Duncan Pow - Sergeant Melshi Actor - An Andor Special
Scottish Actor Duncan returns for a one off special on Andor
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[Music] A little while back on the ScotsCare podcast we spoke to actor Duncan Pow our chat covered a whole host of topics his life and career to date but also the role he played as sergeant melshi in Rogue one a Star Wars story but he wasn’t able to speak about at the time was the fact that he had reprized that role for Disney’s Rogue one prequel show Andor. It turns out Andor has been brilliant so we thought we’d try and get Duncan back for a ScotsCare podcast and or special being an absolutely top human being Duncan instantly said yes and he joins us now from Malta where he’s filming his next project.
Hi Duncan hiya thank you for coming back and doing this
Thank you for having me back
Now you’re in Malta at the moment you’re how’s the weather
Today is um yeah it’s you know it’s a little like the weather in Britain some days it’s really nice and then all of a sudden it’s it’s pouring down. Today it’s kind of gray but it’s it’s okay
Can you talk about what you’re filming at the moment?
I’m filming at the moment uh uh uh uh a drama series a four-part drama for
British television called um under her skin can you talk about who else is in it yes uh well I hope so I hadn’t found
it so uh also I’m I’m I’m working alongside Rachel shenton and uh Joe
Joyner oh lovely okay so yeah it’s a great cast it’s a it’s a great it’s directed by uh Adrian McDowell
um uh yeah the the the scripts are great the the cast is great it’s been a
brilliant experience so um yeah I’m I’m super super hopeful it’ll be as well received as it has been
uh enjoyed as a job when you first came on the scotscare
podcast we spoke about everything really we kind of went through the gamut and it was kind of before well it was before
Andor was released so we we spoke a little bit about Rogue one then when we
released the podcast it was hugely successful it was it went right up into
the top 10 in Britain you were number three in Korea you charted in Canada
Australia Japan and and you know I’m not a big Twitter
user but the reaction on Twitter kind of blew me away and we we sat down at the charity and said oh we’ve got to see if
dunk is not too busy if you’ll do an end or special where we dig a bit
deeper and mainly talk about Andor so thanks for coming back and doing this well as I say thanks for having me back
I remember when we spoke the last time we kind of we turned off the interview and I went well this is kind of what I’ve been up to without wanting to share
too much so um yeah the the I’m super happy that the
the last time we spoke it’s been you know so well received all around the world and you know you have to put that
down to the to the Star Wars fans who are you know the the best fans of of any
franchise I think that has ever been so I remember now I’m slightly older than
you but I remember queuing around the outside of the Odeon in Glasgow in 1977 me and
my pal Sean Rankin and his dad took us there to see Star Wars A New Hope were
you a fan right from the beginning so your first one must have been Empire Strikes Back yeah I was uh I was trying not to react
because I was born in 1977 so um I was thinking of you queuing and I was
thinking of me uh being born yeah so my first when we moved to to lockerbief which
must have been I would say in 19 oh
1981 baby only 1092 the first film I remember going to see at the cinema in
Lockerbie which was um oh goodness me I can’t remember the Year this must have been but um it was The
Empire Strikes Back if that was the first film I went to see at the cinema in Lockerbie I went to see many other
films there but that’s my yeah I remember I had been a cinema before but it doesn’t stick in the main but I do
remember that vividly it was such a a oh yeah you know I can’t even put it in
words and what it was like to sit and watch and you know if you go back and revisit the films they you know they
they still hold but you know imagine being a kid and and that being your first
Cinema experience that you can remember for me was uh well it changed everything didn’t it well it did and I think for
both of us then moving forward we have grown up with Star Wars in our life all
the time and as you said right at the beginning Star Wars fans you know they are so loyal and I know because I I’ve
watched a lot of stuff that you’re in Duncan and you put your heart and soul into every role but do you feel a duty
of care to the brand when you went into Rogue one or when you went into andon really and this is real realizing this
is kind of taken an upper level um yeah so do you know again I I think I
I mentioned the last time we spoke I I try not to think too much about it because I think if I did it would it you
know that kind of pressure is is not something you need I think when you’re performing however
um for me to to be involved and to be a part of of both Rogue one and and now
and or you know first of all in hindsight yeah I can say it’s a great
responsibility it’s a huge responsibility because um you are
becoming a part of a universe that um you know is is is visceral you know it’s
it’s something that’s lived um by many people around the world and so it’s something that’s really really
important to to well the fan base first of all but also you know to to tell the
story of of the of the characters and to
give them something that they they feel is truthful and honest is
yeah it’s a huge responsibility but it’s something that you that you only realize what it is you’ve done in hindsight so
so both when I watch Rogue one and when I when I have certain what’s the the
series that the Andor series it’s only then and even now hasn’t quite sunk in
what it is that I’ve been a part of I don’t know if it ever will this might be an impossible question but
if you had done Andor before you did Rogue one do you think you would have
played the Rogue one part any differently that’s a very good question
um well I think the first thing uh when when I went in on Rogue one
is you are playing the part of someone who is willing to give their life
for something they believe in and I think uh
you know all the way throughout history um there have been people
on well whichever side you want to put it there have been human beings on the south that have been
willing to Die For A Cause be that a as something we perceive to be not a good
cause and also something that we might perceive to be a good cause but the type of human being that it takes to to to to
give their life for something greater than themselves for me is uh um
uh a a very um a very specific mindset and and way
to live you know now I I understand that a little but I think uh so to go in on on Rogue
one and to to play that all happened so fast for me uh but the thing that was
underneath all of it was here’s a man who’s willing to do anything for the
cause and that’s what I try to give in the in the in the
the months that I was was involved in that production so with Andor I think it’s for me was
more interesting because all of a sudden you’re then presented with a storyline
an arc that is hey let’s find out how this guy became someone who is
prepared to give his life for a cause and it would I I don’t think I would have
played it differently I think what we’re doing with Andor is we’re finding out
how um not just Mouse but but also Cassian
and uh and many of the other characters were
finding out the things in that backstory the things they sacrifice the things they learn the
things that that made them uh enter people who were prepared to to live
their life and give sacrifice in a very particular way so I don’t know if I would have played it differently is the
answer was a long answer to a short question no no that’s a good answer because what I thought was tremendously
well in Andor and I think it’s something that’s really difficult to pull off is is it but the very nature of of it being
a prequel to Rogue one I knew you had to escape from that prison because I knew
where you had to go but I became so lost in the characters and especially the
thing that came across with the sergeant melshi character was his desperation and the resignation of male shaped points
that he thought he was never getting out there yes well I think I I think um
well the same I remember reading the scripts knowing that of course that that that he goes on but I felt the same like
I felt how how is it going to happen okay because because we find out bit by
bit that was the first thing how’s it going to happen um but yeah I think the thing with
melshi and and uh you know Tony Gilroy and I had had
spoken several times and and he um you know we’ve spoken all the way since
since Rogue one so so about six years you know we’ve been in conversation so he knows me a little
um and and I know him a little you know we and I I enjoy the conversations we have
and and you know to to to to try and convey what it is that he’s trying to
write because the writing is just it’s uh it’s a gift for an actor to to be
involved with um but he said you know he knows a little bit about me as I say in the
sense of uh you know I’m I I’m a practicing Buddhist I live my life a particular way I try and think a
particular way and he said to me there’s a little bit of you in mailchi in the sense that he’s already free
and that was interesting to me because you know you you call it resignation and
and the way Tony conveyed it was it’s Freedom you know he’s not in a prison because in his mind he’s already free
you know he’s um uh he doesn’t believe what’s going on he doesn’t buy into the
the this the story they’ve been told by this you know mythical voice that that
tells them what to do and and when to do it um he’s not buying into the idea that
they’re getting let out at any time and so what you can call it resignation
or you can call it acceptance yeah I think you know as as a human being
melchi has been I and I I almost think there’s been other people that have come
in to that to that prison Mel she’s been waiting for
someone like cassin to appear and when he does is almost like uh
that spark of of Hope here’s someone else who doesn’t buy what
it is that we’re being told um and uh someone else who’s who’s willing
really and there’s the there’s the scene and I don’t want to spoil it if people haven’t haven’t seen the series yet
uh but the scene where the the there’s a line that says as this whole uh thing
unfolds in episode 10 where I’m just gonna assume I’m already dead
and well let’s see that so that that’s if you if you you know the whole thing
that we’ve got in common as human beings here is we are all of us going to die it’s going to happen
um so so the the trick is can we which is you know the the complete uh letting
go of everything you know of the body everything that we’ve done all of our achievements all of our friends or everything disappears when we go so is
it possible for us then to to try and do that every day every moment you know to die to the past to
what it is that we’re accumulating um and does that kind of daily or or
momentary death bit by bit does it does it bring about a certain freedom and I
would say yes it does and and I think that’s the thing uh with with melshi in that prison is that you know of all the
people in the prison he’s the one who’s already free yeah it’s interesting it’s quite a stoic way to look at it as you
know from that kind of stoicism and I think one of the things that really sets apart and or from the likes of Obi-Wan
or or the Boba Fett spin-off and I think why it appeal to me far greater my
personality was it was darker it was almost Sinister in places and there was a much
slower of pace which made it like a thriller which was very different from Star Wars and for the first time in my
mind it was really character driven yes I I agree with you I I think this is the
thing when we’re talking about um you know these are this is uh 12 episodes in in season one which allows
for you know this this sort of long-form Storytelling and the thing
that drives all of us as human beings is first of all is is is desire
but the way the way um the the desire manifests is is is
through words and action and and I think with uh what what I found on Ando both
being a part of it and watching it is the dialogue and that’s the thing that drives us
forwards is is the conversations and uh yeah it’s uh it’s for me it’s
Unique and I think for me as well this is the
entrance to everything that comes afterwards you know because this this leads in uh
um in a rogue one which leads into
um a new hope this story is
the the almost like a a backwards beginning of of of of of 1977
of of a new hope so this is the feed-in and I think because that’s the case
isn’t it more interesting to
to develop and as cassin as Andor develops
you know because he goes from being this uh you know mercenary not a nice guy you
know and uh you know he’s a thief and
to to to to follow his journey from that beginning what is it that turns him from a thief
to someone who we see in Rogue one who’s prepared to sacrifice his life for
um for the Rebellion for that cause um and so that’s that’s what’s interesting because
you know your rate was no we’ve not had it before but isn’t it right that the entrance into this uh gigantic story
um which is you know what 40 30 to my sums now yeah 45 years old yeah
you know the same side need to do the Summers I was born the same year 45 year old sorry you know it’s uh 50 35 years
old I like being old so so this This Magnificent story that’s that spanned 45
years isn’t it great that the entrance into it is is based and and and uh and
guided in this this this beautiful Story character dialogue development you know
it’s great that we’ve got at the at the center of this you know Tony Gilroy who’s for me one of the one
of the greatest storytellers you know that’s of the last you know 40 50 years
himself um to to to be telling this story
um oh and the way that it’s been told yeah I mean I I hear you I agree with you you
know I’m trying to put a a kind of settlement to it with words but I could
have just said yeah 100 yeah as it should be
Scott’s care helping to break the cycle of deprivation for Scots in London
I think the complexity and the Nuance of Andor obviously appeal to to a massive
audience because you know 93 on Rotten Tomatoes and I read another review it
was it was called a masterpiece you must have been delighted because the Mandalorian was great other spin-offs
that have come out have had not such great reviews so you know to get 93 on
Rotten Tomatoes you must have thought yes we are doing something right here well first of all I posted on the new
thing on Instagram it’s 96 now so what was it yeah so it’s so it’s 96
um I I think um the beauty of this is you don’t need to have seen Star Wars to
you don’t need to have seen any of them to be able to watch it you know I’ve been watching it with my
girlfriend um and she’s never seen a Star Wars and she was like super excited to see
the next one you know my mom as well who of course she’s probably seen a Star
Wars but not not not through her own volition has she gone right I’m off to the cinema to see you know to see a Star
Wars and she’s been blown away by it she can wait for the next episodes so
all of a sudden there’s a there’s a different audience that are coming to watch and and
actually enjoying the the uh the show as
for um you know the idea that uh that I’m doing good I was the
guy that won the lottery you know for me um I come in and
I’m uh I’m a a part of this and as much that I’ve I’ve been asked to come back
and to to be a part of it but but in reality I honestly I feel like uh my job
is the easiest job there you know um the the the work that has gone in to
that show from the costumes to the locations to the designers to the
writers to the producers the execs um the you know everybody involved with
it you know what I do want to come on to that because that struck me the whole
scale of Andor struck me is it was motion picture size but you know what I
want to do first like I want to kind of go back because I listened back to the last time we chatted and I I asked you
how Rogue one came about for you so we’re kind of going back to the end you
know and I listened back to we put out a clip which again was was very popular and you said it was mystical and
unfathomable how that but could you could have expand on that for us in 2015
2016 you were busy at that time you were doing quite a lot of other work so can you tell us in actual real terms did
someone call you did you go for an audition because you had said you weren’t in it till there was rewrites
because so explain it for us in layman’s terms well um the the
It All Happened through a chance conversation really um I’d been involved in the the production
from from uh from right at the start um yeah Gina Jay’s office who had
um done the casting for uh Rogue one I was kind of uh helping out this was a you
know this was Goodness Me 2014 2015 you know
um and it was after uh I’d lost my sister and I’ve been down in Somerset and I was
thinking of giving up acting I was thinking of just saying you know I I’m I’m I’m kind of finished with uh with
all of this uh I was trying to find meaning in life if I’m honest with you
or trying to certainly maybe not find meaning but but certainly find um
if you know in a world of so much suffering you know who am I what am I
doing why am I here it was a a time of great reflection and
um I’ve been in down in Somerset for a year like I say I moved down there after after we lost my sister and I was down
there amongst family and all of a sudden I had this um something happened was a was a very
personal revelation and I felt very strongly I just had this feeling that I need to go back and I need to continue
acting it was something my sister Lindsay loved it was her whole life and
I had a well I had a saying call it a sign that that was what I should be
doing with my life or at least certainly a part of it um so I wrote loads of um
uh I broke you know I wrote letters to EV in fact I sent emails with my Show
reel to every casting director that I never met in in the UK
um and I I think one of the only ones that replied was was Gina Jane and and
Gina Jay is is you know one of the biggest casting directors in the UK and uh yeah she started having me in for
stuff I I went and and I actually helped out with some of the uh
some of the original uh camera tests for rogue one
and uh and yeah I I was in in and around the production doing all sorts of of
different things and and then uh when the when the reshoots came I I got into
a uh a conversation one day bizarrely about
about Buddhism and about chanting um with Tony and uh then I went off to
Italy and it was in Italy uh working with a Healer from from South America
who said to me you know you need to come back and and come to the jungle again
with me and I told him no I don’t I don’t have any money and he said oh it’s okay you’re gonna get a job and
uh uh when you get back to the UK and I was thinking well you know I’ve not had
any auditions I don’t you know I don’t quite know how it is that I’m gonna get a job but I
um I I flew back to the UK and and all of a sudden I had had
I mean again there was a there was a part in in Rogue one which was
um the part of of uh sergeant melshuk and
yeah it honestly I can’t really explain how fast and how quick and how
bizarre it all happened it just it just happened and I didn’t have any time to think about it I didn’t have any time to
worry about it and any no point at all was I sat there thinking you know here I am you know speaking in
a in a Star Wars movie it just happened and afterwards
I I I I carried on and then uh when it came out I remember
going to see it and it still I still couldn’t process it uh Marcus and you
know I remember going to see it at the cinema with my mother and she shouted at me for eating for
eating sweeties Duncan would you stop eating them sweeties that’s what she says chocolate muttons right but I
hadn’t opened them and so she was Duncan be quiet she was obviously that’s my mother the
lover as they do making more noise than anyone else in the cinema telling me to be quiet but it was actually the people that were sat in front of me that were
eating the sweeties and I I intimated this to my mother and she looked at me and I said would you like me to TAP them
on the shoulder and tell them to be quiet no no she said no no just leave them alone so that’s my mother quite
happy to tell me off but if it’s someone else then she doesn’t want to get involved so um yeah the whole thing’s surreal
surreal from the beginning and and even even now as as Andor has come on you
know even that was was the the same kind of level of of
I I still can’t even process that just out of the blue you know my agent called and
uh this would be back in early 2020 and
she called me um and she said uh Nina’s office so Nina Gold who cast
and or they they had been in touch and they were checking my availability for
for later in 2020 for um
for andal now I I didn’t know this at the time I
uh I should probably pay more attention to things but um but Tony Gilroy had come on board to to
to you know to be the showrunner um and well my agent called she said uh
oh Nina’s office said you should give tony a call and just just just try and have a catch up with him and and see
what’s going on and yeah I I sent him a text message and he called
um you know 30 seconds later and uh yeah he was telling me all about the show and
I’m gonna be in it and I I can’t process it you know he’s talking and he’s telling me
um all of the story about the prison and and about male she and what’s going to
happen and and it’s I I mean I I the the best
you know what it feels like is you know when you have those dreams and something amazing happens like you’ve
won the lottery or or something brilliant and then you wake up and you you have been experiencing this
emotion of of oh my God that’s it I’ve won there’s never anything to worry
about ever again and then you wake up yeah and and that’s that’s how this this
whole roll of melshi and Rogue one and Andor has has felt to me it’s it’s felt
to me as if at any moment I’m gonna have one of those moments of waking up and I’ll let it Arena roll over and be like
oh my God I dreamed I was in Rogue one and Andor and they were just calling me up and
telling me about the stories and you know that’s how it happened for me it happened for me in a way that I cannot
naturally process or fathom that’s why I say it it’s mystical and the first
conversation you know was about Buddhism you know that was it was all about chanting namuel that was pretty much our
first discussion and uh well the as I told you that the last
time we spoke I’ve been practicing this for for 13 years and I am
there’s you know I I go to the point where I stopped being blown
away by these astonishing things that would happen because that’s that has come to be the
process of of my life of of not at any moment
um knowing what’s going to come next but when it comes it’s almost
greater than you could have possibly imagined and that’s the that’s the one thing that they they often say is you
know don’t don’t fight too much with the universe because the universe might have far grander
plans for you than you could have possibly imagined for your tiny little self you know and and that’s you know if
you told me uh 13 years ago you know when I when I started that practice that you know I would be sat
here chatting to you about you know Andor and and Rogue one I could never
have imagined it to to to be doing something that’s uh so vast and so
popular and and such a part of so many people’s consciousness
[Music] London [Music]
this says huge 200 named cast members 6
000 support and artists it well where was it filmed Duncan and what did it
feel like that when you went on to the set did you think this is I know I know it’s emotionally massive
but is it was it does it feel physically massive um yeah well you know we we started
filming um off the back of the of the second lockdown you know in the UK
so the I I think the plans had been to film
in places like uh Gran Canaria and and you know the the the the production they
had to change everything the pandemic meant everything changed you know we filmed in uh in Blackpool
and that was my first day yeah my first day was was filming
um again I I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to spoil it for people that haven’t seen it but yeah the
the first thing I shot was the was the scene on on the on the beach with with Diego and that was in uh Blackpool and it was
freezing cold and um I yeah I went from Blackpool
which is and I had these it was so bizarre these kind of Mystic connections that I would have when I was filming you
know um and a lot of it was was attached to well my sister Lindsay
you know I remember I was walking one day I I I went off to get myself a coffee and I
was walking along the the seafront in Blackpool and I had one of the most you know when you have these Vivid
Recollections of something yeah and I had this it was like an explosion of of memory of
walking down there with my mom and my dad and my sister uh Lindsay and I I
it oh it overhelmed me I I kind of my knees buckled a wee bit and and I remember going back to the hotel and
calling Mom and said a listen I’ve just had this really weird thing happen this is what I
experienced and she was she said to me that’s what was happening now I was just probably at that time my mom said she
said you would have been maybe six or seven years old she says how could you possibly remember it but it was like a you know a a huge
remembrance of something from before and then when we went to film
more of his stuff in episode 11 it was filmed in accord uh near Matlock now
Matlock is where I lived when my sister Lindsay was born
and um I remember getting driven to the set and
of course I would have been in the back of a car as an infant you know like so I’m about a year and a half older than
Lindsay so I was I would have been in a you know in a child seat yeah but as I was getting driven a set it was like I
was having memories that didn’t belong to me but did belong to me and I remember saying to my mom I
said look I had that strange thing in Blackpool and now we’re going to Matlock she says what do you remember about Matlock and I said you know the one
thing I remember about Matlock is Gulliver’s Kingdom and of course the hotel was right next
to the Gulliver’s Kingdom so so yeah so we that was the location stuff
um which which was meant to you know which they as I say the production to to do this in a pandemic the scale and the
size of it to have to change their plans for locations I I can’t even begin to
imagine how difficult it must have been and then you know all of the the prison sequences we filmed at Pinewood and that
was um yeah that was that was when you really started to realize what it was
you are were a part of the the the sets
for those present sequences were like nothing you could imagine well
you’ve seen it yeah but but to walk on it you know they built those those sets they were enormous
they are quite overwhelming in their own right they’ve got another windowless I couldn’t decide whether it was like a
laboratory or a prison or an asylum and the starkness of it and all these white
lights along the floor and then there was the again going back to the kind of Darkness of Andor the fact that the the
floors were electrified so this was the kind of Cruelty that we hadn’t seen in Star Wars before
yeah and I I think that was um you know when when Tony first called me up to tell me about it that was something uh
that he he really was was you know he because look all of
a sudden we’re getting to see the the machinations of the Empire you know
we’re getting to see the kind of facilities they were putting people in
uh and never letting them out of and um you know that first scene when
Cassian turns up and the guy says you know this might be the last breath
of fresh air you ever have and then they press the floor and and they electrocute
everyone well when when Tony was telling me about this on the phone he was so uh
you know he was saying it’s a nightmare he was saying this is like nothing you’re ever gonna have seen before in
Star Wars it’s uh um it’s a terrifying place with
can you imagine them the mind of the the the the people that have gone Hey listen
I’ve got a great idea for look this to this prison we’ll turn it into like a work facility and uh well
we’ll have the the floors all tungsten steel and there’ll be no guards and we’ll need no weapons and we can just
electrocute people if they don’t do what they’re told but not even if they don’t do what they’re told if they don’t work hard enough that the losing shift is
going to get um you know that they’re going to get electrocuted fried and uh and and the
winners they’ll shift at the top are going to get flavor in their food
it’s it’s you know it’s it’s a it’s this it’s a kind of it’s just a nightmare of
uh it takes it away from the almost comic book feel the Star Wars and moves it more into almost Shawshank Redemption
territory where you kind of think this is real real punishment in space and the
you know the machines you were working on they all look phenomenally real and you were all in sync moving together
building the parts was that as real as it looked yes yeah that was um you know
we were in there uh rehearsing rehearsing those those scenes
um you know for you know we had days in there where we would be rehearsing how things got put
together the whole and everything worked you know these were working machinery
so they had been built by the by the art department and uh
you know we had guys in there that were uh operate in the uh all of the
Hydraulics of of the Machinery um there was a very specific way that
things were put together it was um it was a you know it was it was meant
because these people have been in there for some of them years it was meant to
run like a well-oiled machine and so of course they had to get us in there
um who are actors to uh to to to go
through this process in this this way where it’s second nature and also be able to have
conversations on top of it um so it was um and you know to be in there with with
Toby the the the director and and the and you know that every everybody that
was involved the way they had to set up the the the thought that went into it the the efforts of everyone and of
course they always then everybody’s brilliant efforts and then you’re relying on a group of actors to to uh
to to uh to to follow the instructions but you know I I was blessed as well to
be working with you know not just Diego and and Andy but you know Joseph and Tom and
Brian and Clements and and Christopher the the the people that were uh that were on table five with me they were all
brilliant they were all super focused and and all of them were making sure and it was great because you know as we
found our own way we found our own Rhythm and and it and we really you know we were there filming that for for
almost two months so every day got in there it really affects you you know
because and as well for being in the middle of the pandemic you know we were we were
covered tested you know every other day and you know the restrictions and the
rules everything that was in place it was kind of like being in a prison
immersion into what you were doing yeah it was and and you know what I think that probably helped yeah I’ll bet and
then then there’s this beautiful reveal which you know I I’m a Star Wars geek
but when I when I realized what you were building you kind of go oh and I I don’t know can
you say it because if you’ve not I don’t know what we were building I don’t know anything about that
oh my this just pulled everything together beautifully and yeah that just
so working along Diego Luna alongside Diego Luna now I first discovered him in
in narcos and I think the thing with Diego Luna he’s get such a kind face you
look at how many it looks as if oh I could have a cup of coffee but you really like a really good bloke but in
narcos he was able to swap that and play quite an evil character when he needed
to so he is an actor of some complexity yeah and and substance and um
I I think uh you know Diego is one of the most generous uh
actors that I’ve ever worked with um he’s
involved where you know he accepts this as well um
and or but he was just involved with all of it there was he was every day
chatting with anybody that wanted to chat to you know as well as staying super focused and thinking about the the
story and thinking about the uh the the you know everything the the
stuff that he was taking on board as well as being in I think you know the the workload that he had on on Andover
and uh I think in the evenings he was editing a a show he was doing for
Netflix so the the the amount of of work that you had to do you know never mind
anything else you know you could if you were a particular sort of of human being
um be consumed by that and and really have to find no other time for for other
people um you know on a set and I have worked in the past with with actors where you
know it might maybe not so beautifully beautifully human as you would hope they
would be but Diego was it was yeah
from the get-go made everybody feel a part of what we were doing and while the the the
character and doors is uh Cassian is uh
his his process in in that prison I feel is as he starts to lead
uh uh people from all different walks of life and and Diego was like that as well
he was he was a real leader on set a real you know uh team player and uh well
he’s just he’s great at what he does and when I sit and watch it back and and see
it it’s uh it’s only when I get to see it and know
what’s gone into it that I see the the subtlety and so much of his work well
it’s interesting we said that earlier the new one is filled with nuance and but then of course I’m not saying Andy
Circus the circus’s performance is not filled with neurons but you know there’s a Powerhouse performance you know and I
found him genuinely scary at points and I I was thinking about you when I was watching him and the interactions I was
thinking does that make it easier as an actor when when you’re working across from somebody with such ability and
commitment um yeah well I I think again
it’s been I was blessed on on this job because Andy Circus is uh is also one of
the nicest human beings that I’ve I’ve ever worked with he’s so kind and and friendly and interested and I know
that’s a a thing that we’d expect human beings to be you know because like I
said before we’re all gonna die so we might as well be nice to each other but that’s not that’s that’s not always the
case um and uh yeah Andy and I we had our kind of makeup calls together and
um he was just saw open to conversation
uh and and um and you know there’s a few bits there where you know we’re we have a few quite
physical interactions and uh and he’s a strong man and he said
because you know he’s a he’s a rock climber and yeah he’s he’s a very very strong human being I I wore the uh I
wore the the scars of some of those uh for days afterwards but it’s the this thing of of
there was nothing apart from let’s let’s work together and make this
as as good and as real as we can and then it would be super super high
intensity and then they would call cut and there would be a like a smile and a laugh and a joke and back to humanity
that the switch of people from going from just you know chatting away to this
intense frightening characters and then afterwards the kind of smile the the
speed at which uh you know that and I think that’s that’s when you know you’re you’re working with you know people at
the top end of their game because they can they can switch it on and off the focus and again Andy Andy too I learned
a lot from from Andy and uh and Diego because the the effort that they put in
to every scene every thought every product always thinking
um and as well always uh busy you know the the next thing create create create
and uh you know I said that to Andy at one point we were we’re having a chat
and it was like man you’re you know I’m eating my lunch and you’re working you know
I said uh it seems like a such a a huge workload that you certainly said to me
he said well you play your guitar all afternoon he says and so I think that
would take a lot of of effort as well I say yeah I guess and he said uh he said that the the the
the workloads the same if if you want to be a success at something you have to
make effort yeah uh yeah and and these are guys that that have been doing it at
the top end of the business for many many years and uh yeah they they continue to work
as if uh they’re just trying to make it and that was a big big lesson for me yeah and then
inevitably the end and and I I thought you know I thought oh that the end for me was beautiful and sad and
I thought was you know what I actually looked this up I thought I’ve got to think of something smart to say here and I tried to look at what award for
beautiful and sad was and the only word I could find was pool protrudinous and I thought I’ve not a clue what that means
I know I’m just look like a dick if I use that word yeah that’s not a word that I use but it came full circle for
me because the Escape comes and the Elation you had won this Victory and then all I was reminded of was what
was to come and scar off at the end of Rogue one and I was devastated all over again it’s just a show that played with
my emotions in every single every single episode right to the credits
it’s uh do you know what I’m Blown Away by here I uh I I asked so the guy that
lives downstairs from me I’ll come back to your question in a second but I’m I’m amazed at what you’ve just said to me I
uh I I asked him how things were and uh uh
you know uh I said how’s how’s this new new girl that you’ve met and he put oh
man she’s pulled to crudinous it’s he actually texted me that no he didn’t
know he did look you can see it I know you see it oh yeah oh man she is yeah
[Laughter] yeah but it’s um well that to me is uh
like I told you before the the synchronicity of things so the fact that you’ve just said that that’s strange
well that’s the Mystic thing that I’m talking about of being a part of this show that you would say that that
someone would text that to me um just just the other day and uh well
they say in in uh well indigenous and shamanic based cultures that
synchronicities are signs that your life is on the right path and uh yeah the the
um the show itself uh is well like you say it reminded of you
reminded you of what’s to come and you know you have these Beautiful Moments
and they’re followed by these moments of devastation and uh so that’s that again is another
uh uh a keen signal that what you’re painting is a picture
of life because you know that’s that’s life for me amazing things happen the
most beautiful things happen and then awful things happen and it feels like it
can’t get any worse than it is and then it does and then it gets beautiful again and I often say to people when they come
and you know we we we sometimes run meditation Retreats and I I say to them in a moment of levity you know that’s
what life is good things happen bad things happen good things happen bad things happen good things happen again and then we die
you’re so stupid that’s the third time you’ve mentioned death Duncan well do you know the the the one of the founding
members of the uh for phoning presidents or the second president of uh
the the soccer international which is a layer organization uh
uh Buddhism the the second president was a man called Jose Toda and he said make
the first thing you study death make that your first point of studying
as a human being and it might not be that you can’t understand it
but try make efforts because an understanding of death brings about a a
great uh color to life yeah um and uh
and he and then he says and once you you think you understand or you have a a
grasp of of just the nature of it then study everything else so
I’m I’m trying to do both but it’s uh yeah I think these uh these these
whatever you know is the third time I’ve mentioned it and I only I only know that I noticed that I’ve said it because
you’ve said it and uh you know I’ve been on this this job and uh out here in Malta and uh of
course when when I meet some of the the actors to begin with I think they all think
who’s this guy it’s a bit weird he’s a bit intense and he’s a bit weird
and he and he talks about stuff without uh you know with without
the the same what’s the word you know how some people tip to our own things that that they think well this is quite
you know it’s not really taboo this to it’s or it is taboo sorry to be talking about these things but I’ll go right and
I’m quite happy to talk about it I think uh I think we should all talk more about
the things that we are fearful or uncomfortable with well it’s what binds us I reckon you know failure shame
[Music] um all these things it’s it’s what we are but listen you know thank you for joining us again have a superb Christmas
are you are you back for Christmas so yeah I get home on December the 11th
um yeah I have the family room for Christmas this year my sister and her two kids and her
fiance and my mom and my stepdad so lovely yeah it should be chaos [Laughter]
and you know I hope Andor keeps on getting keeps on creeping up in the Tomato Meter yes well if it gets any
higher what are we gonna do yeah I know super stoked it’s amazing thank you for having me
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