'Andor' star andyserkis breaks down filming the Narkina 5 arc in an exclusive Q&A.
A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to host a very fun screening of Andor's Narkina 5 arc on the Disney Studios Lot. Following the screening, Collider's Steve Weintraub was joined by Andy Serkis and the series' executive producer Sanne Wohlenberg to discuss the trio of episodes and so much more. The episodes saw the titular character, Cassian Andor unfairly incarcerated in a brutal prison complex, where he crosses paths with the rule-following foreman Kino Loy .
Andy’s Journey From the Dark Side Andy, people love your character on this series. When did you realize that this was going to be something special? WOHLENBERG: I think the whole process of how we can realize it and bring Tony's vision to the screen really started in the writers' room where our production designers are already part of it at even, you know, the early, early stages. And for the many challenges to also kind of feed through, right from the start, what may be possible, what isn't, what solutions we could find in order to bring that vision to the screen.
SERKIS: I actually worked it out because my son had the Death Star LEGO [laughs] and I saw the pieces, and I thought, “Oh, right! Okay, I get it!”So you had no idea until you actually put it together on your own? Did it get spread like a rumor? WOHLENBERG: And I think nobody would have any idea how many conversations we had about the lift taking you down from the intake down to the floor. I think more than 50, and so many people involved, and the mechanics of it and what it had to deliver, and what it had to achieve, and yes, it had to be practical, and effects. A lot of thought went into it, and all worth it because when we came to film it, crazy days as there were – [to Serkis] I love the moment when you start charging.
SERKIS: That scene actually was the very, very last day of the shoot, of the whole thing, of the whole of the season.SERKIS: We literally wrapped. Literally, people were diving, jumping off, and then it was just like, “And, that's it! Wrap! Everybody go home.” So it was a big day anyway, but what was great was, Toby Haynes, the director, who did such an incredible job of this arc and these episodes, he really was interested in nuance of performance.
So, I mean, I was really, really scared the day that I had to do the big speech, and actually, so was Kino Loy, so it sort of worked out. So when Cassian says, “Is that all you got?” every time we did that, I was just like, “I hope I can get through this.” And so, it felt very real and present, and in the moment because it was [laughs]. Kino finding his mojo again was a genuine sort of thing. You don't know, as an actor, you don't know whether you're going to do it.
Obviously these people dressed up in the prison outfit. Did you take your prison outfit home, or were you like, “I'm burning this the second we wrap?” And I kind of have thought about this, and it's like, you know, we're living in a world now where there's so much censorship, where there is so much oppression, and people feel squashed in so many ways, not just politically squashed, but ideologically and culturally. People feel really– through coming out of COVID, through all the stuff that's going on in the world at the moment, you know, people feel oppressed, I think.
WOHLENBERG: For me, there are so many. You know, when you're producing anything without your production team– I know I could name them all now, the producers that work alongside me and the entire team, but I think it is also really our entire crew. We have a very large team of very dedicated and very talented people that are hugely inspired by Tony's and our vision, and the show that we are doing.
WOHLENBERG: God, is there anything that isn’t level 10 or beyond? I think COVID, of course, added the extra dimension. We had to stop 11 weeks out from filming and, like everybody else in the world, fight to come back out of the door because not so easy when you are a big show with a lot of people involved and a huge cast, and huge crowds. And to find a safe way, that was an added little conundrum.
I just have to ask, when you were filming this show, did you have any idea how many people were going to be asking, like begging, for this character to survive? And actually, I based him very closely on my brother-in-law, who sadly has passed, who was that person who actually was a very, very ardent, kind of socialist, and was often on political kind of– you know, he was often on strikes, and was adamant about work equality and workers’ rights. And I think that, for me, I wanted him to have that integrity, really, and then have that stripped away from him, only to be able to find it again.
SERKIS: I filmed in a number of prisons over the years, and there are two that really were outstanding. One was in Russia; I was in Russia filming, just after the wall came down in 1990, I was doing a series out in Saint Petersburg, and there was a remand prison that was built for, I think it was, it was built for 280 prisoners or something like that, and there were nearly 3000 prisoners in this place. The cells were literally about six-foot square and they had about 30 people in each cell.
SERKIS: No, he was absolutely never– he wouldn't ever have dreamt about it because he just wanted to keep his head down, not cause any ripples, just do his time and get out. And he shut down. He was emotionally shut down.SERKIS: [Laughs] Okay, knowing why I'm an actor, by which I mean, I love storytelling and I love going out, researching, coming back and sharing my findings with an audience.
AUDIENCE QUESTION: Hey, Andy, I'm huge fan of yours… Actually, I was planning to watch Andor already, but as soon as I heard you are in the show, then I just started to watch it.
SERKIS: The thing is, Cassian doesn't give up. Cassian is a force, and he is always observing, he's so observant and kind of particular, and he thinks he’s steps ahead. Kino would have been pulling in the other direction so, so strongly. But it is that moment, I think once he saw the character that passes, around that time, that would have been a moment where Cassian would have seen his response.
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