nine episodes ofAndorare streaming now on Disney+. Look for more from our exclusive interview with Tony Gilroy soon.
