As part of Variety‘s continuing “Actors on Actors” chats, Rogue One veteran and Andor lead — and massive Star Wars fan — Diego Luna flew from the Disney+ show’s London set to Los Angeles just to talk shop with a fellow fan, Star Wars prequel series actor Hayden Christensen.
Apart from their shared love for George Lucas‘ galaxy far, far away, the pair also shared the surprise of being called back in: In Luna’s case, to lead and co-produce Andor after his character, Cassian Andor, perished at the end of Rogue One, and for Christensen, returning to the Star Wars fold after 2005’s Episode III – Revenge of the Sith with 2022’s Disney+ show Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Luna revealed that they’d “joke” on the Rogue One set that his doomed team, which successfully stole the Death Star plans before dying, could return. “But … we had to wait for the film to come out to understand that there was room for something like this,” he says of Andor, which is set before Rogue.
Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, expresses, “Star Wars holds a very special place in my heart. I enjoyed getting to go back to being a fan again and just watching these stories like everyone else. But there was a part of me that missed it, too.”
He adds, “So when I got the call, it was a very easy decision. And the fact that it was the Obi-Wan show with Ewan McGregor, who is a good friend of mine, and that I’d get to swing a lightsaber with him again, it was a thrilling invitation.”
Luna says he felt “shock … in a good way” about “the love around this project and this universe,” praising the “connection” fans have with the material.