When Rogue One: A Star Wars Story first hit the theatres in 2016, a significant shift for the galaxy far, far away unveiled itself. The film was discreet and powerful in its own way, regarded as a brilliant piece of fiction that preceded the happenings of A New Hope. Arguably the most important film in the Anthology series arm, its heavy focus on the rebellion and the ongoing war—its horrors and its inevitable sacrifices included—made it one of the most intriguing stories to tell in the Star Wars world. It lived beyond the grandiose of the original films—the aliens, the Force, the fighting with lightsabers, the hyperspace travel, the Jedi—and zoned in very much instead, on the human. It was precisely its success which propelled the creation of its equally successful spin-off series after: Andor.
Focusing on its titular character Cassian Andor played by Diego Luna, the series follows the dark past of Cassian—charting his path to becoming an integral member of the Rebel Alliance, way before the Rebel Alliance was properly formed. Like much of the Star Wars tales, it is a tale of reckoning for what the Empire has done, but his journey is an unlikely one. Far from the glorious revolutionary we meet in Rogue One; Cassian is the very antithesis of a valiant hero—one who slowly has his layers peeled and vulnerabilities laid out across the span of the first season. It is also here where we meet Kleya Marki, Luthen Rael’s right-hand and a crucial member of the spy network, what we might regard to be the beginnings of the Rebel Alliance.
If there’s one thing Andor makes clear, it’s that there’s no easy way to start a rebellion. Tough decisions need to be made, and often enough, Kleya is one of those characters who come off colder and more cutthroat than most—despite the implied knowledge that they’re fighting the good fight. “So I asked myself: if she’s that controlled and contained, what is it that she’s containing? No one is that controlled all the time,” muses Elizabeth Dulau, the actress who plays Kleya in both seasons of the spinoff series. “At the core of Kleya, there’s a lot of love. Because it takes a lot of love to be able to pull off a rebellion, don’t you think?” she adds.
Amid the release of Andor Season 2 on Disney+, Dulau explains how the second season will be the final speedrun to the events of Rogue One, approaching the time jump for her character, and building her character’s costume design with Michael Wilkinson.
Take us through the changes we can expect in Season 2. What are some things we can expect from Andor‘s expanding universe and how are things changing for Kleya specifically?
So with this final season, there’s a time jump of a year every three episodes. So every three episodes, it takes us one year closer to the events in Rogue One and the formation of the Death Star. With that, the tension and the pressure on each of these characters mounts throughout the season. It becomes a real pressure cooker for all these characters, and that includes Kleya as well. You see her, and what it costs her to pull off this rebellion; to fight for what they believe in.
With the time jump, there’s a very clear trajectory of growth that Kleya undergoes in Season 2 compared to her hard, colder exterior in Season 1. How did you go about approaching this change in her?
Yeah, absolutely. It’s not really a technique that I employed, but I remembered my acting teacher at drama school talking about Shakespeare’s Cleopatra. He talks about her being this incredibly mercurial character, and how when playing her, you mustn’t try to play all of Cleopatra all at once. You just play out each individual moment. That’s the sort of approach I took to playing Kleya. I thought, you know, there’s four years of stuff here to work with, and I can’t play all of those four years in every single scene. I just approached each individual scene as an individual moment, and played that with as much authenticity. So I didn’t really worry about who she was three episodes ago. And I’m hoping that, because I did that, she comes across as quite a surprising character.
What have you come to learn about Kleya along the way?
I’ve come to love her so much. Obviously, because I play her, but that hardness that you mentioned earlier? She’s had to become hardened. To achieve what her and Luthen are trying to pull off, she’s had to sacrifice so much for that. And I remember talking to Tony Gilroy right at the start—before shooting Season 2—talking about her character. And he would say: the rebellion is her entire life. It is her raison d’etre. She wakes up in the morning and she’s thinking about that. She goes to work and she waits her entire day. Everything she does goes into trying to achieve that end goal of building this rebellion with Luthen. So she can’t afford to have friendships because they will eventually sort of weaken her or create these vulnerabilities. Whilst she’s this incredibly hard character, on the flip side, she’s still human. She still has a heart. She’s just had to build this incredibly tough case around it.
How does it feel like to be crafting a side of the Star Wars universe that feels more human and more relatable?
I think it’s really important, because that’s the point of it, right? I mean that’s what sci-fi is all about. The point of sci-fi is that we’re supposed to be able to see ourselves within it. We’re supposed to be able to take our world and set it in a galaxy far, far away, and by doing that, we’re supposed to get perspective on ourselves in these characters. So it feels really important, for me, to do this. It feels important, and it feels like such an honour to humanise these incredibly mythical stories.
What is the most challenging part of playing Kleya?
My favourite aspect to her is the most challenging aspect of playing her. She always comes across as so in control. But along the way, I sort of came to realise that no one is that controlled all the time. If she’s that controlled or that contained, what is it that she’s containing? And so I had a lot of fun unearthing what was really at the core of who she was. And I feel that at the core of Kleya, there’s a lot of love. So much love, that it’s actually a bit messy, if I’m being honest. You see her as quite rigid, in a way, but it’s because she’s containing these really messy, human feelings that we can all relate to. There’s a wildness at her core. Connecting those things was my favourite part about it, because that’s what makes her relatable. Because it takes a lot of love to be able to pull off a rebellion, don’t you think?
You continue your great work alongside Stellan Skarsgård. How has your relationship evolved and what have you learned from him across the two seasons?
With Stellan, it’s been an absolute dream. So my final audition was actually a read with Stellan, and I remember on that day, he had wanted to meet beforehand for a coffee. So we just spent like 10 minutes before my final audition chatting about acting. And he got to know me, I got to know him. He has this wonderful magic about him that within those 10 minutes, I felt like I was walking into that room with a friend. It genuinely felt like I had this mate on my side who wanted me to get this job. I completely forgot he’s this huge star.
And throughout the whole time on set, I always felt that he really had my back. He sort of took me under his wings, and he was always happy to talk about anything that I had a question about, because everything was so new to me as well. I had graduated drama school in 2020, and so this whole experience was like my first job. I’d never done screen work before. So he was just that anchor for me throughout this whole season too. I don’t want to share too much about what other relationships have formed in this final season but getting to see someone like Genevieve O’Reilly (who plays Mon Mothma) work on set was also incredible. I found it fascinating comparing how she works to how Stellan works, and how each of them would prep before a scene.
Any particularly memorable days from working on set?
I think a favourite day for me, or a favourite moment of shooting, was in Valencia. We spent three weeks there and it was a dream. It’s a beautiful, beautiful city. And we were shooting at the Arts and Science Center, which is, if you Google it, it’s phenomenal. The architecture was just unreal. There were three consecutive night shoots; there were aliens and droids zipping about, and it was just unforgettable, absolutely unforgettable.
So, a moment for the costumes. Any you wished you could take home?
Michael Wilkinson is a genius. I adore him as a human and as a costume designer. For this final season, I had a few more fittings than I had for Season 1. There are a few different looks that Kleya goes through. He was so creative and he would really listen to me as well. It wasn’t just Michael telling me you’re going to wear this. He would show me his designs, and asked for my feedback. It felt really collaborative, which was just incredible.
So there’s this gallery look that Kleya wears that is so iconic. It’s this blue look. You see her wearing some, really sharp, angular earrings and a velvet dress. If I could steal anything, yeah, it would be those earrings. They’re so like Star Wars couture.
Other than Kleya, did you have a personal favourite character from the show?
I mean, I’m a huge fan of Denise Gough. And the way she plays her character? It’s just so Denise. I first watched her in the theatre production of People, Places and Things in London—which she had won an Olivier Award for. This was like 10 years ago, and I went to see her then, and just fell in love with her. So to work with her now and see what she does with Dedra Meero, it was just spectacular stuff. You find yourself rooting for her, she’s a woman in a man’s world. Aside from her, I think maybe Eedy Karn, Syril Karn’s mom, maybe? She’s a really fun and interesting character to me.
So with Andor coming to a close, is there something else you’d love to challenge yourself with next in the acting world?
I mean, I’ve done a little bit of theatre since graduating drama school. So I’d love to continue doing that. Whenever I’m in a rehearsal room or on stage, that’s home to me and I’d love to spend a bit more time there in the near future. But in terms of screen work, I’d love to do a bit of comedy, actually.
Photographer: David Reiss
Styling: Caterina Ospina
Hair: Sophie Sugarman
Make-up: Charlotte Yeomans
Outfit: Ferragamo
Watch Andor Season 2 on Disney+ now.
