Andor: Star Wars Series Has 30 Major Characters and 190 Speaking Parts

A revolution is about its people — and the Rebellion is just beginning on Star Wars: Andor. A total of 24 episodes across two seasons span the five years before Cassian Andor’s (Diego Luna) heroic sacrifice to steal the Death Star plans in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, with “Episode 1” beginning in 5 BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin). Andor unspools its epic story over multiple planets — Morlana One, Fennix, Coruscant, Al-Dhani, and Cassian’s homeworld of Kenari — all with their own beings fighting for freedom or oppressive Imperial rule. 

Along with returning Rogue One characters Cassian, Republic senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), and Clone Wars veteran Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), Andor introduces a new cast of characters that includes Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona), Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård), Maarva (Fiona Shaw), droid B2EMO (Dave Chapman), and Imperials Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) and Dedra Meero (Denise Gough). 

“I always start with too many characters and wind up whittling them down. This time I don’t have to,” showrunner and series creator Tony Gilroy, who co-wrote Rogue One and directed its reshoots, told NME. “We have 25-30 characters that [are central to the plot] and we have 190 speaking parts in the show.”

The grimy and gritty spy thriller takes place all across the Star Wars galaxy — from the far reaches of the Outer Rim to the heart of the Republic on Coruscant — with allies and enemies alike weaving in and out of a narrative taking a deep dive into these five formative years of Cassian’s life. 

“We’re going to start with one thriller by having the Cassian Andor story go all the way through this. But as he impacts other people all around him, and as other people get involved, we spread out and go wide with the story,” Gilroy explained in a press brief. “We’re carrying a lot of characters, and as they spin out, they all have their own thrillers. I’m really pleased with the fact we could keep so much combustion, and so much kinetic tension, and so much adrenaline in all of our subplots.”

Gilroy continued: “And it means when they collide in the story, and when they come together, it just adds all this extra heat. From a storytelling point of view, it’s pretty exciting.”

Starring Diego Luna, Genevieve O’Reilly, Stellan Skarsgård, Adria Arjona, Denise Gough, Kyle Soller, and Fiona Shaw, new episodes of Star Wars: Andor are streaming Wednesdays on Disney+.