- "I love 'Rogue One' because it's interested in the human conditions and the human conflicts. So, when I talked to Tony Gilroy, the things he talked about when he talked about the character were very interesting for me. Tony showed me what he had written, which was complicated and mysterious in a way because he doesn't reveal everything about this character, and still after twelve episodes you don't know everything. But the way he thought about the character and what was the inner conflict of the character was interesting to me"
- ―Stellan Skarsgård
Stellan John Skarsgård is a Swedish actor who portrayed Luthen Rael in Star Wars: Andor. His other work includes Good Will Hunting, King Arthur, Pirates of the Caribbean series, Angels and Demons (with Ewan McGregor), Thor (with Natalie Portman), and Dune (with Oscar Isaac).
Biography
Stellan Skarsgård as Luthen Rael in his character poster
Stellan Skarsgård loved the film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story because of its portrayal of human conditions and conflicts.[3] There was a very short list of potential actors for the role of Luthen Rael in the Star Wars: Andor television series. From the beginning, writer Beau Willimon insisted on having Skarsgård play Rael. Creator and executive producer Tony Gilroy then called Skarsgård to tell him he had a role for him.[4] When the actor spoke with Gilroy, he showed what he had written about the character but did not reveal everything about him. Skarsgård was attracted to Rael's complexity and ambiguity, and he found his inner conflict interesting. When Skarsgård first put his costume on, he immediately inhabited the role.[3] Gilroy had a hard time figuring out Rael's two personas. When this was being developed, Skarsgård explained that natural Rael and Coruscant Rael have different hand mannerisms.[5] Skarsgård was very playful normally that it surprised the crew when he inhabited the character.[3]
Scenes on Ferrix were filmed in an intricate set in Little Marlow, Buckinghamshire.[3] According to Gilroy, everything on Ferrix was filmed first.[6] Scenes on Aldhani were filmed at the Cruachan Dam and the surrounding mountains in the Scottish Highlands.[3] According to Faye Marsay, who played Vel Sartha, the scenes were filmed during the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.[7] Scenes in Rael's gallery were filmed in a set designed by[8] production designer[9] Luke Hull.[8] To prepare for the scene of Rael and Saw Gerrera arguing in the episode "Narkina 5," Skarsgård and Forest Whitaker, who played Gerrera, had a rehearsal in which they read the scene for the first time and went at each other. According to director Toby Haynes, when that scene was filmed for real, the actors almost deconstructed what they did in a way that was spontaneous and natural. They then rebuilt the scene from the beginning, but it was difficult to get to the same pitch.[10]
Works
Filmography
| Year | Title | Series | Contribution(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | "That Would Be Me" | Star Wars: Andor | Luthen Rael[11] |
| 2022 | "Reckoning" | Andor | Luthen Rael[12] |
| 2022 | "Aldhani" | Andor | Luthen Rael[13] |
| 2022 | "The Axe Forgets" | Andor | Luthen Rael[14] |
| 2022 | "The Eye" | Andor | Luthen Rael[15] |
| 2022 | "Announcement" | Andor | Luthen Rael[16] |
| 2022 | "Narkina 5" | Andor | Luthen Rael[17] |
| 2022 | "One Way Out" | Andor | Luthen Rael[18] |
| 2022 | "Daughter of Ferrix" | Andor | Luthen Rael[19] |
| 2022 | "Rix Road" | Andor | Luthen Rael[20] |
| 2025 | "One Year Later" | Andor | Luthen Rael[21] |
| 2025 | "Sagrona Teema" | Andor | Luthen Rael[22] |
| 2025 | "Harvest" | Andor | Luthen Rael[23] |
| 2025 | "Ever Been to Ghorman?" | Andor | Luthen Rael[24] |
| 2025 | "I Have Friends Everywhere" | Andor | Luthen Rael[25] |
| 2025 | "What a Festive Evening" | Andor | Luthen Rael[26] |
| 2025 | "Welcome to the Rebellion" | Andor | Luthen Rael[27] |
| 2025 | "Make It Stop" | Andor | Luthen Rael[28] |
Sources
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1
The Skarsgård Family: Everything to Know by Lynsey Eidell on People.com (February 26, 2024) (backup link archived on February 27, 2024)
- ↑
New Casting Announced for Cassian Andor Live-Action Series on StarWars.com (backup link)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5
ANDOR Production Brief V3 FINAL 8-04-22 by McIntyre, Gina on Getty Images (August 4, 2022) (backup link)
- ↑
"Star Wars means so much!" Diego Luna and the Andor cast on auditions, tricky lines and falling over on the BBC Radio 1 YouTube channel (backup link)
- ↑ 'Andor' Creator Tony Gilroy Urged His Team to Put Aside Their 'Star Wars' Reverence by Davids, Brian on The Hollywood Reporter (September 23, 2022) (backup link archived on September 23, 2022)
- ↑ 'Andor' Creator Tony Gilroy Talks Luthen's Good Day, That Post-Credit Scene and Season Two by Davids, Brian on The Hollywood Reporter (November 23, 2022) (backup link archived on November 23, 2022)
- ↑ Andor's Faye Marsay Talks Preparing To Play Vel Sartha, The Real Rebellions That Inspired Her & More [Exclusive Interview] by Anderton, Ethan on /Film (November 2, 2022) (backup link archived on November 2, 2022)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 'Andor' Star Genevieve O'Reilly Never Thought She'd Get the Chance to Flesh Out Mon Mothma by Davids, Brian on The Hollywood Reporter (September 15, 2022) (backup link archived on September 15, 2022)
- ↑ Star Wars: Andor — "Kassa"
- ↑ 'Andor' Director Toby Haynes Talks That Forest Whitaker-Stellan Skarsgard Scene: "It Was a Career Highlight" by Davids, Brian on The Hollywood Reporter (October 28, 2022) (backup link archived on October 29, 2022)
- ↑ Star Wars: Andor — "That Would Be Me"
- ↑ Star Wars: Andor — "Reckoning"
- ↑ Star Wars: Andor — "Aldhani"
- ↑ Star Wars: Andor — "The Axe Forgets"
- ↑ Star Wars: Andor — "The Eye"
- ↑ Star Wars: Andor — "Announcement"
- ↑ Star Wars: Andor — "Narkina 5"
- ↑ Star Wars: Andor — "One Way Out"
- ↑ Star Wars: Andor — "Daughter of Ferrix"
- ↑ Star Wars: Andor — "Rix Road"
- ↑ Star Wars: Andor — "One Year Later"
- ↑ Star Wars: Andor — "Sagrona Teema"
- ↑ Star Wars: Andor — "Harvest"
- ↑ Star Wars: Andor — "Ever Been to Ghorman?"
- ↑ Star Wars: Andor — "I Have Friends Everywhere"
- ↑ Star Wars: Andor — "What a Festive Evening"
- ↑ Star Wars: Andor — "Welcome to the Rebellion"
- ↑ Star Wars: Andor — "Make It Stop"
