Andor: Kyle Soller and Kathryn Hunter Created Backstory About Syril’s Absent Father

The ninth episode of Star Wars: Andor is now streaming on DIsney+ and it featured more insight into the newest character we all love to hate: Syril Karn (Kyle Soller), the former Deputy Inspector for the Preox-Morlana. After he went against orders in the show’s third episode and lost his job, Syril was forced to move in with his mom Eedy (Kathryn Hunter) and their relationship is giving off major Norman and Norma Bates vibes. Recently, Soller had a chat with /Film about the show and revealed he created a backstory about Syril’s absent father.

“Yeah, 100%,” Soller said when asked if he had put any thought into who Syril’s father was. “I had wound up working out my own story and then I started collaborating with Kathryn Hunter about it as well. We had kind of figured out the same thing, that he had left really early on, in a real acrimonious, horrible way. That was a real launchpad for how Eedy then parents Syril, which is by being wronged. And her anger, and grief, and disappointment, and frustration of him leaving just got filtered into Syril. Growing up without a father is – that’s a whole level of Jungian psychology that we could dive into. That’s another podcast-length interview, but it’s heavy, and that absence definitely drives Syril as much as the over-dominating maternal influence.”

Who Is Andy Serkis Playing in Andor?

In addition to new faces like Soller, Andor also features some Star Wars alums, including Andy Serkis. However, the star isn’t playing the same character he played in the Star Wars sequels. Now, Serkis is playing Kino Loy, a fellow inmate of Cassian Andor’s (Diego Luna) on the Narkina 5 prison. Recently, Serkis revealed to Collider that he created an interesting backstory for his new character.

Serkis shared his thoughts on who Kino Loy was before he was arrested by the Empire, and it might change the way you view the character. Serkis imagined Kino as a shop steward who fought for workers’ rights, which labeled him a troublemaker. “When he was incarcerated, he then almost sheds any desire to look out for other people apart from himself. Just do his time and get out. To try and get out and just survive the sentence, the torture, the desensitization. I think it was that desensitization that made me perhaps have that slightly lost but kind of hardened and toughened shell,” Serkis explained. 

Andor releases new episodes on Disney+ on Wednesdays.