Diego Luna is no stranger to acting opposite droids in the sprawling Star Wars franchise, but nevertheless, he admits that he wasn’t expecting to enjoy working with Andor‘s adorable new creation.
The actor won legions of fans for his performance in 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which saw rebel spy Cassian Andor (Luna) and his unlikely partner K-2SO (Alan Tudyk) join a mission to steal the Death Star plans.
Disney Plus spin-off series Andor takes place years earlier and introduces another droid buddy for the title character in scrapyard assistant B2EMO (think R2-D2 meets Pixar’s Wall-E and you’re on the right lines).
“B2 is an amazing character,” Luna told RadioTimes.com in an exclusive interview. “It’s a great actor, you know, and I say actor because there is someone behind it that is actually working with you. In this case, it’s a team… on set, you’re working with three people and one is giving voice to it while you’re there.”
Sure to be a hit with audiences, the adorable B2EMO is a kind and somewhat naive soul who speaks with a stammer, provided by voice actor and puppeteer Dave Chapman (who also worked on the sequel trilogy’s breakout star BB-8).
Luna continued: “It’s a process that is beautiful, you know. It’s alive and it’s like being on set with another actor, it’s as simple as that. But also, they move, they react… it’s quite unique. I never thought I’d find myself enjoying something like this.”
He also reveals that the performers controlling B2EMO would take notes from the show’s directors and adjust their movements accordingly, in ways that add even more emotion and character to the scenes.
“It was amazing because he became part of the family. He is a very important character for Cassian in the early years… He always finds a way to be next to you. Like a dog, you go, ‘Stay there, I’m gonna go,’ and you turn and he’s here again. You know, B2 is like that.”
As for whether cute little B2EMO could ever cross paths with the towering K-2SO, Luna said that it could potentially happen in Andor season 2, but added: “I don’t know if they would have a good relationship. K2 is quite scary.”
Andor is available to stream on Disney Plus from Wednesday 21st September 2022 – sign up to Disney+ for £7.99 a month or £79.90 a year now.
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