Andor’s Denise Gough Highlights Dedra Meero’s Intimacy Issues – Looper

Speaking to Empire, Denise Gough explained that she sees the character of Dedra Meero as a foil to Rebel leader Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård). In a searing monologue to a scared Rebel spy, Rael declares, “I’ve given up all chance of inner peace. I made my mind a sunless base.” Dedra, by contrast, never had the sun to begin with. She’s neglected her emotions entirely. “Everything is iced out,” says Gough. “Everything. Luthen burns it — there’s an energy to that. But Dedra’s is just as painful. She’s frozen everything.”

In fact, Dedra’s interactions with Syril may be, according to Gough, the first time the ISB officer was ever touched, a fact the actor didn’t realize until rewatching her performance after the fact. She recalls that while playing the scene in which Syril rescues Dedra, she played from a place of anger, only later realizing the layer of emotional neglect under the surface. Says Gough, “I was f****** furious. ‘How dare he touch me?’ But when I watched it, I thought, ‘Oh my god, she’s never been touched. Never. Yes, this guy can be construed as creepy and weird. But what does that do to someone who’s never been with anyone? Ever?”

The answer to that question will have to wait for Season 2 of “Andor,” which is currently in production.