As a lifelong fan of the universe, actor and writer Bobby Moynihan is living the dream as Orka on Star Wars Resistance. Not only does he make up half of the first canonically gay couple in the franchise, alongside Jim Rash’s Flix, but he also gets to leave his mark on the world that helped shape him. With the second and final season of the animated series premiering on October 6th, Moynihan sat down to discuss what’s in store for the happy couple as well as how much he loves Adam Driver and Matt the Radar Technician.
You get to be in DuckTales and also Star Wars. What is that like?
Can you talk to me about how Orka and Flix’s relationship grows in season 2?
Bobby Moynihan: It’s pretty stupid, right? I feel like – you ever see the movie Space Camp, where the kid accidentally gets to go to space? That’s what every day feels like. I worked real hard for a long time, and now I’m enjoying it like a 15 year old. Yeah, I can’t believe it. I can’t.
Are they gonna become my new favorite couple?
Bobby Moynihan: I don’t know if I want to. It definitely grows. What I always say about Orka and Flix is – I keep forcing this in – when Flix says, “I love you,” Orka says, “I know.”
They love each other, and they’re very happy. I think you’ll see a lot more. You’re going to see them outside of work, and it’s great.
Do you get to record with Jim Rash, who plays Flix?
Bobby Moynihan: They’ve always been my favorite couple. They’re my favorite little family, with their robot. I want to do a family spin-off.
How much freedom did you have to improvise on Star Wars Resistance?
Bobby Moynihan: Yeah, I actually got to do a bunch with Jim. He’s the best. That’s very rare in animation, being able to do it with the other person, and Jim was an amazing improviser as well. Me with my knowledge of Star Wars and his vast lack of Star Wars knowledge; it was perfect. I’m improvising about kyber crystals and he’s going “Whatever!” with it.
I don’t know if this is well-known; I don’t know if they’ve ever said this. But when I got the script originally, we didn’t know it Star Wars and they were called Oscar and Felix.
The whole thing was like Odd Couple. When they made it, they changed it to Orka and Flix.
Just because you are a big Star Wars fan, do you personally have any Rise of Skywalker theories?
Bobby Moynihan: Not a lot, but I think it’s because they trusted me and Jim – also, me Jim are kind of the comedy in there. So, we’re all allowed to do that.
I definitely improvised some stuff that they told me not to. I get very Star Wars nerdy. They were like, “Talk about what you did yesterday as you guys are walking in.” So I was like, “I went to this new bar; I went to see this band,” and I’m talking about the cantina band, because I’m trying to make Star Wars references and make my character part of the universe. And they were just like, “That’s absolutely hilarious. But don’t do that, because if you make something canon, then it has to go through 700 people.”
Because if you say something very flippantly in the Star Wars universe, there are fans that will pick that apart. I think I improvised something about – I don’t want to say it, just in case they used it. I kept trying to insert Orka and Flix into previous situations of Star Wars, or future ones, so that they could exist in other places. And they were very aware that I was trying to do that.
As a longtime fan of the franchise, are there any elements of the universe that personally always resonated with you?
Bobby Moynihan: I mean, a million! But that’s the whole point. I am also in the vein of, especially for this one - I am somebody who looks up videos and wants to just hear people talk and speculate, but I haven’t for this one. Because it’s the last one of the Skywalkers, this one’s special to me. I’m taking that week off.
I don’t want to be spoiled on anything; anything at all. I just want to go in blind and really enjoy it. I knew everything that happened in The Last Jedi before I went in, and I loved it. But for this one, I want to be 15 and enjoy it.
Are you excited for The Mandalorian?
Bobby Moynihan: The cantina and Jabba’s palace to me are what Star Wars is. it’s just, like, a bunch of people in masks making a movie. You know what I mean? That, to me, is the fun part of Star Wars. All the minutiae and the weird little characters.
And that’s what Resistance is. It’s all the people who work in Star Wars; the people who don’t have a lightsaber and are maybe just going to work. That that’s fascinating to me. I love all that.
I want to know if Filoni directed that.
Bobby Moynihan: So excited. It’s unbelievable. I think that, for the first television thing, it does not look like television. It looks good; it looks dark. I would watch Werner Herzog paint a fence at this point, but I can’t wait.
The shot of him dragging the guy through the door and the door closing, and the shot of IG-11 spinning, are two of the best shots in Star Wars history, I think.
Might Sabine cross over to Resistance?
Bobby Moynihan: That episode? I hope so. Pretty sure, yeah. Thank God he’s finally doing live action stuff. When are they going to give him movies? Give him a trilogy. I want him to do a live action Ahsoka trilogy. Or, after what happened with her and Sabine.
For you, what’s been the best part of this experience?
Bobby Moynihan: I don’t know, but I wouldn’t tell you if I did.
There’s some really awesome stuff in this season, if you’re a fan. It’s a good season.
You also helped create one of the best Star Wars pop culture moments.
Bobby Moynihan: Selfishly, to be part of it. To grow up loving it, and to be able to give back and feel like I contributed a couple jokes to something that I love. And, hopefully, more.
And when you went to Star Wars Celebration?
Bobby Moynihan: I was on SNL for nine years, and that moment made it all worth. And that’s a shitty thing to say – I am well aware of how lucky I am. That day, that week from start to finish. Adam Driver, I fell in love with him. 100%, just the greatest, as an actor and as everything. He’s a talented, talented man.
I don’t think he’s a big Star Wars nerd, but I also think he is not someone who doesn’t respect it or understand the people who do. I think he walks this amazing line of in Star Wars, where he respects it and gets it, but it’s not like – I would be running around, going up the children, saying, “You know I’m Kylo Ren?” I’d be scaring children constantly.
And when we did that Matt the Radar Technician thing, Mikey Day, Taran Killam and I are big Star Wars fans. We had a bunch of ideas that week, and we settled on that. And I’m glad we did, because it’s the greatest. It’s one of my favorite things I got to work on, and I’m so proud of it.
When I go to Comic Con, and I see 15 Matts standing there, it’s the craziest thing in the world.
Kazuda and Neeku wear Matt the Radar Technician outfits.
Bobby Moynihan: Yeah, that was absolutely insane. I don’t get it. I want to tell you so much, and I can’t. Did you see the trailer?
Your whole career has been building to this.
Bobby Moynihan: I’m not saying a word, but I will say I did not know that that was happening. When I saw that, my mind exploded. And when I found out what we’re going to see, my mind exploded even more.
There’s so much good stuff. I feel like I just set up that Matt is in it. If Kylo Ren pulls off his hair, and he’s got blond hair and he puts glasses on and give us a thumbs up, I will be the first one to say, “You have made a grave mistake.”
I do not want angry fans coming to my door at two in the morning going, “Why did you make this real?”
I also wrote the Star Wars toys one. That’s 100%, all of that stuff in that thing, is from my home. They were like, “We can’t go out and buy hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of Star Wars collectibles.” And I was like, “Just come to my house and pick them up.”
I have two full size R2D2s in my house. That one in SNL and the other one – God, I did a lot of Star Wars stuff. I played Leia, and when I played Leia, that R2D2 in the sketch [is one] I built. When we did the other one, I played Boba Fett!
Are you looking forward to maybe making a jump into the live action Star Wars universe?
Bobby Moynihan: There was a year at SNL where I got to do so much Star Wars stuff, and I have a very distinct memory of at the finale party, Lorne [Michaels] being like, “Great season! And maybe no more Star Wars stuff?”
That was when me and Taran were feeling real cocky. Mikey Day got there, and we had a weird nerd coalition that we could push stuff through.
More: Interview With Star Wars Resistance Executive Producers
Bobby Moynihan: I can’t even think about it. I would explode. I want Orka and Flix to come back in some capacity; I keep trying to pitch spin-offs for them. I have a million ideas for them. I would do in a second. You know what I mean? My dream would to be a faceless monster in Star Wars. That’s what I’ve always wanted. And I kind of am, but if I ever saw Orca in live-action, I would die.
[I’d be] either an alien or, now I’m thinking, just a pilot in an X-wing that immediately gets shot down. Can I be Porkins’ son in the prequels?
I was trying to pitch a spin-off where Orka and Flix hosted a Dr. Demento-type show where people could send in their Star Wars fan videos? Like, fan made things. They’re all so good.
