Stellan Skarsgård is considered a stellar (not sorry) actor for his roles in projects like The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Good Will Hunting, and Chernobyl. But chances are he’ll be best remembered for his genre roles, like whoever he ends up playing in the upcoming Star Wars TV series Andor. That doesn’t mean he’s necessarily excited about it.
After explaining why the chance of getting to work with director Denis Villeneuve on Dune led him to endure eight full hours in the make-up chair to play the grotesque villain Baron Harkonnen, Skarsgård told the Daily Beast why he joined the Rogue One prequel starring Diego Luna as rebel spy Cassian Andor. It was basically the same reason: the chance to work with the acclaimed screenwriter Tony Gilroy, who not only wrote the screenplay for Rogue One, but will be executive-producing Andor. It turns out Skarsgård somewhat enjoyed that particular Star Wars story, and the rest of the franchise… not so much.
“When I saw Rogue One, it had much more atmosphere and seemed a little more mature — and that was Tony Gilroy, who’s the showrunner on this one,” Skarsgård explained. “So, hopefully this one will be a little more than little plastic people falling over.”
Damn. Equating the Star Wars movies to children playing with action figures is brutal and… pretty accurate, honestly. (Skarsgård could even be talking about The Mandalorian, but I seriously doubt he has a Disney+ subscription.) Hell, he’s not even talking about children playing with toys, it’s just them toppling over, like when you stand action figures on your bookshelf and then accidentally bump into it, to use one example that I know all too well. But what I really love is how he’s hoping Andor will be “a little more” than highly merchandisable CG action scenes. The show’s been filming since November of last year, so you’d think he’d know by now, right?
Andor action figures will inevitably be sold in 2022, which is also when the show is set to premiere. I suggest investing in some figure stands if you want to keep them upright.