Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy says the first episode of Andor needed some work before it headed to the small screen.
"Most television directors, I’m not an expert on it, but you’re expected to do coverage," Gilroy explained in an interview with Variety. "Toby Haynes directed the first block [of episodes of Season 1]. I was in New York with my brother [executive producer] John [Gilroy], and we had a cutting room on 86th Street around the corner from my house. The first week, the first dailies came in, and they were terrible. I was like, 'What the fuck is this? We’re starting off the show, and it’s really boring. What is this?'"
Andor was originally announced back in 2017, by none other than Disney CEO Bob Iger. It was originally developed by Jared Bush (Zootopia), before Stephen Schiff (The Americans) took over as showrunner in 2018. Gilroy, who co-wrote Rogue One, was unhappy with the script and voiced his concerns to Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy.
In 2020, Gilroy was officially appointed showrunner. He wrote several episodes of season one alongside Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler), Schiff, and Beau Willimon (House of Cards), with directing duties split amongst Haynes, Susanna White (Jane Eyre), and Benjamin Caron (The Crown). The first season takes place 5 years before the events of Rogue One.
Continued Gilroy: "[Executive producer] Sanne [Wohlenberg] called me back that day and goes, 'Well, we’re reshooting this.' And I’m like, 'Can we do that the first week?' She goes, 'We have to. It sucks. And you have to tell him.' I never did this before or since: I made a complete storyboard for how that [episode] should go, and it freed Toby up. 'We don’t want coverage. We want intentional directing. Direct this like your life depends on it.' After that, he never needed to be told anything. That was our mandate for all the directors."
New episodes of Andor season 2 are hitting Disney Plus weekly. Catch up with our Andor season 2 release schedule, or get up to speed with our Andor season 2 review.
