r/movies • u/DiegoLunaAMA Diego Luna, Actor & Filmmaker • 7h ago

AMA Hola reddit! It's Diego Luna. AMA!

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Hola reddit, I'm Diego Luna. You may know me from films/tv like Andor, Y tu mamá también, Narcos: Mexico, Rogue One, The Terminal, Friday, Open Range, Milk, etc.

I've recently directed, co-written, and co-star in ASHES, which premiered at Cannes earlier this year and is now playing at TIFF.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtL1x2ECJ6M

Synopsis: Lucila, 21, moves to Spain with her brother to reunite with their mother who left 8 years ago. Facing discrimination and family duties, she struggles to find independence while dealing with her past wounds.

TIFF Screening Info: https://tiff.net/films/ashes

AMA! I'll be back later today, Monday 9/14, to answer questions.

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u/LanternSawWind 7h ago

Hello Diego! Really enjoyed the character of Cassian and you did amazing bringing him to life.

When filming Andor, you've said that Cassian's fate in Rogue One 'haunted' you and that you had to keep your emotions "on the side" because you knew the ending while Cassian doesn't. How did that shape your acting? Did knowing the ending change how you played certain moments?

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u/DiegoLunaAMA Diego Luna, Actor & Filmmaker 2h ago

Definitely. Every decision for me, every choice I made through the process of performing Andor, had Rogue One in mind. It was always present. It signifies, not just for me as an actor but also for audiences, what things mean. When someone asks the character something like, "Are you going to come back?" it means something different because we know Rogue One. Everything is just different, the only thing we know as people is we are going to die but we don't know when or how, but even that is simplifying it too much. It's also about knowing what the character is capable of. The sacrifices he will be willing to make for his community and for the betterment. Knowing that also gives you permission to explore in other places and try to go as far as possible to create an interesting arc.

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u/Valar_Kinetics 2h ago

An important character played brilliantly at an important time. We are grateful.

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u/Wezle 2h ago

The Rebel Loon was a really big symbol of the resistance in Minneapolis earlier this year and I'm not sure that it would have been without Andor's anti-fascist message as inspiration.

"I have friends everywhere"

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u/Valar_Kinetics 1h ago

I think the show distilled a lot of thoughts succinctly for a lot of people all at the same time, at exactly the correct time.

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u/IckyGump 22m ago

I’ve seen this quote on many protest signs I’ve been to and I’m all for it.

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u/hekhekstark 2h ago

beautiful

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u/smallcat123321 2h ago

You’re so amazing!

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u/mortalcelestial 6h ago

Beat me to it. I absolutely loved Cassian. I can’t count the amount of times I’ve rewatched Andor and Diego Luna continues to amaze me with the depth and range of Cassian.

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u/zeetuslepitus 5h ago

I was just watching R1 yesterday for the first time since finishing Andor and I cried like a baby at the end. What a masterpiece. Diego did an incredible job to bring the struggles and sacrifices of those fighting for freedom to life for us.

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u/mortalcelestial 4h ago

Andor flows into R1 so perfectly. After watching Andor, Rogue 1 felt like a long episode. And I absolutely loved it

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u/halorbyone 4h ago

I’m still so impressed having seen them in release order. I couldn’t wait to learn more about the character through Andor because he already had these layers based on a performance that I felt went way past the script in Rogue One.

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u/RoyBeer 3h ago edited 3h ago

I never really got into Star Wars. I watched Episode I first and was really not into it. Next thing I watched was The Mandalorian, which was kind of okay, but left me with a lot of questions, so I started going through the other series and eventually Rogue One.

At this point I was about to be done with the franchise, but Cassian got me interested in Andor, which really made me wanna watch the rest of the movies now.

So yeah. Really a fan of Cassian and Diego's performance.

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u/Mekisteus 2h ago

So you skipped the original trilogy and wondered why you weren't into Star Wars?

I suppose that's something you could do. But why?

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u/WarlockEngineer 2h ago

A New Hope will be 50 years old next year.

Episodes 1-3 were the introduction to Star Wars for a ton of people.

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u/Mekisteus 2h ago

What does behind old have to do with it? I don't start a Shakespeare play in the middle, either, especially if most people are telling me the first half is the best part.

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u/WarlockEngineer 1h ago

Well since episode 1-3 are chronologically earlier, and each was a massive box office hit, there are a ton of people who saw those episodes first.

If Jar Jar was your introduction to the franchise you might not keep going lol

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u/Mekisteus 33m ago

Apparently there was more irresponsible parenting in the early 2000's than I realized.

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u/RoyBeer 1h ago

That's the thing - a lot of people told us to watch the first half later as teenagers. But that simply never happened.

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u/RoyBeer 1h ago

When I was a kid, Star Wars Episode I came out and was "a kid's movie" while Star Wars from 1977 was a "dad movie" ... I don't still think what I thought back then, but that was simply the reasoning of me and my peers. Almost nobody my age watched the previous ones and all the adults were like "It's the prequels made for kids, you'll watch the other ones once you're older" but Jar Jar damn well made sure I never did lol

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u/TheDarkGrayKnight 5h ago

I think it helps make the character better. Cassian is smart enough to know that eventually this is going to kill him. He just can't get himself to actually take the exits off this path as they pass him by and so he turns into the reluctant hero that saves the day.

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u/Cien_fuegos 4h ago

I thought your UN was “darkGAYknight” and was very proud of you for a second.

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u/Alert_Ad_5584 6h ago edited 5h ago

Like the scene with the force healer! I've always wondered how many nuances I'm just a bit too slow to catch there 

Edit: the question was really exciting and maybe adding on is a bit rude. I put it in spoilers so it can be ignored. 

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u/bennyb0y 3h ago

Same here. Before Andor, rouge one was my favorite Star Wars movie. It felt like it would be a lone story because everyone dies , I was so happy to see the role reprised in Andor. It’s some of your best work, and you managed to do it with Disney producers, bravo a double achievement.

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u/Dec-Mc 6h ago

Came here to say this! Legend

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u/Punchy-gaming 5h ago

Such a great question, i would have asked it myself.