People Will Get The Conversation Out Of The Way

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Andor season 2, episode 6.Tony Gilroy, the creative mind behind Andor, has revealed his full intent behind the decision to recast Bail Organa in season 2, particularly given the brevity of the character’s appearance. Bail Organa has been portrayed by Jimmy Smits ever since the Star Wars prequel trilogy, with the actor returning in both 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and 2022’s Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Benjamin Bratt, however, plays the Alderaanian senator in Andor season 2. Gilroy has since explained this recast to Screen Rant, citing scheduling issues – but there’s more to it.

Gilroy has explained the decision in further depth with Entertainment Weekly, particularly the role Bail’s brief appearance in episode 6 “What a Festive Evening” plays. The Andor showrunner insists that the purpose behind Senator Organa’s small cameo in this episode is “an arbitrary way so people will get the conversation out of the way until the next week when he really starts to work.” Gilroy clearly knows his audience, or at least knew they would face some backlash for this decision.

Tony Gilroy: I put him in episode 6 in an arbitrary way so people will get the conversation out of the way until the next week when he really starts to work.

Gilroy goes on to explain that he wanted “to do something simple,” which is something the Andor team doesn’t do often. As the showrunner explains, this team isn’t one to throw in unnecessary cameos, as evidenced by Andor season 1, but in this case, “it’s like, ‘Let’s get him in here now so people can discuss it for a week and get it out of their system and then he can come back to really work.’“ Gilroy has a strong point here; the recast discussion will be over when it’s truly Bail’s time to shine.

Tony Gilroy: It’s one of those situations where I want to do something simple. We don’t do many things that are unnecessary, but it’s like, ‘Let’s get him in here now so people can discuss it for a week and get it out of their system and then he can come back to really work.’ I didn’t want the guy’s work to be confused with his introduction.

What Andor’s Bail Organa Recast Really Means For Star Wars

Star Wars Is Finally Comfortable Recasting Major Roles

While this recast decision has proven to be just as controversial as many Star Wars fans, and simple observers, would expect, it’s ultimately the right decision for the franchise. Recasting isn’t anything new, and oftentimes, it’s necessary. While this Andor recast may be vastly different to Star Wars’ other recent recast, with Rory McCann taking over the role of Baylan Skoll in Ahsoka season 2 due to Ray Stevenson’s tragic passing in 2023, both are a step in the right direction.

This Recast Is A Step In The Right Direction For The Franchise

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The decision to place Bratt in the role of Bail Organa is such a crucially important decision for Star Wars as a whole, because it sets an important precedent. We’ve seen firsthand how the refusal to recast other legacy characters, such as Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, has caused those characters in projects like The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett to come across as stale, due to the limitations of the technology used to bring the original actors’ portrayals back to life.

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Princess Leia Organa is absolutely essential to this current era of Star Wars, which means that the franchise has a very difficult decision to make.

There was no doubt plenty of hard work put into those digital recreations, but they don’t compare at all to what a true human mind, body, and soul can do for a character, even if it’s not the original actor in the role. It’s also a relief that Bail Organa wasn’t written out completely due to a fear of recasting; he deserves a place in this Rebel Alliance origin story. While this Andor recast may remain controversial, I personally think that it was the best course of action for the franchise in this particular situation.

Andor season 2 releases new episodes Tuesdays at 9 PM ET on Disney+.

Source: Entertainment Weekly

Andor

8/10

Release Date

2022 – 2025-00-00

Network

Disney+

Showrunner

Tony Gilroy

Directors

Susanna White

Writers

Dan Gilroy