We have been raving about the Star Wars series Andor ever since it made its debut on Disney+, reintroducing Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hero Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) in a prequel that fills in some gaps on his journey toward being a leader of the Rebellion. And over the course of the first Andor season, series head writer Tony Gilroy also helped the audience feel like we, little by little, were getting swept up in the fires of rebellion as well. We were rooting for Andy Serkis to break free from his prison confines, and for Luna to come to the rescue of Adria Arjona. And we couldn’t help but cheer when, during the finale, the hologram of the deceased Maarva Andor (Fiona Shaw) implored the people of Ferrix to rise up against their oppressors and “Fight the Empire!”
Except, that’s not what she was supposed to say.
Benjamin Caron directed the season finale of Andor, titled “Rix Road.” It’s a majestic slice of storytelling, with multiple threads converging on a very public gathering that’s set to the rhythmic beats of a group chant, matched to Maarva Andor’s speech. There has been a rumor that this key moment in the Andor story was meant to finally include the first F-bomb in Star Wars on-screen history. And they filmed it! But then Disney stepped in. Appearing on CinemaBlend’s ReelBlend podcast to discuss is spectacular new film Sharper, Caron opened up about that scene in Andor, and the original line, “Fuck the Empire!” He told us:
Yeah, that was all Tony (Gilroy). Right from the very beginning, he was like, ‘We're gonna do this. We're gonna get away with this. I mean, Disney have said no. But there is no way I'm… I am not letting them get away with this!’ And I was like, ‘All right, okay, we're gonna do it.’ And then, uh, yeah.
Caron stopped short of naming specific people who finally told him and Tony Gilroy that they couldn’t include “Fuck the Empire” at the end of Fiona Shaw’s speech. But when we asked him if they actually filmed her saying it, he confirmed:
Hell yeah! I mean, Fiona Shaw? That was like the first thing that came out of her mouth when we were shooting that! And then the producer was like, ‘Okay, you need to get a safety.’ And I'm like, ‘Oh, come on.’ They were like, ‘You need a safety.’ So, yeah. In my head, when I see that, I hear ‘Fuck the Empire,’ not ‘Fight the Empire.’
Find out details on The Bad Batch, The Mandalorian, Skeleton Crew and more upcoming Star Wars projects!
And now on, for the remainder of time, we will hear that, as well. Star Wars has been rolling through season two of The Bad Batch, while the upcoming Star Wars calendar lets us know that season three of The Mandalorian will happen later in February. It’s a very exciting year for Star Wars, with the debut of Skeleton Crew, the return of Ashoka (Rosario Dawson) in her own show, and The Acolyte. Make sure that Disney+ is on in your home, so that you don’t miss any of the exciting things happening in the Star Wars universe!
