‘Andor’ Actor Duncan Pow Talks Melshi and ‘Rogue One’ Reshoots
Duncan Pow, who played the daring rebel Ruescott Melshi in both Rogue One and Andor, recently discussed his return to Star Wars and more.
Saw Gerrera isn’t the only secondary character from the 2016 film who has made a big return in Disney Plus’ Andor series. While we found out about Duncan Pow coming back for more Star Wars last year (thanks to set pictures), it was a surprise to see Cassian meeting Melshi for the first time inside Narkina 5’s Imperial prison. As that story arc moved forward, his role became bigger, and the eleventh episode went further and gave him an important mission.
The Playlist recently had the chance to chat with Pow, who was very open about the heavy tinkering that happened behind the scenes on Rogue One as Tony Gilroy came in to “fix” the fan-favorite film. The most surprising bit of info here is how Melshi was originally just a fighter pilot — the extensive rewrites and reshoots transformed his character into a key Rebel figure:
“I had a part in ‘Rogue One’ originally as a fighter pilot… I was involved with the original production in various capacities early on, and then I came in for the reshoots, and all of a sudden, after having a conversation with Tony—about Buddhism, funnily enough—I found that the character of Melshi had been written into some of the stuff in ‘Rogue One’ and that’s how it came about initially… I really came on board [in a more significant way] in the reshoots. Sometimes in life, you’re in the right place at the right time.”
Of course, all of his presence in the third act of the final film is sizable, but this also confirms the whole rescue on Wobani that happens early on in the film was the product of those reshoots, as Melshi is essentially the first member of the Rebel Alliance that Jyn Erso meets on screen.
Pow then went on to mention how he felt optimistic about joining Andor when he first heard the show was moving forward. Tony Gilroy was quick to discuss the series with him and lock down a part for Melshi, but the pandemic made the actor fear for his scenes.
“I remember [Tony] asking, ‘are you in shape?’ and I said, ‘Of course, I’m in shape,’ I haven’t spent all of lockdown in the backyard with my mum, drinking gin and tonics… So, I had a very short period of time to get in shape.”
While this week’s episode definitely sets up a larger Melshi presence in season 2 of the show, he chose not to spill the beans about whether he’ll be back or not. Hopefully, he’ll join Cassian in some of his pre-Rogue One adventures, further developing their on-screen camaraderie.
Francisco J. Ruiz is that guy who has watched Jurassic Park a thousand times and loves Star Wars. His hunger for movies is only matched by his love for video games. He graduated in English Studies from the University of Malaga, in Spain. As he keeps writing about what he enjoys (and doesn’t) for websites all over, he’s continuing his studies.
