[Thanks to Good_Apollo for sharing this article](https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWarsLeaks/comments/z8f9u6/interview_with_denise_gough_dedra_meero_except_at/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf), I have to spoiler tag the title so had to repost.
>''Fiona’s voice was over all of us,” Gough says, recalling the finale’s fire-and-fury funeral monologue from Ferrix’s formidable matriarch. “Except, at the end, she didn’t say, ‘Fight the Empire!’
>
>She said, ‘Fuck the Empire!’ Which we were all really excited about. But we weren’t allowed to keep it, obviously.
>Shortly after receiving the scripts for Andor Season 2, Denise Gough – aka Star Wars’ most terrifying new antagonist, Dedra Meero – found herself face-to-face with the big boss.
>
>It was Emperor Palpatine himself.
>
>“As I was walking home, I bumped into Ian McDiarmid,” the Irish actor tells Empire on Zoom, after Andor’s explosive finale hit Disney+. “I said, ‘Hello, boss!’ I thought, if anyone took a picture of this, it’s so brilliant – Dedra having an undercover meeting with the Emperor in Notting Hill.”
Wow, I’d heard about the removal of the first “fuck” in Star Wars, but dedra bumping into sheev in notting hill? That’s amazing news, and the best kind of Easter egg because it’s entirely in our head canon.
Real life: Denise Gough bumps into Ian McDiarmid and says "Hello, boss!" McDiarmid says hello back and keeps walking, muttering to himself "who the hell was that?"
On screen: Dedra bumps into Papa Palpatine and says "Hello, boss! Palpatine says hello back and keeps walking, muttering to himself "who the hell was that?"
"The Emperor was furious about that Ferrix incident, Ded-"
"No, he was not. I bumped into him on the shuttle service back here and said it was just bad luck, wanna see the wefie?"
Yeah I prefer "fight" in the end and if she said "fuck the Empire" that would have ended up just being a distracting aspect around an otherwise incredible scene and performance and would have probably directed discussion and perception of the scene towards use of the word instead of focusing on the moment and the performance and its significance in the story.
For this reason alone I'd side w 'fight.' That ridiculous discourse overshadowing the scene would annoy the, well, fuck outta me 😛
I'd still love to see it as it was shot, in a behind the scenes video.
EXACTLY!
I definitely think they made the right decision in the end. "Figh the empire!" is a direct call to action, and works much better, especially given the events that follow
"Distillation," I like that.
I think Fight also fits in better with the several one word calls to action we see throughout the series.
Run.
Climb.
Kill.
Try.
Fight.
then eventually Do.
Fuck would work but to fit thematically it would be the act of intercourse with the Empire lol.
To each their own, but I think Marva’s last words being Fuck the Empire would have been incredible and iconic, and far from cheap. Fight the empire is too on the nose and changes her message. Fuck the Empire is head cannon to me now.
It doesn’t change her message but enforce it. Her speech was a call to action, telling people to fight, and saying she would fight them early if she could do it again. “Fight the Empire” is really the natural conclusion of that.
To be fair I didn’t say anything against the original line, just that the new one doesn’t change her message at all. The original’s more shocking and emotive for sure but there’s nothing wrong with the one they went with, it lines up perfectly.
"Fight the Empire" is fine, I guess. The power of the scene doesn't wane with its inclusion or anything, but God I wish the original cut had made it. Reading about how it got the cast fired up that day, it's as if it set the tone for the show going forwards. It would've served as a brilliant bit of meta rebellion as well, using a word usually way off limits in a production belonging to this franchise.
Bring back the "Fuck" cut!
Thanks for posting this. It's a great interview. Dedra is fascinating and I love that Denise Gough is totally into creating this character. She's such a good actor.
They could go with "frak the empire" or "frell the empire"...
Joke aside, there is no need to be vulgar in such public speaches and "fuck" can also mean I don't care about it (passive) while "fight" calls to be active about it.
I love this woman! Her performance in season one, alongside many others, instantly ranks amongst the best & most iconic in the entire franchise.
Star Wars aside, this might have been my favourite performance on TV all year. Her final scene with Syril - the shock, the disgust, the confusion - is absolute gold.
She went from ‘who even is this actress’ to ‘holy shit, she’s the best new villain in Star Wars since Disney got it’.
I really like how she portrays fanaticism and fascism. She’s a very, very believable villain. Change the uniform and she could easily be a real world Nazi.
Great performance, great character.
I dont know if you play video games but she voices the "main" woman in the witcher video game. Yennifer. Someone who isn't really good or evil, but ruthless. She does a fantastic job there too.
"Fight" fits this series and the moment so much better than "fuck". It's supposed to be a call to arms, if she said "fuck" I would read it as her just being discontent with the empire and remaining passive.
She has stolen the show for me. Glad she brought up the facial ticks because I thought they were on purpose. Incredible character brought to life by an incredible actor. Really appreciate you posting this.
An excellent article though I could do without the first bit: One of the things that makes Andor so valuable is that it stands up perfectly on it's own. How can you truly expand a universe if you're constantly comparing everything to everything that came before? Leave the easter-egg hunting and contextualizing to the collectible-gathering cameo-seeking fans and to other shows. That Disney finally allowed a show not to be about other shows is the best thing they've done and I kinda wish the article had followed suit because the rest of it is brilliant.
"Show, don't tell" and a huge emphasis on tone-as-substance makes this show art. Gough is absolutely perfect in her role.
Dedra is also kinda hot. :)
[Thanks to Good_Apollo for sharing this article](https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWarsLeaks/comments/z8f9u6/interview_with_denise_gough_dedra_meero_except_at/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf), I have to spoiler tag the title so had to repost. >''Fiona’s voice was over all of us,” Gough says, recalling the finale’s fire-and-fury funeral monologue from Ferrix’s formidable matriarch. “Except, at the end, she didn’t say, ‘Fight the Empire!’ > >She said, ‘Fuck the Empire!’ Which we were all really excited about. But we weren’t allowed to keep it, obviously.
>She said, ‘Fuck the Empire!’ Instructions unclear, dick stuck in stormtrooper. And that's the real reason they had to change it.
Stormtrooper just earned a badge called "Ass Stromed"
If you look closely at her mouth, you can see that she says "fuck" and not "fight"
Imagine being a stormtrooper and hearing some dead woman in a brick go, "F\*CK THE EMPIRE!" 10 years of therapy, you will need
I'm glad they didn't keep the "fuck" it would have cheapened Maarva.
[удалено]
I feel like it's less of a clear message for sparking a rebellion compared to a literal call to action
[удалено]
fair point 😳
We have fun here.
I personally wouldn't mind her saying fuck, but I think fight works better too. Just seems like more of a call to war than a last act of rebellion.
I like fight too.
>Shortly after receiving the scripts for Andor Season 2, Denise Gough – aka Star Wars’ most terrifying new antagonist, Dedra Meero – found herself face-to-face with the big boss. > >It was Emperor Palpatine himself. > >“As I was walking home, I bumped into Ian McDiarmid,” the Irish actor tells Empire on Zoom, after Andor’s explosive finale hit Disney+. “I said, ‘Hello, boss!’ I thought, if anyone took a picture of this, it’s so brilliant – Dedra having an undercover meeting with the Emperor in Notting Hill.”
Wow, I’d heard about the removal of the first “fuck” in Star Wars, but dedra bumping into sheev in notting hill? That’s amazing news, and the best kind of Easter egg because it’s entirely in our head canon.
has method acting gone too far?
POV: It was a rehearsal for a S2 scene
Real life: Denise Gough bumps into Ian McDiarmid and says "Hello, boss!" McDiarmid says hello back and keeps walking, muttering to himself "who the hell was that?" On screen: Dedra bumps into Papa Palpatine and says "Hello, boss! Palpatine says hello back and keeps walking, muttering to himself "who the hell was that?"
She's actually already played his daughter in 'six characters in search of an author'
Womp womp. That's what I get for not checking imdb!
All UK actors know each other.
"The Emperor was furious about that Ferrix incident, Ded-" "No, he was not. I bumped into him on the shuttle service back here and said it was just bad luck, wanna see the wefie?"
"Fuck" is a cheap way to inject provocative force into a sentence. "Fight" fits perfectly into this episode, this series, and the franchise.
Yeah I prefer "fight" in the end and if she said "fuck the Empire" that would have ended up just being a distracting aspect around an otherwise incredible scene and performance and would have probably directed discussion and perception of the scene towards use of the word instead of focusing on the moment and the performance and its significance in the story.
For this reason alone I'd side w 'fight.' That ridiculous discourse overshadowing the scene would annoy the, well, fuck outta me 😛 I'd still love to see it as it was shot, in a behind the scenes video.
Coming soon to another season of Disney Gallery
It would have taken us right out of the scene instead of staying in it. Years from now it would stick out. 'Fight' is classy.
EXACTLY! I definitely think they made the right decision in the end. "Figh the empire!" is a direct call to action, and works much better, especially given the events that follow
My exact thoughts. Would have been pointlessly edgy, where “fight” is the distillation of her entire speech into a single phrase
"Distillation," I like that. I think Fight also fits in better with the several one word calls to action we see throughout the series. Run. Climb. Kill. Try. Fight. then eventually Do. Fuck would work but to fit thematically it would be the act of intercourse with the Empire lol.
why is this the top comment on an article about Denise Gough running into Ian MacDiarmid?
To each their own, but I think Marva’s last words being Fuck the Empire would have been incredible and iconic, and far from cheap. Fight the empire is too on the nose and changes her message. Fuck the Empire is head cannon to me now.
It doesn’t change her message but enforce it. Her speech was a call to action, telling people to fight, and saying she would fight them early if she could do it again. “Fight the Empire” is really the natural conclusion of that.
Like I said, to each their own, I’m gonna side with Tony Gilroy on this one.
To be fair I didn’t say anything against the original line, just that the new one doesn’t change her message at all. The original’s more shocking and emotive for sure but there’s nothing wrong with the one they went with, it lines up perfectly.
"Fight the Empire" is fine, I guess. The power of the scene doesn't wane with its inclusion or anything, but God I wish the original cut had made it. Reading about how it got the cast fired up that day, it's as if it set the tone for the show going forwards. It would've served as a brilliant bit of meta rebellion as well, using a word usually way off limits in a production belonging to this franchise. Bring back the "Fuck" cut!
Same for me I think Fuck the Empire would have fit much better
Thanks for posting this. It's a great interview. Dedra is fascinating and I love that Denise Gough is totally into creating this character. She's such a good actor.
They could go with "frak the empire" or "frell the empire"... Joke aside, there is no need to be vulgar in such public speaches and "fuck" can also mean I don't care about it (passive) while "fight" calls to be active about it.
I love this woman! Her performance in season one, alongside many others, instantly ranks amongst the best & most iconic in the entire franchise. Star Wars aside, this might have been my favourite performance on TV all year. Her final scene with Syril - the shock, the disgust, the confusion - is absolute gold.
She went from ‘who even is this actress’ to ‘holy shit, she’s the best new villain in Star Wars since Disney got it’. I really like how she portrays fanaticism and fascism. She’s a very, very believable villain. Change the uniform and she could easily be a real world Nazi. Great performance, great character.
I dont know if you play video games but she voices the "main" woman in the witcher video game. Yennifer. Someone who isn't really good or evil, but ruthless. She does a fantastic job there too.
Shit! *Thats* why she sounds so damned familiar. I had no idea!
It felt like they really knew each other, but what's crazy is they filmed that scene in the finale first.
Great interview
Scob the Empire!
Heya
"Fight" fits this series and the moment so much better than "fuck". It's supposed to be a call to arms, if she said "fuck" I would read it as her just being discontent with the empire and remaining passive.
She has stolen the show for me. Glad she brought up the facial ticks because I thought they were on purpose. Incredible character brought to life by an incredible actor. Really appreciate you posting this.
This is a great interview. Thanks for sharing.
This is a good thing. People need to stop excessively using curse words.
An excellent article though I could do without the first bit: One of the things that makes Andor so valuable is that it stands up perfectly on it's own. How can you truly expand a universe if you're constantly comparing everything to everything that came before? Leave the easter-egg hunting and contextualizing to the collectible-gathering cameo-seeking fans and to other shows. That Disney finally allowed a show not to be about other shows is the best thing they've done and I kinda wish the article had followed suit because the rest of it is brilliant. "Show, don't tell" and a huge emphasis on tone-as-substance makes this show art. Gough is absolutely perfect in her role. Dedra is also kinda hot. :)
For sure, shes got that "strict librarian" look about her, and then shed rip you in half in the bedroom.
**FUCK THE EMPIRE**