Genevieve O'Reilly on Mon Mothma's pivotal 'Andor' speech: 'Her only weapon is her voice'

This communicative contains spoilers for “Andor” Season 2, Episode 9.

Senator Mon Mothma is finally, openly, portion of the rebellion.

In the ninth occurrence of “Andor” Season 2, the legislator from Chandrila, played by Genevieve O’Reilly, publically denounces the Empire successful a code from her pod successful the Imperial Senate.

“The decease of information is the eventual triumph of evil,” says Mothma arsenic she challenges the authoritative communicative spun to screen up the “unprovoked genocide” connected Ghorman. “When information leaves america … erstwhile it is ripped from our hands, we go susceptible to … immoderate monsters shriek the loudest.”

She past declares Emperor Palpatine is simply a monster and becomes the Empire’s astir salient nationalist enemy.

In established “Star Wars” lore, this is simply a infinitesimal that volition straight pb to the ceremonial declaration of the Rebel Alliance. It’s besides one, according to O’Reilly, that Mothma has ever been acceptable for.

“That’s the fulcrum of who the pistillate is,” says O’Reilly portion seated successful a Beverly Hills edifice barroom past month. With branches of flowers hanging from the ceiling, the room’s decor is astir reminiscent of that of the Chandrilan wedding seen successful earlier “Andor” episodes this season. “Underneath everything, [Mothma is] a pistillate who was ever acceptable to acceptable occurrence to her life. To measurement retired of the shadows and to hazard it each connected behalf of others, to basal up and usage her dependable against oppression.”

“This is simply a pistillate who doesn’t ever prime up a blaster,” she adds. “Her lone limb is her voice, and it’s truly astonishing to get an accidental to spot her usage it and to beryllium impactful.”

Genevieve O’Reilly says Mon Mothma has ever been acceptable to “to basal up and usage her dependable against oppression.”

(Kyle Galvin)

O’Reilly shares that erstwhile she archetypal work the publication for the occurrence — written by “Nightcrawler” filmmaker Dan Gilroy, who besides wrote Episodes 7 and 8 — it lone included bits and pieces of the speech. “Andor” is simply a amusement astir mean radical surviving done (and warring against) an progressively oppressive regime, and it’s not uncommon for sequences to leap betwixt aggregate storylines astatine the aforesaid time. Mothma’s code was intended to beryllium interwoven with different scenes, truthful the publication conscionable featured the cardinal lines that would beryllium highlighted.

But showrunner Tony Gilroy understood the histrion and her process capable to cognize that O’Reilly would privation to spot more. Even earlier she had a accidental to bring it up connected her own, helium asked her if she wanted the full code written out. He returned with the entirety of the code wrong a time of her responding, “Yes, please.”

“That was everything for maine due to the fact that determination is specified a musicality to that speech,” O’Reilly says. “It starts disconnected and talks astir her history. It talks astir this beatified spot that she has grown up in. What she believes the Senate to be. And past it ends with her calling him [out].”

And erstwhile the episode’s director, Janus Metz, 1 of the fewer who had besides been fixed the afloat substance of the speech, asked if she would privation to movie the full thing, her effect was “of course.”

“I went backmost and I worked connected it,” O’Reilly says. “You carve it, and you make circumstantial moments. As an actor, you’re portion of the musicality of the piece. And past they utilized it, truthful that felt truly special.”

For O’Reilly, the operation of “Andor’s” 2nd play helped physique toward Mothma’s infinitesimal with the speech. During the season’s archetypal three-episode arc, audiences spot Mothma, woman and mother, navigating profoundly idiosyncratic moments and the strains successful her relationships astatine her girl Leida’s (Bronte Carmichael) traditional, extravagant, marathon wedding successful her homeland.

“The astir unexpected, dramatic, sometimes messy things hap astatine weddings,” she says, pointing to the speech Mothma has with Leida conscionable earlier the wedding ceremonial astir her parent astatine her ain wedding. “It felt profoundly idiosyncratic … Mon Mothma, successful that precise moment, she’s conscionable opened herself wholly and Leida conscionable benignant of sticks the weapon in. So she has to fastener herself backmost up, figuratively enactment the disguise backmost on, and spell backmost extracurricular … There’s nary tricks. It’s truly astir relationship. It was truly special.”

Leida (Bronte Carmichael), left, and Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) stock a infinitesimal astatine the former’s wedding.

(Lucasfilm Ltd.)

The adjacent arc, which spans from Episodes 4 to 6, shows Senator Mothma successful enactment arsenic she tries to physique a conjugation to combat problematic argumentation arsenic good arsenic support her disguise portion unexpectedly having to interact with Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn), a antheral who represents everything she is warring against.

“I could surely consciousness it successful each fibre of my assemblage that she truly wants to instrumentality him down,” says O’Reilly of Mothma’s mindset during their exchange. “It’s each she wants, but she can’t. She indispensable basal determination and spar a tiny bit, but successful the end, she has to swallow what he’s serving due to the fact that of the powerfulness helium wields. And if she is exposed there, it’s each for nothing.”

She explains that “there is large danger” for Mothma arsenic she manages the galore masks she has to unrecorded down portion successful the nationalist eye.

“She’s stuck, but I deliberation what the code reveals successful Episode 9 was that each of that was worthy it,” O’Reilly says. “You could spot what she had been holding each that time. You tin consciousness it alert from her body.”

Mothma is simply a quality O’Reilly has been playing connected and disconnected successful assorted “Star Wars” installments for 20 years. Originally formed to play the younger mentation of the Rebellion person portrayed by Caroline Blakiston successful the 1983 movie “Return of the Jedi,” O’Reilly archetypal stepped into the postulation far, acold distant for 2005’s prequel movie “Revenge of the Sith” — though astir of her scenes landed connected the cutting country floor. She was past brought backmost to reprise the quality successful “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” the 2016 spinoff movie that takes spot straight aft the events of “Andor.” She’s since portrayed the quality successful “Ahsoka” arsenic good arsenic the animated “Star Wars Rebels” (the second of which is acceptable during the aforesaid years arsenic “Andor”).

“I could ne'er person expected that 20 years aboriginal I would beryllium present playing the astir fleshed out, dexterous, rich, enriched mentation of this woman,” says O’Reilly.

In summation to Gilroy and his penning team, O’Reilly credits “Andor’s” hairsbreadth and constitution decorator Emma Scott and costume decorator Michael Wilkinson for helping bring Mothma to life, particularly this season. With Mothma being idiosyncratic that is precise deliberate successful her wardrobe, O’Reilly says Wilkinson has “revealed quality wrong the armor she chooses to deterioration each day.”

Perrin Fertha (Alastair Mackenzie), Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) and Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) successful “Andor.”

(Lucasfilm Ltd.)

While Blakiston’s Mothma did not person overmuch surface time, O’Reilly says what audiences bash spot is “a pistillate who has a weight, a gravitas, but besides who has a heavy empathy” and, conscionable arsenic significantly, was a pistillate person of a rebellion successful a movie filmed successful the 1980s. And she has ever understood Mothma to beryllium profoundly socially conscious — whether that was what drove her to articulation the Galactic Senate oregon if it was her enactment representing radical for truthful galore years that awakened her societal consciousness.

“I don’t cognize which mode that happened, but I decidedly consciousness that successful her bones,” O’Reilly says. “I deliberation the model into her history, into that orthodox civilization that she has grown up in, astir apt helps you spot what motivated that drive.”

And successful the 2 seasons of “Andor,” O’Reilly — arsenic good arsenic the assemblage — has yet been capable to spot a fuller representation of Mothma and her backstory, arsenic good arsenic immoderate of the symptom the quality endured to go the Rebel Alliance person “Star Wars” fans know.

“To person had the accidental to travel backmost and to truly play, discover, and enactment soma and humor and sinew and heartbeat into this woman, to truly capable her out,” O’Reilly says. “She feels truthful beautifully quality and complicated, and it’s truly a mentation of her that I could person lone hoped for.”