Denise Gough

Denise Gough (born February 28, 1980) is an Irish actress who plays Dedra Meero in the 2022 television series Andor.
==Biography==
When Denise Gough was a kid, she saw Star Wars and had a toy that she thought was the Death Star. Tony Gilroy, the writer and executive producer of the Andor television series, was wowed by Gough's performance in the play People, Places and Things, and he knew she was right for the role. Gough's agent later told her that Star Wars called, and the actress was then approached by Gilroy for a role. Gough was concerned due to not knowing who Gilroy was and knowing almost nothing about the franchise, but Gilroy told her he also knew little about Star Wars. He then gave Gough a rundown of Andor and sent her the scripts for the first three episodes. She thought the scripts were magical, not caring that her character, Dedra Meero, does not appear until the episode "Aldhani."
After an hour-long debrief discussing Meero with Gilroy, Gough decided she wanted the role. Gough was drawn to the role because of the attention to the characters's humanity. Gilroy described Meero as "fascist" and "badass" to Gough. When Gough asked Gilroy about Meero's backstory, he explained that she was an outsider trying to be in a position of power to feel in control. The actress only watched Rogue One: A Star Wars Story for preparation to avoid having too much information and to not play a version of something. Gough instead tried to play her character and flesh out Meero's main characteristics. Gough liked the look and style of actress Jennifer Connelly in the Snowpiercer television series, so she stole her steely elegance. Gough was also influenced by the villain Gustavo Fring from the Breaking Bad television series.
The actress loved getting to play a female character climbing up in a male-dominated setting, as well as showing how the pursuit of power and control poses danger on anyone regardless of gender. Gough thought that Meero believes she deserves better than the position she is in. She also thought that Meero had a zealous belief in the Galactic Empire and believed she was doing the right things. She found it terrifying how Meero wants control of everyone and everything, making her view the character as the antithesis of Luthen Rael.
Gough loved playing Meero and rooted for her because she was surrounded by men improperly doing their jobs in the room she works at. The actress made sure to make Meero as ambitious as the most villainous of men and "color in all the shades" in order to make audiences conflicted. Gough believed her character's need to be seen and achieve came from a lack of psychological validation. Gough at first thought that Meero's uniform looked too much like Mon Mothma. During her first fitting in Meero's uniform, Gough told the designer the uniform had to be tailored and nipped in a certain spot. He told her that Kyle Soller had all of his Syril Karn costumes tailored. Gough then realized that she and Soller would be perfect together due to both having OCD.
Scenes on Ferrix were filmed in an intricate set in Little Marlow, Buckinghamshire. According to Tony Gilroy, everything on Ferrix was filmed first. On Gough's first day on set, she was in the Ferrix set for Maarva Andor's funeral, where Gough and two Death Troopers walked through a large group of extras. When Gough stated humming the Star Wars theme, all of the extras joined in, and Gough became super aware that she was in Star Wars. The actors then heard the voice of Fiona Shaw, Maarva's actress, delivering a monologue. Gough was excited about Shaw swearing at the end of the speech. She was amazed by the high level of detail that she thought was just for the actors. Early in the shoot for the episode "Announcement," Gough had to say she needed a Multi-Sector Data Blend going back two years, but she could not properly enunciate the words. She then discussed this with director Benjamin Caron, and she managed to say the line after realizing she needed muscles she usually only used on stage.
When Gough and Kyle Soller first met and filmed their scenes together, Gough realized Karn was just as intense as Meero. They tried to match each others' intensity and ambition. During the filming of Meero's rejection of Syril Karn outside the ISB Building in the episode "Nobody's Listening!", Gough tried to be furious to show how Meero did not like to be touched by Karn. Gough later realized the scene showed that Meero had never been touched before. The actress loved the scene in which Meero tortured Bix Caleen. She said her "Twitchy-face Gough" emerged organically, possibly from her body language being under control. Caron told Gough to not have any swiss and to have her hands behind her back. Gough initially had reservations about Meero getting saved by Karn in the finale. When Karn brought Meero into a little room, Gough found a way so that the first thing Meero did was reach for something to hit Karn with. Gough received the scripts for the second season of Andor. She wanted the season to show Meero out of uniform.
==Works==
===Filmography===
Year	Title 	Series	Contribution(s)
2022	"Aldhani" 	Andor 	Dedra Meero
2022	"The Axe Forgets" 	Andor 	Dedra Meero
2022	"The Eye" 	Andor 	Dedra Meero
2022	"Announcement" 	Andor 	Dedra Meero
2022	"Narkina 5" 	Andor 	Dedra Meero
2022	"Nobody's Listening!"	Andor 	Dedra Meero
2022	"One Way Out" 	Andor 	Dedra Meero
2022	"Daughter of Ferrix" 	Andor 	Dedra Meero
2022	"Rix Road" 	Andor 	Dedra Meero
==Sources==
==Notes and references==
==External links==
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Category:Andor actors