How Diego Luna Landed the Lead Role in ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ and ‘Andor’

Actor Diego Luna sat down with Conan O’Brien to discuss how he landed the lead role of Cassian Andor in Rogue One and subsequently, the blockbuster Star Wars series, Andor. As Luna explained, he’d never seen anyone who looked or sounded like him within the franchise. Yet, the producers wanted the star of Y Tu Mamá También in their first standalone movie.

I grew up watching these films but I never thought, I never saw someone like me there. I never thought it was possible and I didn’t even want to. Like I was doing theater and really happy. It was when it when I did “Y Tu Mamá También” that i started traveling with my work and it was suddenly I realized there was a community that it was really close to me you know in the States. 

However, Luna found that making a giant movie in the US was no different than doing a small arthouse film in Mexico.

It felt like I was just on a set of a film that I’ve been my whole life. I felt the same freedom. I didn’t feel like we have to now behave differently because we’re doing this gigantic project