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Celebrated stage and screen actor Kathryn Hunter - most recently seen in a film-stealing turn as The Witches in The Tragedy of Macbeth - is making her Star Wars debut in Andor, we can exclusively reveal.
In an interview with Total Film magazine for the Andor feature in the new issue, Kyle Soller revealed that Hunter is playing Eedy Karn, the mother of his character Syril. Both are pictured in the exclusive image above.
In the Disney+ series - set before the events of Rogue One - Syril is determined to stop Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and quash any spark of rebellion. Much of what drives him comes from his background.
"He doesn’t have a father," Soller told Total Film. "He was raised by his mother, who is sort of the stage mother from hell. He has an extreme sense of need to impress, and fill a hole in himself. And so that really is about ascending to the top of whatever field he’s in. The field he’s chosen is one of restriction and complete control, and one of domination. I think we’ve been able to thread that through with the scenes that Syril has with his mother."
Soller described working with Hunter as "a complete gift". On creator Tony Gilroy’s approach to the show - which will span the five years ahead of Rogue One over two 12-episode seasons - Soller added, "Tony wrote this incredible tapestry of life. It’s really Dickensian in its scope, and its achievement. I’m only, of course, speaking from Syril’s trajectory. But he then brings it down to incredibly personal, incredibly small domesticity, and almost turning it into a Pinter play. And it’s nothing I’ve sort of seen in a Star Wars movie before: the combination of the action and mystery and intrigue, and then you have these incredibly unique, personal stories coming through."
Andor launches on Disney Plus with a three-episode premiere on September 21. For much more on the show, check out the new issue of Total Film magazine, which is on sale from Thursday, August 18.
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