GENEVIEVE O’REILLY

The actor on reprising the Mothma of all roles…

Was it an easy decision to play Mon Mothma again?

I had met Tony Gilroy on Rogue One, where he had come in and knitted that piece together. But he was leading on this. And he’s someone you jump on board with. He’s a deeply passionate, brilliant, charismatic, fiercely intelligent person… very exciting to work with. So it was an easy “Yes, please!”

Where do we find Mon as the show begins?

She’s a member of the Galactic Senate, representing her planet Chandrila. Unsurprisingly, she’s a minority voice. She’s fighting for diplomacy, advocating for people who are easily overlooked in this time of Imperial control. She believes that politics can change things. But we see her not just as a politician but as a woman. It’s a lovely place to explore this character who, of course, I’ve been curious about for a number of years.

Even in her brief appearances, the character has her share of memorable lines… is that the case here?

Yes. Obviously I can’t give too much away, but there were certainly some speeches to learn! And I loved that. I loved that in a show where you have can all these explosive fights, there’s also time for words, and that you can see how they can be both effective and ineffective. But you certainly see that she’s a woman who is trying to fight with her voice.

The show looks even grittier than Rogue One…

It’s definitely true to that world. It’s knee-deep in muck and dirt. It’s about people struggling against a force that’s too great for them. It’s about communities fighting to find each other. You also have the political sphere that Mon Mothma is part of, but this show recognises there can be people fighting for the same thing within two worlds that can look very, very different.

Did you revisit any part of Star Wars history in preparation for Andor?

I went back to the beginning, to Caroline Blakison – a wonderful English actress – and her performance [as Mon Mothma] in Return

Of The Jedi. She does a lot in a short space of time. I think I recognise so much in her speech there. She’s sending people out, asking them to sacrifice themselves. And you see within her a pain, a pathos, a weight she’s carrying. And I’ve always been curious about that. Who is that woman? What did she have to do to get to that place? I think we’ve gone some way to unearthing that…