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Behind the scenes of Andor Season 2 with John and Tony Gilroy as they delve deeper into Cassian Andor's journey on a show codenamed Pilgrim for the number of character journeys underway.
“Knowing where you’re ending up is the most liberating thing.”
Just as the final act of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story neatly plugged the feature prequel into George Lucas’ Star Wars canon, so the second and final season of Disney+ series Andor will arc its way to the start of Rogue One. In another, not uncoincidental piece of symmetry, the editor on both projects is John Gilroy.
“Like everyone else I feel the original Star Wars (IV, 1977) was ground breaking and I was fascinated by how, on Rogue One, we were able to touch that first movie,” Gilroy says.
For those who don’t know, the breathless finale of Rogue One (2016) has rebel insurgents deliver plans of the Death Star to Princess Leia. Leading that treasonous act was Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) whose backstory the 24-part serial digs into. Like Gareth Edwards' film, Andor also leans into the mud, mood and metal of a war story.
“Rogue broke some new ground in terms of its gritty look and in its examination of character,” says Gilroy, who is also executive producer. “Andor is all about pursuing and pushing that a little more.”
From Jason Bourne to Andor
Tony Gilroy on the set of Lucasfilm's ANDOR Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Des Willie. ©2025 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved
Showrunner and lead writer on the project is Gilroy’s brother Tony who scripted four of the Jason Bourne movies as well as co-writing Rogue One. He set Andor five years before the events of the feature with S1 covering one year and Season 2 the next four.
Cassian, who now understands that he has a stake in the rebellion, is more prepared to make a full commitment to the cause. “He’s going from not involved to being soldier-like at the end of Season One, or signing his enlistment papers in a way,” explains Tony Gilroy. “With Season Two, it’s the move to being a leader, and even moving beyond a leader then to becoming a hero. All of the responsibilities and sacrifices and the journey of that is what the second half of the show is about.
“Knowing where you’re ending up is the most liberating thing,” he adds. “It means that you can just swing away inside the edges of that frame. We know where we’re ending up, and that frees up everything else. The show’s codename is Pilgrim with all the characters headed on their own epic one-way journeys. Every decision is becoming more urgent and dangerous as we progress.”
Compacting four years of storytelling into 12 episodes was the chief challenge in the writer’s room. They split the years into four blocks of three episodes then had to strike a balance between providing enough context for what happened during the slices of time audiences don’t see, and trusting them to fill in the gaps.
“It was an interesting creative proposition to ask, ‘What do we do with all the negative space in between?’”
Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) in Lucasfilm's ANDOR Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm. ©2025 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved
They decided not to over-explain that negative space with exposition. “What happened in that year that you need to know, and how fast can I let you know that?” he says. “The first writing we did was to write the top and tail of each block to make sure the jumps in time were cohesive.”
The first three episodes of the show blend three separate storylines to reorient fans with where the characters were left at the end of S1.
“What the structure of the second season did was it accelerated the storyline a little bit,” says John Gilroy. “To me, it made the story feel more urgent. Editing is about being given footage and finding the truth. To me, it's an objective truth; it’s the filmmakers coming together against their footage. Every episode of the show, we’re looking to find that perfect place where every shot is supposed to go and how it’s supposed to sound and how it’s supposed to make you feel.”
The challenges of Andor
Diego Luna on the set of Lucasfilm's ANDOR Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Des Willie. ©2025 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved
The structure of the second season presented challenges for how the principal photography was approached. It had to include more sets, costumes, props and effects than the first— across dozens of planets. This entailed the build of 140 sets, 24 filming locations, over 700 costumes, the creation of 152 creatures plus 30 droids, and over 4,100 VFX shots supervised by ILM.
The season was filmed in four different blocks —each block being able to take its own creative swings under the leadership of directors Ariel Kleiman (Eps. 1-6), Janus Metz (Eps. 7-9) and Alonso Ruizpalacios (Eps. 10-12).
Lead cinematography, shooting the first 6 eps, was Belgium Christophe Nuyens who continued to shoot as S1 on Sony Venice though this time exchanging anamorphic glass for Panavision Ultra Vista Primes.
They predominantly shot on Pinewood stages but also rented had three stages at Longcross. Like the first season the tone of the show was to mix space fantasy with earth and grit, hence the practical set builds and minimal green screen.
Some locations, such as the rebel base on Yavin and the Galactic capital on Coruscant, will be familiar from Rogue One and from S1, but with fresh perspectives, achieved by shooting at Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences. In particular, this real-world location was used to create a sense of the Ivory Tower nature of upper Coruscant, and to place the Senate in an environment where actors had space to walk and talk.
It's not a plot spoiler to know that the 12 episode will end where Rogue One begins, with Cassian making his way to the Rings of Kafrene where he is meeting with a rebel spy to gain intelligence about a new Imperial threat.
(L-R) Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay) and Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) in Lucasfilm's ANDOR Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm. ©2025 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved
“In Rogue One, Cassian gives a speech about why he’s there and what he has done,” says Tony Gilroy. “And why it was worth it to give his all for the cause. After watching Season Two, you will understand what he means, because this season is leading to that moment. It’s about what he’s talking about when he says he is ready to join and give everything he has for change to come.”
John Gilroy began his career working with Francis Coppola's longtime editor Barry Malkin on Peggy Sue Got Married. His other credits include Pacific Rim, Narc, Duplicity, the Academy Award winning Michael Clayton and The Bourne Legacy (both directed by Tony Gilroy) and Nightcrawler (directed by brother Dan – who also scripted episodes of Andor).
“We are very blessed that we all get along,” John says of working with his siblings. We have a shorthand when we work together and can call each other on something—and tell each other if we feel something is bullshit.”
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