COVID-19 has now accumulated more than five million cases and over 165,000 death here in the United States. Globally the pandemic has turned the world on its proverbial ear as countries and their people struggle to cope. For many, a primary coping mechanism has been to turn to entertainment. But, as we know, even the entertainment industry halted production due to coronavirus concerns. That includes upcoming Star Wars productions. The next feature-length film won’t arrive until 2023. And that Rogue One spinoff Cassian Andor series we’ve been waiting for? That hasn’t even begun filming. For star Diego Luna, that’s just fine.

Cassian Andor; Diego Luna
Diego Luna discusses weighty topics like racism on his new show Pan y Circo.
(Image: Amazon Prime Video)

Luna recently spoke to The Guardian about his new Amazon Prime Video show Pan y Circo. The new, round-table discussion program tackles such poignant issues as inherent belief, bias, and racism. (It premiered Friday, August 7.) Despite the weighty and important topic of the show, questions nevertheless turned to the Cassian Andor series and Star Wars. Being the activist that Diego Luna is, however, he did not let the change in topic steer him from discussing important issues affecting all of us. This time it was COVID-19.

Diego Luna discusses Coronavirus, Cassian Andor series

Diego Luna; Cassian Andor; Rogue One
Diego Luna appears as Capt. Cassian Andor in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
(Image: Lucasfilm Ltd.)

If Luna has learned anything from the ongoing pandemic, it’s that there are greater priorities in life that acting. Even his own children contracted the virus, putting things into acute perspective for the Mexican actor. On re-starting production for the Cassian Andor Series, Luna had this to say:

Shooting is starting around the world, so slowly we’re going back, but there’s no rush. To me, what this pandemic brought to my attention is that there [are] priorities. We have to be cautious and we have to be wise on when and how to go back. And the how is the most important, because if we go back to be who we were, we’ve wasted our opportunity, we wasted a major opportunity of rethinking and reinventing much of the stuff we believed was crucial and essential that clearly is not.

Rogue One; Cassian Andor Series; Diego Luna
Image: Lucasfilm Ltd.

Based on actions Lucasfilm has taken with future productions, it seems that the studio shares Luna’s sentiment. The Cassian Andor Series will still go on…. When the time is right.

Diego Luna will reprise his Rogue One role of Cassian Andor (with Alan Tyduk returning as K-2SO) for Disney+.

Source: The Guardian