"Andor" star Adria Arjona finds justice for Bix Kalin
The actress recalls the emotional journey of playing Cassian's ally Andor, ending this season with a decisive victory over the Empire and a heartbreaking choice.
As the start of filming for the second season of Andor approached, actress Adria Arjona struggled to find her way back on track to return to the role of Bix Kaleen.
Reprising the role in the second season of the television series was the first of Arjona's career, and the huge expectations following the popularity and critical acclaim of Andor's first season brought enormous pressure. Acting with co-stars Diego Luna (who plays CassianAndor) and Stellan Skarsgård (who plays Luthen Rael) required matching serious intensity, as did storylines introduced by creator and executive producer Tony Gilroy and his writers, involving Bix's psychological trauma after being tortured at the hands of an Imperial interrogator. Archona will have to channel painful emotions.
"There's no other way to prepare than to just throw yourself into it and trust Tony's script," Arjona tells StarWars.com. “To really put yourself in Bix’s shoes, to experience everything that Bix went through. This is a challenge."
So Archona literally put herself in their shoes.
“I asked [the producers] to lend me her boots, so I borrowed the boots and walked around [the studio] in them and tried to find her again,” she says.
Arjona also returned to the same perfume she wore in the first season to evoke memories of what it was like to embody a mechanic turned fugitive. “The second I sprayed it, I went back to Bix,” she added. “I spoke like her.I walked a little like her.”
That walk and those boots set her on a dark path for the new season of Andora, whose second season is currently streaming on Disney+.
Spoiler alert: This article discusses story details and plot points from the second season ofAndor.
At the beginning of the first three-episode arc, Bix has already made a desperate escape from Ferrix and is hiding on the farming planet Mina-Rau along with other fugitives Brasso (Joplin Sibtain), Wilmon (Muhannad Bhayer) and everyone's favorite droid B2EMO (voiced by Dave Chapman). Although Cassian is away on an important mission for the young rebellion, the others are enjoying an idyllic existence. There are worse places in the galaxy to hide. But the trauma Bix endured never leaves her mind.
“I wanted them to go to a place that was truly peaceful, friendly and sociable. I wanted them to be in something utopian,” says Gilroy. “I wanted Bix to be a utopian place and to suffer at the same time.”
More misery comes to Mina Rau when an Imperial platoon arrives to inspect the harvest. Stormtroopers don't just count the grain; they also pursue illegal refugees hiding on farms, and Ferrix fugitives find themselves at gunpoint.
Our heroes, despite Cassian's timely arrival in a stolen prototype TIE fighter, do not escape unscathed.Brasso falls victim to Imperial blaster fire.
Bix faces her own trials during the intense climax of the first episode arc.
Arjona says she trusted Gilroy greatly: The storyline culminates in a brutal attack on Bix when an Imperial officer tries to take advantage of what he perceives to be a vulnerable woman. Cassian may have superior firepower, but he's not close enough to save her in time. Bix must save herself.
“She is being sexually assaulted. I never thought I'd see this in Star Wars,” says Arjona.
However, the balance of power quickly changes as Bix fights back and ultimately kills his attacker in a brutal scene that becomes cathartic for the character, the actor, and the audience.
“It's a very dark scene, and the themes around it are very real and complex,” Arjona recalls. “But the opportunity to strike was very nice.”
Doctor Gorst, I believe
In the second arc of Season 2, another year has passed and Cassian and Bix find themselves trapped in a hideout on Coruscant when they're not going on missions for the cause. Although the couple are still together and still very much in love, the isolation becomes increasingly devastating for Bix.As does the cumulative effect of all her traumas: she suffers waking nightmares involving her tormentor, Dr. Gorst (Joshua James).
Post-traumatic stress causes her to rely on sleeping pills and brings the show to another important and relevant topic: drug addiction.
“She's broken, she feels defeated, and that's when she starts using drugs and trying to numb herself,” Arjona says. "Because the only thing she can do is become more and more involved in the rebellion, kill more and more people and take more revenge... but that will lead her to the same place."
Gilroy said that the only way for Bix to rise from the depths is to take revenge on her tormentor. The arc ends with Bix and Cassian walking away from the explosion that sealed Gorst's fate, a small smile visible on her lips.
"It's like the first time this season you've seen her back," Arjona said during a recent finale broadcast on theStar WarsYouTube channel. "She's strong and her heart beats when she walks."
Sacrificing Love for the Rebellion
A year later - in the third arc of the season - Bix and Cassian have built a homestead and life in the jungles of Yavin. Fans ofStar Warswill recognize this location as the Rebel base fromStar Wars: A New Hope.At this point in the timeline, two years before the Battle of Yavin, both the base and the Rebellion are under development.
The same goes for the relationship between Cassian and Bix.
Tired of all the sacrifices he has made for Luten and the cause, Cassian announces that he is going to give it all up for Bix in order to build the life together they both deserve.
However, shocked by a mysterious prophecy from a Force healer (Josie Walker) that suggests Cassian will play a major role in defeating the Empire as an "envoy", Bix makes her own choice. Her partner wakes to find a pre-recorded goodbye message and fights back tears to rush to the launch bay - only to find that the shuttle carrying the love of his life has already departed.
Arjona calls this “the highest price of love.”
As heartbreaking as this scene was for the audience, it was just as devastating for the cast and crew.
"It's a pretty good feeling to make people cry," Gilroy said during a recent broadcast. "The saddest thing is what she says at the end: 'And then we'll have time to be together when it's all over, when it's all over.' “I’m crying right now,” Gilroy joked.
The silver lining of Cassian Andor's tragedy is that his legacy will live on.
In the very last shot of the second season ofAndoraand the entire series as a whole, we see Bix in Mina-Rau, holding a child. Their child.
And Arjona now bids farewell to the character, knowing that Bix lives on in the saga—and in its heart.The actor has a memory of the experience: a Bix-themed tattoo.
“I’ve never spent so much time with a character,” says Arjona. “This is a part of my life that I take with me. I love her. I love her so much. It was hard to say goodbye, but she is with me for life.”
The second time is a charm
Being able to play such a memorable role in Star Wars is the culmination of a different kind of hero's journey for Arjona. She landed the role of Bix years after almost losing out on another significant role elsewhere in that galaxy far, far away.
That rejection “really crushed me because all I wanted was to be a part of Star Wars and to be a Latina woman in Star Wars,” says Arjona, the daughter of a Puerto Rican mother and a Guatemalan father.
“Years later, I'm in Andor and this was just meant to be. This is the Star Wars I was supposed to be in, and I was supposed to play Bix. I just feel happy. And I’ve had so many wonderful interactions, especially with Latina women who love Star Warswho just come up to me and hug me,” she adds. “I've always wanted to be a part of Star Wars, it was one of my biggest dreams, and now to be a part of it is a pinch me moment.”