Thanks to the success of The Mandalorian and the fan-embraced final season of The Clone Wars, the future of Star Wars television has never been filled with more Empire-thwarting promise. One of the most anticipated Star Wars TV shows coming to Disney+ is Andor, which focuses on Diego Luna's Cassian Andor and takes place around five years before the events of the well-received Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. That film's success as a Star Wars spinoff movie, and its presence on Disney+, have helped keep fans stoked while waiting to hear more updates.
The new Star Wars spin-off series – for which Rogue One writer/director Tony Gilroy serves as showrunner – has arrived on fans streaming devices as of Wednesday, September 21, 2022. However, in case anyone has any questions regarding where else they may have seen all the returning actors and actresses, as well as all the new faces entering into the franchise's canon for the impending spy thriller, let’s take a deeper look at who plays who in the Andor cast.
Diego Luna (Cassian Andor)
Expectedly, this Rogue One prequel tale wouldn't be complete without Cassian Andor himself, Diego Luna, who was one of the first to be attached to the project when it was announced back in 2018, which is great, since fans might have rioted over a recasting. In the years after Rogue One's 2016 release, Luna continued building up his career on the feature side, with the most headline-worthy films being the Flatliners remake and If Beale Street Could Talk. Luna's most recent TV work was Netflix's Narcos: Mexico, and he even more recently joined the DC Universe (sort of) by lending his voice to the DC League of Super-Pets cast in 2022.
Genevieve O'Reilly (Mon Mothma)
Rebel Alliance leader Mon Mothma's Star Wars legacy has spanned decades, covering three films and two TV shows. While Caroline Blakiston took on the role in Return of the Jedi, Genevieve O'Reilly donned the robes for Revenge of the Sith and made a surprise return in Rogue One, while also voicing the character in Star Wars Rebels. (Kath Soucie provided her voice for Mon Mothma in The Clone Wars.) O'Reilly's film output, which has been fairly light, includes appearances in The Snowman and Tolkien, though she's had regular roles on the Australian drama Glitch and the UK/Amazon Prime Video co-distributed drama Tin Star, starring Tim Roth.
Stellan Skarsgård (Luthen)
The patriarch of a Swedish family of actors, Stellan Skarsgård has long been a dependable addition to any production, be it art house drama or genre-centric blockbuster. It's definitely a blessing of sorts to have him joining the Star Wars universe via the Andor cast as Luthen – who is seen in the series’ trailer speaking to Cassian about a box he stole from the Empire. His most recent TV work was for HBO's miniseries, Chernobyl, for which he landed a Supporting Actor Emmy nomination, and his last time acting in a high-concept sci-fi production was when he joined Denis Veilleneuve’s Dune cast as Baron Vladmir Harkonnen. Skarsgård also already has a good relationship with Disney, having portrayed astrophysicist Erik Selvig across five different Marvel movies – the most recent being Thor: Love and Thunder.
Denise Gough (Dedra Meero)
An actress who is, at this point, more familiar to UK audiences than those in the U.S., Denise Gough will be bringing her dramatic flair to Disney+ through Andor as Imperial officer Dedra Meero, whom the actor told The Direct was inspired by Mandalorian star Giancarlo Esposito’s Breaking Bad role, Gus Fring. Gough, who appeared with Genevieve O'Reilly in 2019's A Kid Who Would Be King, is probably best known for her work on the Showtime miniseries, Guerrilla, and the BBC miniseries, Paula.
Kyle Soller (Syril)
UK actor Kyle Soller landed the role of a fellow Darksider named Syril who, as he said during CinemaBlend’s interview with the Andor cast, could have easily joined the Resistance had his situation been different. Though he doesn't have very many U.S. credits to his name, Soller is known here for his work as the titular character's son on PBS' Poldark, as well as for the HBO TV movie Brexit. He does have ties to Disney+, however, with Soller voicing the colorful standout, Dante, on the animated series 101 Dalmatian Street.
Adria Arjona (Bix Caleen)
As a Lightsider who crosses paths with Cassian named Bix Caleen (according to EW), we have Adria Arjona, who began to develop something of a “Geek Goddess” reputation even before joining the Andor cast. She played Dorothy in Emerald City (NBC’s modern, limited series reimagining of Wizard of Oz), battled Kaijus in Pacific Rim: Uprising, played an occultist on Amazon Prime’s Good Omens, and encountered bloodsuckers in the Morbius cast in 2022. She also had a recurring role on True Detective Season 2, starred alongside Ryan Reynolds in Netflix’s 6 Underground, and was the bride in HBO Max’s Father of the Bride remake.
Fiona Shaw (Maarva)
As Cassian’s adoptive mother, Maarva (as Empire confirmed), we have Fiona Shaw, who is no stranger to playing parental figures (but usually not ones quite so loving) having starred in the Harry Potter movies as Aunt Petunia Dursley, 2018’s Lizzie as Abby Borden, and Killing Eve as Carolyn Martens. Also know for the Oscar-winning My Left Foot, the Irish actor’s other notable (and geeky) credits include 1993’s live-action Super Mario Bros. movie, The Avengers (not the one you think, but a 1998 remake of a ‘60s spy show), anthology horror TV show Channel Zero, and Netflix’s Enola Holmes.
If you were not already excited for Disney’s latest small-screen installment for the Star Wars timeline because of the stellar reactions it has received, perhaps the talented Andor cast will convince you to fire up that Disney+ subscription and enjoy another trip to a galaxy far, far away.
