If Tony Gilroy’s “Andor” was to earn only one acting nomination this Emmy season, it would be extremely difficult to pick the recipient. Golden Globe nominee Diego Luna gives the title character, Cassian Andor, a depth barely hinted at in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” Stellan Skarsgard gives an acting master class as Luthen Rael, a rebel organizler who puts on a charismatic face as a Coruscant antiques dealer. BAFTA Award nominee and legendary actor Fiona Shaw takes the series to an emotional fever pitch with a rousing speech from beyond as Maarva Andor. Denise Gough is incredible as the almost but not completely steel hearted ISB officer Dedra Meero. Kyle Soller is simply captivating as a deputy inspector who is obsessed with the rule of law. And, in something of a surprise, Andy Serkis delivers the finest performance of his career as Kino Loy, a floor manager at an inescapable prison who naively believes his captors are telling the truth. But it’s the work of Genevieve O’Reilly, as Imperial Senator Mom Mothma, which, in this writer’s opinion, is one of the finest seen from any actor on any screen over the past 12 months.
READ MORE: Denise Gough promises ‘Andor’ Season 2 will be “Epic” [Interview]
Originally just a minor character in “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi,” Mothma’s purpose was to explain to our heroes the rebels’ plan to destroy a new Death Star under construction. “Andor” begins many years earlier, when Mothma is still a respected representative from the planet Chandrila and attempting to navigate the dangerous political environment on Coruscant. As she plants the initial seeds of a rebel alliance, she finds herself isolated with a pampered husband she no longer trusts (Alastair Mackenzie) and a teenager daughter (Bronte Carmichael) who has embraced conservative values Mothma has detested her entire adult life.
“I swear this woman has the strongest core in the interplanetary system. She has to hold everything so tight. She has to hold all the secrets,” O’Reilly says. “She doesn’t get to use her body, she doesn’t get to fight. She has to internalize and hold the fight and use her voice. But if she ever breaks, she becomes redundant.”
Reilly continues, “I love the moments where we get to expose the cracks, where we get to see it kind of come to the surface. And I think there are a few points when you see that, but she can’t ever burst because if she does she is ineffective to the rebellion. And it’s very interesting as an actor to try and skate that knife edge because there were times when I was doing scenes where they would call cut and I had to walk off and just ball, just burst into tears because any normal person would, but her rebellion must be executed effectively.”
Over the course of our interview, which has been edited for clarity, O’Reilly hints on things becoming even darker for Mothma over the course of “Andor” season two, Gilroy’s collaborative phone calls, portraying Mothma’s increasing solitude and much, much more.
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The Playlist: My first question for you is a question that I’ve asked your co-star Denise Gough. When did you realize that this was something special and not just another project that you had signed up to do?
Genevieve O’Reilly: Actually, I think I had the hope that it was something special in my very first conversations with Tony. I had the good fortune of being on “Rogue One.” So, I had seen Tony come in and really focus on that storytelling. I knew him as a very effective and very passionate and very strong storyteller. And I remember a phone call where he rang me and spoke about his vision and I remember how passionate he was, how specific he was, not just about what he wanted to say as a whole piece, but also, for me, why it was important to have Mon Mothma there. And he could talk about that passionately from the very beginning. So I think it was kind of from the very nucleus that I had hope that it could be special.
Did he describe the storyline for Mon Mothma in any specific terms? Because it is the least sort of action-packed out of any of the first season storylines.
I remember he was very focused on her being an active politician. And that he was also interested in discovering her not just as a device for narrative exposition, but also as a woman. Because previously that’s what she was. In all the other iterations, she came on, she gave some information. She said, “This is the mission. This is what you have to do now everybody. Brilliant. Go and do it.” And she’s wonderful. But he was really interested in exploring the chaos of her political reality, but also the chaos of her as a human having to hold that.
Over the course of the first season at least, do you think that Mothma really believes that whatever this insurgency is forming can actualy defeat The Empire? Or as a politician, do you think she views this just as politics? A conflict that will work itself out?
I mean, in this show, everybody’s rebellion is different. And Mon Mothma’s is political rebellion. She’s standing in an imperial senate against a wall of authoritarianism, and she is a very lonely, isolated voice. And her rebellion or her passion is to stand up there. She does speak well. She’s been doing this since she’s been a kid. But she is isolated. She’s alone, she’s alone at home. She’s married to the empire. So, I think what we see very early on in Season One when we meet her, I think it’s in that first episode where she meets Luthen, you can see that she is seeking allies in effective rebellion.
You do an incredible job of showing how lonely she is, but you never really show her close to breaking under that pressure. There’s never a moment where it seems like she’s going to go into a room and just scream. Was that something you discussed with Tony?
It’s really interesting, and we talk about that all the time.
Oh.
Because she has to be on a knife edge perpetually. I swear this woman has the strongest core in the interplanetary system. She has to hold everything so tight. She has to hold all the secrets. She doesn’t get to use her body, she doesn’t get to fight. She has to internalize and hold the fight and use her voice. But if she ever breaks, she becomes redundant. I love the moments where we get to expose the cracks, where we get to see it kind of come to the surface. And I think there are a few points when you see that, but she can’t ever burst because if she does, she is ineffective to the rebellion. And it’s very interesting as an actor to try and skate that knife edge because there were times when I was doing scenes where they would call cut and I had to walk off and just ball, just burst into tears because any normal person would, but her rebellion must be executed effectively.
Compared to all the other actors in the show, did you feel like you were starring in more of a period drama than a ‘Star Wars’ series? Because, I mean, outside of one scene which was a green screen where you’re talking to…
…to the Senate. Yes, yes. I mean, it did really feel like I was working on a political thriller every day. And every now and again, if I was in a scene with a creature, I would be reminded that it was “Star Wars” because she just navigates a dangerous political and familial environment. I could really feel the danger of it, but it very rarely felt like I was in Sci-Fi. But I do think that great science fiction as a genre can hold a mirror up to our human complexities, and I think that’s what he’s doing. It’s just that she was in a very well-dressed planet.
