Adria Arjona on breaking ‘Star Wars' ground with intense ‘Andor' scenes: ‘I found it really important'
Though Star Wars is about the struggle against the forces of darkness, it usually sticks to cartoonish portrayals of evil: An old wizard cackling as he shoots lightning out of his fingers, or his minion in black armor with a flaming sword. But below them, as Andor repeatedly shows, are millions of bureaucrats and officials carrying out much more recognizable forms of violence and oppression every day. At the beginning of Season 2, one such figure, Lieutenant Krole (Alex Waldmann), even sexually assaults Bix while carrying out an Imperial census on the planet Mina-Rau. The casualness with which Krole abuses Bix suggests it's an everyday occurrence. However, this time, he pays for it with his life. This represents the first depiction of overt sexual assault in a Star Wars story, and neither Arjona nor Andor creator Tony Gilroy (who wrote the first three episodes of the season himself) took that lightly.
More from GoldDerby
TV showrunner panel: 'The Better Sister,' 'Deli Boys,' 'Overcompensating,' 'Shifting Gears,' and 'Three Women'
'Three Women' showrunner Laura Eason talks courage, desire, and 'superhero' intimacy coordinators
'Overcompensating' showrunner Scott King on Prime Video comedy: 'There are no heroes or villains - everyone is just a f--ing mess'
'I felt a great honor for being the one to play it right,' Arjona tells Gold Derby. 'I have many friends and family members who are victims, and I felt like this was written in a way that I wish everybody would react. I wish it were really empowering to do the thing we all wish we could do, but we don't know when we're in that moment. It's kind of the reaction that someone has five days after something happens, when they have the perfect thing to say and the perfect reaction. You know what I mean? So that's sort of how I saw it, and that gave me a lot of power.'
Arjona continues, 'I really held strong to the people I know who have been through this. I brought them with me, in a way, to the scene. At the end of the day, it's part of our history. This show touches so much on really high themes, and it almost feels like we're trying not to look at the reality of it. But the abusive power happens in a galaxy far, far away; it happens here, in Guatemala, in Europe; it happens all over the world. Sometimes we're blinded to it or don't want to see it because it is really scary. So to perform it, I did not take that lightly, and I really put my heart into that scene. I found it really important.'
When Andor started, Bix was just a junkyard dealer on the Outer Rim planet Ferrix. She was trying to get by like everyone else in that hard-scrabble community. Still, anti-Imperial activity intrigued her enough to contact the mysterious Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård). That got her into trouble when the Empire captured her and subjected her to torture. But after joining with her longtime friend Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and becoming part of the growing Rebellion, Bix learns how to fight back against her oppressors. So in the second block of Season 2 episodes, Bix dovetails her recovery from torture with her work in the Rebellion by finding and killing Dr. Gorst.
'You take it personally. I've really fallen in love with the characters that I've played, and I just wanted Bix to win,' Arjona says. 'I was saying, 'Tony, throw Bix something!' Tony really talked me through her entire arc, but that moment with Dr. Gorst, he didn't. He let me read it, and I did. I read it, and oh man, it was just such a big relief that I had for Bix. I counted the days for us to film that scene.'
Throughout both seasons, Andor shows how individuals' choices add to causes greater than themselves, political (like the Rebellion) and personal (like the love that grows between Bix and Cassian).
'As the show progresses, you see the repercussions of everything Dr. Gorst did to her until she has that big moment of revenge and liberation,' Arjona says. 'But as Bix is coming to herself, she's also playing more of a part in the Rebellion, and she wants to be a part of it. That's what takes her out of this whole dark hole, her desperate need to be part of the Rebellion, support Cassian, and be well for Cassian so they can form this beautiful relationship.'
The Andor series finale debuts on Tuesday.
Best of GoldDerby
Filming 'The White Lotus' terrified Sam Nivola more than once
TV showrunner panel: 'The Better Sister,' 'Deli Boys,' 'Overcompensating,' 'Shifting Gears,' and 'Three Women'
'Three Women' showrunner Laura Eason talks courage, desire, and 'superhero' intimacy coordinators
Click here to read the full article.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
12 hours ago
- Newsweek
There's Already a Slur for the AI Taking Peoples' Jobs
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A growing wave of online anger at artificial intelligence has birthed a new term for machines taking over workplaces: Clanker. Borrowed from "Star Wars" lore and repurposed by Gen Z, it has quickly become shorthand for AI systems and robots seen as displacing human workers. Originally a derogatory nickname used by clone troopers for battle droids in "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," the word has found new life in meme culture and labor discourse. TikTok videos now feature users yelling "clanker" at delivery bots on sidewalks, while social feeds buzz with jokes about "anti-clanker sentiment" and "the coming clanker wars." "Everyone just collectively decided, 'yep, this is what we will now call the robots,' and immediately began slandering them," Mashable's Chance Townsend wrote about the trend. On TikTok, the hashtag #clanker has amassed millions of views in just weeks. One viral clip shows a user leaning out of a car window to shout, "Get out of the way, clanker!" at a food delivery robot, racking up over 4.8 million views. Another, captioned "me and twin beating the clanker my daughter brought home," shows a group of streamers pushing around a humanoid robot in a skit equal parts sci-fi dystopia and family comedy. Memes riff on the joke with parody "C-word passes," granting "one use of the word clanker." Others joke about "robot racism" and whether future generations will have to apologize to their AI overlords for their past bigotry. The joke has even reached Washington. Senator Ruben Gallego referenced the term in a post, using "clanker" to promote a bill that would let people bypass automated phone systems, like the ones increasingly taking over corporate customer service lines. "My new bill makes sure you don't have to talk to a clanker if you don't want to," he wrote, sharing a meme that used the word as shorthand for robots. Sick of yelling 'REPRESENTATIVE' into the phone 10 times just to talk to a human being? My new bill makes sure you don't have to talk to a clanker if you don't want to. — Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) July 30, 2025 The AI Labor Disruption Is Here Beneath the gallows humor lies a major economic shift. Gen Z—the demographic fueling the meme—is also the generation most exposed to the AI-driven transformation of work. Born between 1997 and 2012, they are entering a labor market where entry-level roles, traditionally the first rung on the career ladder, are vanishing to automation. Numbers suggest the joke isn't far from reality. Unemployment among recent college graduates has surged to 5.8 percent, a level considered unusually high. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York warned the job market for these workers has "deteriorated noticeably." Appotronik Apollo humanoid robots are working shifts at Mercedes' Berlin factory. Appotronik Apollo humanoid robots are working shifts at Mercedes' Berlin factory. Eileen Falkenberg-Hull/Newsweek An analysis by Revelio Labs found that postings for positions heavily exposed to AI tasks dropped by 31 percent after the release of ChatGPT in 2022, compared to a 25 percent decline in roles with low AI exposure. That sense of inevitability is what gives "clanker" its edge. What began as satire has become shorthand for a generation watching the ground shift beneath their feet. Experts warn of a collapse in entry-level hiring as AI reshapes work. Dario Amodei, Anthropic's CEO, recently predicted AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years. "Entry-level jobs tend to involve routine, well-defined tasks—exactly the kind of work current AI systems are best suited to automate," Daniela Rus, director of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, told Newsweek. The shift is being embraced by some of the country's most labor-intensive employers. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently told employees that AI is now in "virtually every corner of the company" and predicting "we will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today." "The robots are coming," Adam Dorr, director of research at the think tank RethinkX, told Newsweek. "They're coming for everyone's jobs." 'No Escape' Not everyone is laughing along at the "clanker" memes. Some TikTok users have wondered whether the slur is crossing into darker territory. For Dorr, the memes around "clankers" are an early cultural echo of a larger disruption. In his interview with Newsweek, he warned the changes will come faster than most expect. "Disruptions don't take 50 or 100 years," he said. "They take 15 to 20 years. Sometimes even faster." His research suggests robots will erode jobs task by task rather than replacing them one-to-one. "There is no long-term escape from this. By the 2040s, there will be almost nothing a robot cannot do that a human can," he added. Public opinion on the AI revolution remains split. A June YouGov survey found 47 percent of Americans believe AI's overall impact on society will be negative, but the share who fear it will reduce jobs in their industry has dropped sharply—from 48 percent in 2024 to 31 percent in 2025. Among weekly AI users, optimism outweighs fear: 51 percent believe AI will benefit society, compared to 27 percent who view it negatively. Carter Price, a senior mathematician at the RAND Corporation, took the more optimistic route, suggesting that while AI may eliminate some tasks, it could also create demand for more workers elsewhere. "These tools are more likely to replace tasks than entire jobs," Price told Newsweek. "That might mean you need fewer people to do the work, or it could mean you need more because productivity rises when low-value work is handled by machines." Whether AI-powered robots ultimately replace or augment the bulk human labor remains to be seen, but the rise of "clanker" has already sparked a cultural debate. For those who have added the term to their lexicon, satire and seriousness blur together. It's a joke born of humor but grounded in economic reality. And for Gen Z, the punchline is often the same: if the bots are coming for their jobs, at least they coined the term for it.
Newsweek
15 hours ago
- Newsweek
Golden's Unique Way of Welcoming Owner Home Goes Viral: 'Retrieved'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A golden retriever has gone viral for completely living up to his breed's name with the way he welcomed his owner home. Wilson the golden is described by his owner as having a "heart of gold and a howl like Chewbacca," the Star Wars character—and both of these traits were on show in a recent video that has captured hearts across the internet. The beloved pet has an entire TikTok account dedicated to clips of him relaxing and playing with his owners, being adorably clingy, and showing off his vocal cords with a grumbling noise that has earned him the Chewbacca nickname. In a particularly popular video posted in July and boasting more than 2.3 million views, Wilson's owner showed how the golden greets her when she arrives home. And in this case, she "didn't even make it to the welcome mat before being retrieved." In the video, the owner opens the front door to find Wilson standing there, tail wagging and him whimpering in excitement to see her home. And before the owner has even said hello, Wilson has gently taken her arm in his mouth, and is full-on retrieving her, leading her into the house. At the same time, he makes the noise that is undoubtedly his Chewbacca howl, only stopping when she is safely inside and he has let go of her arm. Wilson's owner wrote in the caption: "He doesn't just retrieve toys—he retrieves hearts. And limbs." TikTok users were in stitches, awarding the video more than 534,000 likes, as one delighted viewer wrote: "How did you get a domesticated Chewbacca? I WANT ONE." Another posted, "Remain calm! You are being retrieved by your designated golden doggo," while a third commented that Wilson was scolding her: "Where the hell have you been!" And one comment read: "Why is he Chewbacca?" One dog owner shared that their dog does the same thing, suggesting that, when canines have "big feelings, sometimes they need to have something in their mouth to keep them grounded. My dog often chooses my arm as well." And Wilson's owner said that is what Wilson does, calling it "displacement behavior"—and "if he doesn't have a toy then it's always an arm!" Wilson the retriever takes his owner by the arm and leads her inside. Wilson the retriever takes his owner by the arm and leads her inside. TikTok @wags_with_wilson A report on dog trainer website Surrey Canine Corner says that displacement behavior is when a canine does something that seemingly completely out of context, which can ease them when they feel tense. These self-soothing behaviors can range from anything from sniffing the ground, turning their head away, or mouthing a toy or part of their owner's body, even when not teething. Positive reinforcement, creating a safe space, and sticking to a consistent routine can all help a dog feel safe. Newsweek has contacted @wags_with_wilson via TikTok for comment on this story. Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@ with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
New York Post
16 hours ago
- New York Post
Liam Neeson opens up about filming ‘strange' sex scene with Pamela Anderson in ‘The Naked Gun'
They did the deed. Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson, who are allegedly dating, filmed a sex scene in 'The Naked Gun' that involved Neeson's first time working with an intimacy coordinator. 'There's a threesome,' Neeson, 73, said on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' on Wednesday. 10 Liam Neeson on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.' The Late Show with Stephen Colbert/Instagram 10 Pamela Anderson, Liam Neeson in 'The Naked Gun.' AP 'And one of the participants is very cold,' the 'Taken' actor added. Neeson also described the experience with the intimacy coordinator as 'a little bit strange.' 'Telling you how to do it?' Colbert, 61, asked. 'Pamela and I knew…,' Neeson replied, as the audience laughed. 10 Pamela Anderson, Liam Neeson at SiriusXM Studios in New York City on July 30. Getty Images for SiriusXM When Colbert asked if the actors knew 'how to bring in a third,' Neeson told the host, 'No. That was a first.' 'That had to be specifically choreographed,' Neeson added. Later in the interview, Neeson gushed over his rumored girlfriend. 'She's great. She's terrific,' he said about Anderson, 58. 10 Liam Neeson in 'The Naked Gun.' AP 10 Pamela Anderson in 'The Naked Gun.' AP News broke Tuesday that Neeson and Anderson are dating after striking up chemistry while filming 'The Naked Gun.' A source told People that the pair's 'budding romance [is] in the early stages' and that they're 'enjoying each other's company.' 'It's sincere,' the insider added, 'and it's clear they're smitten with each other.' 10 Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson at 'The Naked Gun' premiere in New York. Getty Images for Paramount Pictures Neeson and Anderson have been packing on the PDA throughout their press tour. They pretended to make out during their Tuesday appearance on 'Today' and Anderson kissed Neeson on the cheek at the film's London premiere last week. 'I had never met Pamela before. We met on set,' Neeson said on 'Today.' 'And we discovered we had a lovely budding chemistry as two actors.' 10 Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson on 'Today.' TODAY 10 Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson at 'The Naked Gun' premiere in London. News Licensing / MEGA 'It was like 'Ooo, this is nice, let's not mold this. Let's just let it breathe,'' he added. 'And that's what we did.' The 'Star Wars' actor also told People in October that he was 'madly in love' with Anderson. 10 Liam Neeson spotted out in New York City on July 30. Jason Howard/BauerGriffin/INSTARimages 'I can't compliment her enough, I'll be honest with you,' he continued. 'No huge ego. She just comes in to do the work. She's funny and so easy to work with.' Anderson, for her part, recently told Entertainment Weekly: 'I think I have a friend forever in Liam, and we definitely have a connection that is very sincere, very loving, and he's a good guy.' 10 Pamela Anderson arrives at her hotel in New York City on July 30. / BACKGRID In 'The Naked Gun,' Anderson and Neeson play love interests. He stars as Lt. Frank Drebin Jr., the son of Leslie Nielsen's Frank Drebin from the original films, while Anderson plays femme fatale Beth. The movie hits theaters on Friday, Aug. 1.
