Collaboration Delights Beau Willimon in Projects like Andor and Severance
In an interview with Variety, writer Beau Willimon discussed his current projects, which include serving as an executive producer on Apple TV+'s Severance and writing episodes for both seasons of Andor.
Willimon compared writing for Star Wars to being a session musician on someone's album, with his collaboration with Andor creator Tony Gilroy dating back to their work on the Netflix series House of Cards. Gilroy recruited Willimon to pen a few episodes of Andor, a decision that surprised the writer given his love for the franchise. Gilroy emphasized that he wanted to tell a human story and a mature narrative, a goal that Willimon wholeheartedly supported.
In a period of six weeks, Willimon, Gilroy, and Gilroy's brother Dan Gilroy collaborated to create the story for Andor. Willimon's role was mainly confined to delivering scripts to his friend Tony Gilroy, with the latter responsible for the usual showrunner duties. This unique arrangement allowed Willimon to focus solely on his writing, leading to his being very proud of the second season of the critically acclaimed series.
Willimon also played a part in developing the world and narrative of Severance for its second season. Although this was not a typical role for him, he took on the executive producer position to offer additional assistance to the writing team. Working on both Severance and Andor has fostered a new appreciation for producing in Willimon, allowing him to facilitate someone else's vision without the burden of the project being his own.
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Enrichment Data: Beau Willimon's contributions to Andor include shaping the world and storytelling of the series through close collaboration with creator Tony Gilroy. One of his notable ideas was the thematic concept that "rhydo is the revolution," a concept that deepens the political and revolutionary context of the show. His work on Andor has been consistently praised for its mature, grounded tone, writing, and production values.
Willimon's role on Severance, while not explicitly detailed in the provided information, aligns with his known expertise in crafting complex narratives and character-driven stories. As an executive producer, he helped bring the second season of Severance to fruition, providing assistance to the writing team and working in service of the story. Given his successful collaboration on Andor and his career profile, it can be inferred that his contributions to Severance are significant as well.
Beau Willimon, having previously worked with Gilroy on House of Cards, contributed to the creation of Andor, emphasizing the show's human story and mature narrative. His distinctive ideas, such as "rhydo is the revolution," have been positively received, adding depth to the political and revolutionary context of the series. In a similar vein, Willimon's role in Severance, though not detailed extensively, likely involves crafting complex narratives and character-driven stories as an executive producer, mirroring his past successes. Gizmodo and io9, being fans of science fiction and televised entertainment, would be keen to follow the development of both Andor and Severance in the future.
