- 3 days ago
'Andor' star Diego Luna chats with THR's Borys Kit to talk all about the Disney+ series during a THR Frontrunners conversation series recorded at the San Vincente Bungalows in West Hollywood earlier in May.
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00:00Well, I don't know. I cannot talk about that because that that's not out yet. Sorry. I was about to make a spoiler.
00:08OK, no spoilers. No, no, no.
00:17Thank you for organizing this. Like I got to see it on a big screen.
00:21I know it doesn't always happen, right? I think they should be showing this stuff on the big screen and like at the El Capitan every week.
00:27I agree with you. I agree with you. Can I just mention one thing?
00:32Yeah, of course. I just thought we have the director here sitting there, the director of the episode you just saw.
00:40So Adi is here.
00:44We're lucky to have Ariel here. He's directed the first six, I think. Right?
00:48Si. Two blocks. Yeah. I'm so glad you're here. You're going to help me with some specifics.
00:57How often do you get to see yourself like this on screen? Do you like watching yourself?
01:02No, I don't. I don't either. I like this show because it's an ensemble piece.
01:07It allows me to see wonderful actors. I don't like seeing myself much.
01:16It's not... I do it like I need to do it regularly. With everything I do, I see it at least once.
01:26But it's not good. It's not good. I want to fix things, you know? I want to get it better.
01:32My mind changes also. You grow, time passes. You see things from a different perspective.
01:39You talk to people about it and the performance stays the same, you know?
01:44We change, but that doesn't change.
01:46But that being said, I love the possibility of watching Andor on a big screen.
01:53I've been going to... I asked today to witness the whole thing, not come at the end, because it's very special.
02:00I think the amount of work put behind this show, we're all people that learn to do this by doing films, you know?
02:09And we think on a frame where everything matters and where you let audiences decide where to go, you know?
02:17A rich frame, and this is a very rich frame that is great when you see it this size and not in a phone or on an iPad, you know?
02:26That's awesome. I was glad to see this is a massive screen, so cool.
02:29Now, obviously, there's a lot to digest in this show, in this episode, Andor, to me, is a very specific type of show.
02:39It's a spin-off prequel to a movie who some consider to be, you know, one of the best Star Wars movies ever made,
02:49and it has a definite ending for a lot of the characters, including yourself.
02:54But before we get to talking more specifically about this, I want to actually go back to the very beginning of Rogue One, actually.
03:04And what was the casting process like for that, when you were first cast as Cassian Andor? Do you remember?
03:11Yes, I'm never going to forget.
03:13It's not like this happens twice in your life.
03:18It was so weird.
03:22This was 11 years ago, and I got a phone call that someone wants to see you.
03:30We think he is the director of the new Star Wars film.
03:37That's the information I had.
03:38And I was asked to go on a meeting on a Sunday in L.A., and I live in Mexico.
03:45So I said, OK, let's go.
03:47Let's take the meeting.
03:48The director is Gareth Edwards, and I go to a restaurant, and he's sitting in an empty restaurant.
03:55It sounds like I'm making up the story, but it's not.
03:59But he's sitting next to a wall with his computer open, just there by himself.
04:04And he's young.
04:05He feels my age.
04:07I don't know.
04:07But there's a young guy sitting with a computer open.
04:11I sit down.
04:12The waiter receives me, sits me down in Spanish, says goodbye in Spanish.
04:17And I stay with him.
04:19And he starts talking nonstop about the possibility of this film and telling me the whole story of a film.
04:24And he keeps saying, so then this guy does this, and then she does this, but he does this.
04:29And I go, like, what is he talking about?
04:32And at the very end, I was like, well, what is this going to be about?
04:36Like, he wants the number of another actor.
04:38Like, you know, I always make the joke with Gael that I always thought he was going to ask me for Gael's one number.
04:45But he goes, like, I would like you to play this role.
04:49I really didn't, like, I didn't see it coming.
04:53I didn't know what he meant, really.
04:57And then he started explaining.
04:59I want to, I'm here, we're supposed to do a different film with a different tone in the acting.
05:06I love your work.
05:08And imagine, like, Star Wars with the actors in a tone close to it, to Mama Tambien.
05:16And I was like, now you sound crazy.
05:19But he basically pitched me the whole story and said, like, look, I would love to work with you, but now we have to convince everyone else.
05:30Do you want to go through the ride with me?
05:33And various auditions happened after that.
05:37It was, like, months to receive the final call.
05:41And I went through that process, not hoping anything, but live through it, you know, because I really, in every step, I thought it wasn't going to happen.
05:54Like, there was no reference for me to say, like, this makes sense, you know.
05:58It was clearly something new in this universe.
06:00I think Rogue One, that's what makes Rogue One so special, that it's a very different film, meant to be different, has a definitive ending, you know.
06:10It's about characters you've never heard before, you know.
06:14You don't see films about them.
06:17And, yeah, it was quite a process.
06:21It was a year and a half of craziness.
06:23Also, you can't tell anyone.
06:25You know, I can't tell my family.
06:27I flew to London once.
06:28They got me through a back door of a hotel to do an audition there.
06:33It was bizarre.
06:35Bizarre.
06:36That's awesome.
06:37Yeah.
06:38And then at one point, you were asked to reprise the character.
06:44This time is a series.
06:46Now, how did that process, like, even mentally, you know, I don't know if it was Tony or who came to you and said, hey, we want you to come back at this time, do a series.
06:55No, first it all started.
06:59The other day I was, like, touring because you'll see, obviously, if you like the show, you'll keep watching and you'll see that we get really close to Rogue One.
07:09And, actually, it ends at the beginning of Rogue One.
07:13So many characters from Rogue One will come.
07:15And I was doing promotion with Alan Tudyk, who plays K-2SO, the droid.
07:23And he reminded me that we made jokes on set about something similar, you know, about, like, revisiting the characters later.
07:32And that happened in Rogue One.
07:36But that was just us actors making fun of that we actually were the only ones doing Star Wars and making sure there was no chance to do another one because we died at the end, you know.
07:46So, it was, like, my daughter said on the premiere, like, but you're not coming back.
07:57And I go, like, no, baby.
07:58I was just for a film and she's, like, you don't do this, you know.
08:02And all of you, no, this is wrong.
08:06But, anyway, so I think the first time was two years later that I received a call from Lucasfilm.
08:13And it was, again, something bizarre, you know.
08:19It was called to say, like, would you be willing to explore the possibility of doing something with the character, you know.
08:27It was very vague.
08:28And I said, yes, of course, let's talk about it.
08:31And when we talked, it made complete sense because I think there is, it is a great, like, narrative tool to have such a strong and definite.
08:43Ending of a character and not knowing anything about him, you know.
08:48It's beautiful to start building something, to create an arc, an interesting one.
08:54I think there was a big chance.
08:56All the mystery around Cassian was very helpful to do something in a long format where we could have time.
09:04I thought it sounded like a great opportunity.
09:07And it was then that Tony Gilroy got involved.
09:11And when he came in, he pitched me his idea on the arc he was hoping to draw and how far we were going to find him.
09:21And that he wanted to end just right into, like, just a second before Rogue One starts, you know, for the character.
09:30And he pitched me that, yeah, six years ago.
09:33Wow.
09:34It's been, it's been a long time.
09:36How has your approach to the character changed from the first time you played him back in the movie to how you play, play him now on the, on the, on the series?
09:45Huge.
09:46There is so many, there's so many, there's so many coincidences and there's so many connections that the story we are telling have with the backstory I made myself, you know.
09:57Because I bring everything, I bring myself into the mix, you know, and, and, and my perspective, my context becomes important part of any role I play.
10:06There's no way not to, you know.
10:08But it was very interesting to see how in tune I was with Tony's perspective on, on who this guy could be, you know.
10:19This, the, from the beginning, for me, the idea of being so different, having this different accent and being in a place where no one knows where, who he is, where he comes from.
10:29And, uh, and, uh, I, I thought, well, this guy's been forced to move, you know, he's been forced to migrate.
10:35Everything has been taken away from him.
10:38Uh, and, uh, and, and that's how I connected with the role.
10:42And when you see that story, that backstory in the first season, you know, it has a lot of connection.
10:48It has a lot of connection with what I had in mind.
10:50And, but I have to say that there is, I mean, the beauty of this show is that it is, it is, it serves the perspective of one person, you know.
11:04It serves the perspective and the vision of Tony Gilroy.
11:07And, uh, and he is, he has answers for everything, really.
11:13Like, nothing is there just because it's cool or because it's going to create an effect on the audience, you know.
11:20Things are very well planned and everything connects.
11:24And, and it's beautiful because when he shows you the world, when he goes deep into the specifics, you suddenly, you, you understand it perfectly and, and you are there.
11:34And on this second season, he made it even more difficult, you know, for us, audience, for us, performers, for everyone.
11:41Like the time jumps, the, the gaps we have to fill, uh, but it's all there.
11:46If you, if you go through the writing, if you go through the lines, you know, everything is there.
11:52All the information you need to know, to understand perfectly what's going on is there, you know.
11:58So I think you even see it in the characters' faces.
12:01I don't know how many people have seen episodes, uh, four, five, and six, which are already out.
12:05But you can, you, but it's each, each three episodes jump a year later into the series, getting us closer to, to Rogue One.
12:14And you can see physically, the, the, obviously there's an emotional difference, but also physically, I think some of the characters change as well.
12:23Uh, and then for you specifically, how do you, I don't know if you shot this show in order, uh, episodes, the episodes were shot in order, or were you just jumping around?
12:32Because how do you, as an actor, get to the place where you have to be as a character in the first arc, in the second arc, in the third arc?
12:40Well, yeah, very, very little sleep, a lot of worry, a lot of notes in all the, you know, I still work with the scripts printed because I need to see it.
12:52It's, it gets confusing, definitely, but we have a, we have, there is a system, you know, uh, uh, there is a system from the first season that I think we got really good at it.
13:03And, and, and it's that we break it, production-wise, we break it in four blocks.
13:09So, each block does have a beginning and an end, and it, it's its own unit, you know, uh, there is a director, uh, uh, DOP working on it for three months before, three months, right?
13:22Good three months of pre-production, then we go on production, and you finish that block.
13:27And then, you start the other one, and sometimes one starts before the other ends, you know.
13:32Uh, uh, in, in order to get things on time and, and, and to get the ball moving and not stopping.
13:39But, um, but yes, we, answering to, to the, the strict order, no, we didn't shoot in chronological order.
13:46In fact, the scenes you just saw, the very end of this episode was the very end for our shoot.
13:55It was the way we, I, I finished like a kid playing on a cockpit, you know, and the gimbal, you know.
14:02It was like going back to being eight years old and playing, I could take all from, from my ship.
14:09But yeah, and the, the end of that, the, the, the Adria, Adria sequence, uh, and all of that was the, the last days of shooting.
14:19Um, and it was quite emotional.
14:23I mean, I don't, you, you didn't ask that, but I was going to tell you how much I miss them.
14:28Uh, no, but it's, it was, it was, it was, uh, we showed it out of order.
14:33But one thing we do is that we have a, we have a good pre-production time before each block.
14:39Uh, and that's, uh, I mean, I'm glad he's not here so I can say good things about him, uh, without ruining anything.
14:47But he's, he, he, the way Tony collaborates is very special, you know, because in his writing, he, he involves Luke Hall, who's the set designer, you know.
15:01And, uh, so he doesn't write, uh, about, like, a, a cinema.
15:06When he's going to write about a cinema and a screening happening in that cinema, he sits with Luke Hall and says, okay, it's going to have five, uh, five, six people seated like this.
15:16It's going to be packed.
15:17It's going to be, like, you know, a wood in California.
15:21So they design the place, and then he goes writing.
15:24So when he writes, he can be very specific.
15:27The action belongs to a place, and the, uh, and, and that piece of writing is already a collaboration, right?
15:34Then the next step happens, which is, like, we actors get, like, close to the material, and we, and we read, and we talk to him, and, and we make questions, and we suggest things, and, and that also kind of, like, has another, uh, enriches the page, you know.
15:50But then directors take it, and Ari won't let me, like, this is, even though it's television, there's a moment where it belongs to them.
16:00Uh, you don't have the writer on set, you know, giving notes to the actors, tell them.
16:06The writer, the writer works really hard with the director, gives him all the tools, but when we're executing, it feels like you're in a film set, and you're working with a director who's in control of the decisions, and who's there.
16:19And you, as an actor, you know your character very well.
16:21It's like doing a film that you've been doing all your life, or for 10 years, no?
16:25So you also have many of those answers, but there's a feeling of freedom, and, uh, and, uh, an opportunity to discover new things, because there's already enough, uh, a very rich, uh, scene happening.
16:39So, but we also shoot in location, and we shoot in real sets that are built, and we interact with real things.
16:46So there's accidents that happen that enrich, also, the, the process, and make it even better, no?
16:52So, it, it, there is, there is a lot of clarity on what we're doing.
16:57And then going back to your question that you made, like, an hour ago.
17:01Sorry.
17:02There is a lot of clarity on what are we doing on set, and, uh, and, and Tony's been there through the whole process to the point where he doesn't have to be there, and we all know what his vision is, and where we're aiming.
17:15And, uh, he, and he's then watching dailies in the morning, and, and by midday, you already have a message from him saying if he loved it, and, and why, you know?
17:26But there, there is a sense of, like, yeah, of, of, of, uh, of clarity through the whole process that, uh, that makes this very complex machine actually work.
17:36And you guys shot in real sets, like you said, right?
17:38This wasn't the volume or anything like that.
17:40You guys were really out in fields.
17:42I think, I think we owe a lot to Rogue One, uh, because Rogue One had that in mind.
17:48It was, the idea of Rogue One was to honor, like, the genesis of Star Wars and that filmmaking, that it was very mechanical, very, it was, you know, the, the, the droids move, and they have a voice, and there's an actor behind them, behind the, the, the, the creatures.
18:05There's teams sometimes of two, three people working on a creature, and you're interacting with, uh, the sets are built, and, uh, with the first season, we couldn't go in, in as many locations as we planned, because, uh, we were shooting on COVID.
18:21Um, but, uh, on the second season, yes, we went to, uh, all of the, the, the, in Valencia, we shot in, uh, out of London, a lot, in, in, in, in England.
18:35We shot in Barcelona, uh, yeah, we traveled a little bit.
18:39And then beautiful things happen.
18:41You, you can't control everything, you know?
18:43And, uh, and, uh, and you're working against the sun, and it suddenly feels like filmmaking 20 years ago, you know, that kind of energy.
18:53No tennis balls.
18:54No, no, no, no, no.
18:57I'll, uh, no, I cannot talk about that, because that, that's not out yet.
19:01Sorry.
19:01I was about to make a spoiler.
19:05All right, okay, no spoilers.
19:05No, no, no.
19:06Uh, so Cassian is such a complex character.
19:11Um, and he's obviously a thief.
19:12He's, he's been a prisoner.
19:14He's a, you know, he's a fashion designer.
19:16It's, uh, it's, uh, it's like, it's like, it's like watching, uh, the show should be called, like, Andor Undercover.
19:22Uh, but, uh.
19:24It's all because of Luthen, eh?
19:25Luthen is, he's a good teacher.
19:28Um.
19:28A good mentor.
19:29But he is, and he does have a complex relationship that we'll, you see with, with Luthen.
19:34But he also has a complex relationship with, uh, with Bix.
19:37That's the character played by, uh.
19:40Adria Arjona.
19:41Adria Arjona, yes.
19:42And Cassian is willing to sacrifice a lot, but not when it comes to Bix.
19:47No.
19:47Can you tell me a bit about their relationship?
19:50Yeah.
19:51It's, uh, I'm, I'm gonna, uh, well, you, a few have seen the next block.
19:56Um, but, uh, those of you who don't, like, the next block starts a year later.
20:03You know, but, uh, but, but we just witness what happened there, you know?
20:07You can just imagine the conversation Cassian and Bix are gonna have once that ship lands somewhere, you know?
20:15And, uh, and, uh, what they just went through.
20:17So the next time we see them, it's a year later.
20:20And we know this has been, you know, take it in.
20:25And, uh, and, uh, and, uh, and that's what happens with the, this structure, you know?
20:29That relations are very, are so charged, emotionally charged.
20:34Uh, and, uh, I was looking at the, at the screening, uh, at the, at this episode.
20:40And I, it just reminded me how important love becomes in the second season, you know?
20:47Love in every form also, like friends, like, and, and you can't talk revolution if, if there's no love involved.
20:55You know, there's something romantic and, and naive behind the idea of revolution that comes with that kind of, like, you see what I mean?
21:04Oh, I, I have the whole question about love.
21:06Love in Star Wars.
21:07And what you'll see is there's, like, fascist love.
21:11There's rebel love.
21:12And, and what you see, the complex relationships.
21:15You see, and, and I might, I might jump ahead by an episode or two, so hopefully I, you know, there's no spoilers.
21:20But, like, you see, you know, our, our imperial couple the way they are.
21:26You see Bix and Cassian.
21:28You see, well, even Mon Mothma and, and her husband.
21:31They have a very unique relationship.
21:34You know, we're, we're at a wedding here.
21:36And there's all these different permutations.
21:38And, and, and, and, and the young, the young boy that just said goodbye, you know?
21:44And running in, like, there's everyone, like, the beauty of this is not just a reminder of what you sacrifice, what you put in a side when you join a rebellion like this, when you join revolution.
21:58But it's what needs to be behind, you know?
22:00What drives revolution is that sense of love, of belonging, of family, you know?
22:07Those are, those are the things that make you fight, you know?
22:10Yes, there is loss, there is injustice, there is, yeah, pain.
22:17There is, like, all of that we can, we, we've seen and we saw a lot in, in the first season.
22:23But all these characters, they are invested emotionally somehow with someone.
22:29And that, that becomes part, a very important part of the second season to understand them.
22:34And, and that's, again, the richness of the writing, that we don't just see people being capable of doing something.
22:40We understand why they are doing it, you know?
22:43That with a, with a very few scenes, you understand why all these people would want something better.
22:49I think love in this show equals hope.
22:52Uh-huh.
22:52Yeah.
22:53Definitely.
22:54And there's, there's so much love that there's more love in this series than almost in probably the rest of Star Wars.
23:02Well, you said that.
23:03Uh-huh.
23:04You said that, and they laughed.
23:06And I just witnessed.
23:09But I think, I think there is, there is these things where, I mean, I, I couldn't stop laughing about the way they're prepping, you know,
23:18dinner at home and getting ready, cereal and Deidre.
23:23Those guys, it's like, but, but I was, I was thinking, it's very subtle, the writing of, of Mr. Gilroy.
23:33Uh, you know, but he gives hints.
23:36He says things, and you were asking about how the relation of Biggs and Cassian has changed.
23:41And, uh, we don't see, we have them, we see them together for two seconds.
23:48When they hug, we understand, you know, we understand, I guess.
23:52I hope you understand.
23:54Uh, but, uh, but, uh, but he, he's trying to call home.
23:58And it's just one line, you know.
24:00I want to call home.
24:02And when he says home, he means Biggs.
24:05And you, you know, she's on the other side.
24:07And, and, and he tells you everything.
24:11He tells you how the, the relation evolved.
24:14You know, if you remember the first season, the, the, the character, Biggs would say, like,
24:20I mean, you, you're not here.
24:22You always leave, no?
24:24Uh, and now they call each other home.
24:27Uh, and I think it's, uh, it's, it's, again, it's, it's very beautiful because all those layers
24:33are there, are there for you to see if you want, if you don't, nothing, nothing happens.
24:39You still understand the big picture and what they're running away from and what's happening.
24:44Uh, but all these characters have this opportunity to dream and, and to dream about being with
24:50someone.
24:50And, and I think that's what's going to make the second season very strong emotionally
24:55for, for viewers.
24:57Uh, you're also, uh, an executive producer, uh, on, on this season.
25:01Um, probably working with a huge crew, uh, with, uh, the level on, the level of detail
25:08that goes into create a show like this, like this one, that, that you're, you're, you're
25:13delving deep into cultures in a way that movies, the movies don't.
25:16You've created, uh, an entire language, you have music, how, like, what goes into creating
25:22something like that?
25:24Well, first, that's why we did two seasons.
25:27Uh, at the beginning, when, when Tony pitched it to me, uh, we were talking about doing five
25:33seasons, like everyone in TV signs for, and we signed the same paper, not knowing what
25:40we were doing, very responsible from us.
25:43And, uh, and then we started doing the first one and it took a good year to put together
25:50to like, and then COVID hit it and it was very difficult to shoot and, uh, and building
25:57all the sets takes a long time, you know, uh, Ferex in the first season is a huge, it's
26:04a town, you know, uh, uh, for the second season, we have even more planets that we visit, more,
26:10uh, different scenarios, more speaking parts, therefore the costumes.
26:15Um, so the, the pre-production of this show is really long.
26:19We, we take like two years, two years and a half to have one season ready, you know?
26:25And, uh, so we said like, damn, it's going to be impossible to keep this level, the level
26:31we, we, we were, we had in, in the first season for, for five seasons, you know, I'll be 60
26:38years old, uh, doing this role.
26:41Uh, yeah.
26:44And, uh, it's, it was, it was clear that, uh, there was, there was a great opportunity
26:51to do one more and be even more ambitious and, and more meticulous and more specific and
27:00more, uh, rigorous, you know, in the whole work and it is, it is, it's not just working
27:07with these amazing designers, but it's the, it's the system that Sana Wollemberg kind of
27:14like designed for us to actually execute this way.
27:17Uh, you know, and, uh, and, and it's, it's very interesting to see how it happens and, uh,
27:23how little Tony Gilroy and Sana sleep because there is always something happening, right?
27:29We, we, we are shooting, we are shooting because that's what we do and, and it's very specific
27:34what we have to do as actors, but the pre-production of two other blocks is starting, the post-production
27:40of what you shot is happening, the shooting of the, the, the one happening is going on and
27:47you have the same team for all of it, no? Besides us on set that we are specific to the block
27:53we're shooting. So Michael Wilkinson, I mean, imagine he's the, the, the costume designer,
27:59that wedding, you know, like the, the amount of attention put in every dress you see is the
28:04same of the one you see on the back, the, the one Genevieve is wearing in, in, in, in
28:10the front. The amount of work that, that wedding represented for the team, it's, it's long,
28:17it's long. And the beauty here is that we had the freedom, we had the tools and, and, and they
28:24gave us the time, you know, to, to actually execute this way. I think the, the, the, what the, the
28:30first season brought to us, uh, was the certainty that people were celebrating the show for what
28:38we wanted to make, why, what, for the same reason we wanted to make the show at the beginning,
28:43you know, we wanted to do something that was like robust. I mean, like that, that you could,
28:51you could spend a lot of time, you know, finding more and more layers and more and more details.
28:58You, the, the, the work of designs in, in terms of makeup, hair, and costume, obviously, and sets,
29:05it's just the best I've seen in my life. You know, it's like it's, it's, these, these artists are amazing.
29:10And we can, you, you arrive to a set and you can shoot everywhere, you know, you can move
29:16the camera. I mean, they actually did move the camera in that wedding, like, till the point
29:20they start to get you dizzy, you know, like, you can see all of it, all of it works, you
29:25know. So it's a beautiful, it's a beautiful, like, space for, for, for creativity, you know,
29:33you, you, as actors, as directors, or you, as a photographer, to light those scenarios and, and, and
29:40decide a frame in a place that is so rich. It's, it's, it's been quite a, an amazing experience.
29:46And the language, because the, they've, they've created specific language for this.
29:50And it's, and you've seen the, the, the, the, yeah, the, the next arc, it also puts you into a different
29:57culture with language, with, like, so immersive with the language. It feels like you're almost,
30:03it has like a French hint to it almost, like, you're almost like in, you know, France at, at war time.
30:09Yeah. I mean, obviously it's the, all of that happens because Tony takes the time to write that
30:17and to design that. And there's someone designing everything, you know, with him. But, but yes,
30:22it's, it's, it's time. It's pretty, you know what, I think what makes this show different,
30:29or at least from the very little experience I have in TV is that, uh, we don't start till it's
30:36written. We don't start till it's clear what we're doing and we don't start till we have everything
30:44needed. You know, we, we were ambitious from beginning to end and never, and never had to,
30:49like, make compromises or give up, you know, not at all. We, if something, we, we were patient,
30:56uh, and delay things. But, uh, but, uh, but I think, I think what, what was ideas then became
31:06something real that we could actually see, feel, touch, and, and shoot.
31:10I think, I think it pays off incredibly. Uh, we're going to end pretty soon. Uh, but before we end,
31:16I do want to say, uh, you were, uh, you were just at, uh, Star Wars Celebration in Japan,
31:22uh, just like a week ago. Um, how, and how was that? Uh,
31:26I was there too. You were there too. You want to tell me how was yours? Oh, how much sake was
31:38involved in your? Not too much sake, not too much sake, but, uh, just, it was just, it's a lot. Being
31:45in Japan is one thing. And then seeing, having Star Wars in Japan is a, is a whole other level.
31:50And it is, it is. And, and the other thing is, is that there's not, it wasn't just Japan. There was
31:57125 nationalities represented at the, at the event. Uh, can you imagine that? Like that's,
32:06that's the reach of this community. 125 countries made an effort to go to, you know, to go to Japan
32:14and spend three, four days there. And it's, it's truly an event organized by fans and, uh, by, by
32:22followers or, uh, or by, I would say by a community that has a sense of belonging, you know, it's not
32:29as, uh, it doesn't, it can be compared to any other event. I've been to present films or, or TV.
32:37It's very specific, you know, because it's their place. And I think there's, there's a myth of like,
32:42oh, the fans of Star Wars can be like very demanding, or it's, it, it can, it can become
32:49kind of like, uh, uh, yeah, heavy weight in your shoulders to step into this universe because of,
32:56because of the risk of not pleasing them. And, and, and I was asked that at the very beginning. And
33:04since day one, it's been the opposite. And I think where I felt that the most, it was in Japan,
33:09you arrive to a place where everyone cares about the story you're telling. Everyone feels part of
33:15it. Everyone is expecting to see it. You know, there is a, there is a, a, a love connection to what
33:22you've been doing for two years and a half that makes it feel so special. And, uh, and you come out
33:28and there is kind of like an, a very horizontal connection because the audience, they know what you're
33:36talking about. It feels like as if you were talking about their lives, you know, like as if you were
33:43touching on, on, on, on, on things that matter as much to them as they matter to you. And that's very,
33:49very unique. I don't, I've never felt it, but like normally you go out trying to get people's attention
33:54to show them something you've done that no one cares about. No, that's normally what happens when
33:59you have to promote a film or a show. And here you arrive and everyone is like, wow, how did it go?
34:06You know, please tell us. I mean, damn, you took two years, you know, and, and you go like, wow,
34:13that's, that's cool. That's, that makes you feel you are working in something that matters to someone.
34:19And that's already starting in a very successful place, you know? And you, and you, and you sat
34:25there with them as they, you know, for, for autographs and pictures and you interacted with
34:29them. And I, I, I talked to these people and it's, it's, it's, this is a big deal for them.
34:34And for me too. Like I don't, I don't do that like often. For me, it was a big deal too. And, uh,
34:42and being in Japan also was so special, uh, so interesting and also a place where, I mean,
34:48it's a, the film history of Japan is, it has influenced Star Wars very much and cinema, no?
34:55So it was quite interesting to be there celebrating Star Wars. It was cool.
35:00Awesome. And on that note, thank you all.
35:02That's it.
35:05Thank you for coming.
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