‘Andor’ Star Kyle Soller on Syril’s Pause and How the Star Wars Series Has “Transformed This Universe Into Art”

The actor digs into the complicated nature of his character, and why he doesn’t think Syril could press the big button on the Death Star.

Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) in Lucasfilm’s ANDOR Season 2 Courtesy of Lucasfilm

[This story contains spoilers through Andor season two’s eighth episode, “Who Are You?”]

During season one of Andor, Kyle Soller’s Syril Karn was described by a journalist as a fascist, something series creator Tony Gilroy outright rejected at the time.

Fast forward two-and-a-half years, Andor season two’s eighth episode, “Who Are You?” makes it crystal clear why Gilroy took issue with that characterization of the fastidious division chief for Imperial Bureau of Standards. Gilroy had written most of season two as of season one’s release, and so he already knew about Syril’s horrified reaction upon learning that the Empire, including his lover Dedra Meero, had used him as a patsy to lead the Ghorman population to slaughter. Syril thought he was there to infiltrate and empower the local rebel cell, the Ghorman Front, to potentially attract outside rebels like his sworn enemy, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna).

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After forcing Dedra’s confession, Syril bid her adieu and stumbled through a crowd of Ghorman protestors, just as the Empire staged a false flag, firing the first shot at their own Imperial troop to justify brute force against the Ghor. In the chaos, Syril identified Cassian, the elusive fugitive who previously ended his career as a deputy inspector for the Pre-Mor Authority. He then attacked his adversary like a rabid dog, gaining the upper hand until a fateful moment of hesitation cost him his life.

“He built up this totem of Cassian, this kind of voodoo doll, and the fact that he wasn’t even a blip on Cassian’s radar is crushing to him,” Soller tells The Hollywood Reporter. “He’s so desperate to be remembered and to make a difference, and it’s a cut too deep by that point. He’s been betrayed by Dedra and the Empire, and now his one true obsession doesn’t even think he’s worth remembering. He’s heartbroken.”

To add insult to injury, the revelation that Syril was being manipulated by the Empire meant that Syril’s mother, Eedy (Kathryn Hunter), and his uncle Harlo were both right that he was being duped by his employers. In 204, after being “promoted” to division chief at the Bureau of Standards office on Ghorman, Eedy warned him that Harlo felt he was being “discarded” and “cast aside.”

“He has no one who believes in him, he has no one who remembers him and he has no one he can trust. At every single level of his life, there’s a crumbling of trust and belief,” Soller says.

But despite witnessing the Empire’s genocidal ways up close, Soller doesn’t believe Syril would’ve defected to the Rebellion.

“I still don’t think he would’ve joined the rebel side. I don’t think he would’ve joined a side at all,” Soller speculates. “I think he would’ve been so traumatized by those last ten minutes that he would just wander off somewhere to live alone.”

In the end, Soller is honored to have played a key role on Star Wars’ most lauded project since The Empire Strikes Back.

“I think Andor has opened up a new avenue for Star Wars to explore. When I was watching season two, I got really affected by it,” Soller recalls. “There were moments where I felt like I was just watching an exceptional piece of television, and then I was like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s Star Wars.’ Andor has actually transformed the medium of this universe into art, and man, I am just proud to be a part of it.”

Below, during a recent spoiler conversation with THR, Soller also discusses some of the sights and sounds from his final days on the Ghorman set, as well as the front-row seat he had for 203’s Dedra-Eedy showdown.

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During season one press, Tony Gilroy pushed back on someone who described Syril Karn as a fascist. He said that he’s more by the book and law-abiding than anything else, and knowing Syril’s reaction to the then-upcoming Ghorman Massacre, I can see why Tony responded that way. Anyway, you don’t see Syril as someone who would ever press the button to fire the Death Star’s laser, right? 

No, I don’t think he has the capacity to push the button. He’s a romantic and a fantasist, ultimately. He’s obsessive, passionate and driven. He does have a desire for power, and that put into the wrong hands — into a structure like the Empire, which could be seen as fascistic — is very dangerous. That person could be led and manipulated and formed into anything. But ultimately, no, and I think you see that journey with Syril in season two.

He is tested beyond his limits, and the veil of what he believes to be true is lifted. The life that he has built around himself within the structural confines of the Empire and Coruscant and [Ghorman] is completely crumbled by a series of betrayals. He feels betrayed by the Empire. He then has the opportunity to kill Cassian, the guy who he has blamed for every single thing going wrong in his life since Ferrix and maybe even prior to that, because, again, Syril is an obsessive fantasist.

In season one, I always saw him as a character who’s trying to figure out who he is, and he’s trying to figure that out by attaching himself to the coattails of the monolithic power structure of the Empire. In season two, he starts to flex and spread his feathers as he’s given a little bit more power and a promotion here and there. He also has a burgeoning relationship with Dedra, and he gets to play a spy on Ghorman. But he’s ultimately not cut out for the job that he desperately wants to do, and he actually has too much heart for the Empire.

Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) and Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) in a season one scene of Andor Courtesy of Lucasfilm

As you mentioned, he sees the bane of his existence, Cassian Andor, amid the Ghorman massacre, and he attacks him with everything he’s got. He then has him in his crosshairs, but he hesitates once Cassian asks, “Who are you?” That momentary pause was all Ghorman Front leader Carro Rylanz needed to kill Syril. Was Syril caught off guard by the fact that the object of his three-year obsession didn’t have the slightest idea who he was? 

Yeah, it was the final nail in the coffin for Syril’s sense of identity. He built up this totem of Cassian, this kind of voodoo doll, and he poured so much anger and resentment into it since Ferrix. And the fact that he wasn’t even a blip on Cassian’s radar is crushing to him because Syril lives in this fantasy world where he has delusions of grandeur. He’s so desperate to be remembered and to make a difference. He had his first moment of real danger and excitement on Ferrix in trying to capture Cassian, and it all went wrong. He’s now coming face to face with him again, and he stops to think, “You don’t even remember me?” So he’s shocked, and it’s a cut too deep by that point. He’s been betrayed by Dedra and the Empire, and now his one true obsession doesn’t even think he’s worth remembering. He’s heartbroken.

In 204, when Syril’s function on Ghorman is introduced, he talks to his mother Eedy (Kathryn Hunter) in his office, and she tries to knock some sense into him by saying that Uncle Harlo thinks he’s being “played” by the Empire. So the humiliation of knowing his family was right is yet another dagger in all this.

Yeah, I love that connection, and I hope more people will remember that. It was a beautiful turn of writing that even Syril’s mom was right by transferring that information to him. Even she knew through Uncle Harlo. So he has no one, really. He has no one who believes in him, he has no one who remembers him and he has no one he can trust. I always thought trust was a really difficult thing for Syril anyway. He couldn’t trust anybody at work on Morlana One in season one because no one was doing their job as good as he was. And while he was learning how to trust Dedra, even that got muddled because it became clear that she was having him followed. She said that came from Partagaz [Anton Lesser], but he believes that he’s not good enough to be trusted by Dedra. So, at every single level of his life, there’s a crumbling of trust and belief, and I thought that line you pointed out was really clever.

Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) and ISB Supervisor Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) in Andor season two. Courtesy of Lucasfilm

I still think Dedra had genuine feelings for him, but does he believe that? 

I think you can love someone and use them and betray them. Love can be toxic and messy. It might not be true, healing, authentic love, but Dedra’s reasons are very clear. She says, “I did this so that we could get away and be rewarded. We want the same things, and we’ll be taken care of.” But Syril is someone who has been manipulated and controlled all his life by his toxic, abusive, narcissistic mother, and they say, “You always marry your parents,” don’t they? But after Dedra drops that bombshell [about the Empire’s true intentions on Ghorman], he can’t believe anything she says. He knows that Dedra has gone too far. [Writer’s Note: Denise Gough added some illuminating thoughts on the subject of Dedra’s feelings.]

Had he made it out of Ghorman alive, do you think he would’ve changed allegiances? 

If he had survived at the end [of episode eight], I still don’t think he would’ve joined the Rebel side. I don’t think he would’ve joined a side at all. I think he would’ve been so traumatized by those last ten minutes that he would just wander off somewhere to live alone.

Dedra Meero versus Eedy Karn in 203 is one of Star Wars’ greatest showdowns in my book. Was Syril napping during it? What exactly was that? 

It was written in the script that Syril exits, and [director] Ari [Kleiman] was like, “I thought we’d get a shot of you in the bedroom. What do you want to do?” And I was like, “Well, I know what I would do in this situation. I’ve been here before.” (Laughs.) So I thought that he would regress, and he just completely collapses into a depressive K-hole, basically. He was just thinking, “Why the hell did I agree to this? This is horrible. [Eedy’s] disrupted any sense of peace that I have created here.”

Eedy Karn (Kathryn Hunter) and Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) in Andor season two. Courtesy of Lucasfilm

Did you get to watch the fireworks between Denise and Kathryn Hunter? 

Yeah, I got to watch the fireworks happen, man. I bought a ticket to watch Kathryn Hunter and Denise play, and I enjoyed the ride. When Tony first described how that scene was written, I was just like, “This is just genius. This is incredible. I’d be happy to just sit here and say nothing while Eedy and Dedra divide up pieces of Syril. This trifecta that is going on is just so weird and bizarre.” We had to stop filming a couple times because we were laughing so much. That orange goo was just going everywhere as Kathryn was getting more and more expressive with Eedy’s fondue eating. So that scene and the [208] scenes are my two biggest highlights.

Right before the riot broke out in 208, Syril was catatonically walking through the crowd, and it looked like you actually caught an accidental elbow in the face from a Ghorman woman. Did I see that correctly? 

(Laughs.) Yeah, I forgot about that elbow.

Was production able to schedule Syril’s death day as your last day? 

No, I think it was something as innocuous as walking somewhere. I can’t really remember, but I feel like it was connected to the riot sequence. It was a really huge and intense two-week section where we were doing the riot and then the fight sequence. Janus Metz, our great Danish director, once did a documentary [Armadillo] about the war in Afghanistan, which lent itself beautifully to this episode in particular. It felt extremely affecting and real as we were doing it. There was just this level of tension that he was somehow able to create, and it got a little bit messy. I caught some elbows, but it was really exciting at the same time. It felt real and alive.

Syril Karn (Kyle Soller) walking through Palmo, the capital city of Ghorman, in Andor season two. Lucasfilm Ltd

Which particular piece of Syril’s last stand was most emotional for you?

The sequence of him observing the chaos and the brutality of the massacre around him, that was pretty heavy and intense. I got to interact and act with a lot of the French actors, and they had their own little unit. There was singing and screaming going on in the background during that sequence, and flares and lasers were going off. It was just so overwhelming. I knew I was about to finish as well. It wasn’t my last day, but it was very close. And the last moments with Cassian, I just thought, “Wow, what a gift from Tony that these last moments of Syril are so potent and raw.”

In the grand scheme of things, what has this job meant to you? 

It’s seriously been a general privilege to be a part of it. What Tony and Diego have accomplished is truly exceptional and sophisticated and meticulously crafted, especially with the second season. It’s very dark, it’s very human, it’s very affecting, it’s very emotional. Tony and his team of writers are on another level. I hadn’t worked with people like this before.

But all those seeds were laid in Rogue One. I remember when I watched Rogue One, I just thought, “Wow, this is doing something different with Star Wars. I’m into this tone. It’s really adult and human.” So I think Andor has opened up a new avenue for Star Wars to explore. Of course, I filmed it, but when I was watching season two, I got really affected by it. There were moments where I felt like I was just watching an exceptional piece of television, and then I was like, “Oh yeah, it’s Star Wars.” Andor has actually transformed the medium of this universe into art, and man, I am just proud to be a part of it.