The final season of Andor tied things in very closely to the events of Rogue One. However, one pivotal character from that film, and one of the most iconic Star Wars characters of all time, was absent. Not only absent, but not even mentioned. We’re talking about Princess Leia Organa, who was active in the Rebellion during the events of Andor’s final episodes. Her father, Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan (Benjamin Bratt), was a key figure in the final season. It turns out, a Leia cameo nearly happened. But Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy ultimately decided not to shoot it.
In an interview with ScreenRant, Gilroy said his initial idea was to make the Leia cameo happen during the episode “What a Festive Evening.” Bail Organa runs into Mon Mothma at the Investiture party, and Leia would have been with her father. During this time, about three years before A New Hope, Mon Mothma would have encouraged Leia to pursue a political career. Which of course, we know she does. By the time we meet Leia in A New Hope, she’s the junior senator from Alderaan. Here’s what Gilroy had to say about the proposed cameo:
There were some nutrients for a scene between her and Mothma that if she was going there at 16 and Mothma had gone to the Senate when she was 16. There was some basic cool things for a scene, but it never got past that, and it never went to the casting stage, or it never got more real than that. I remember talking to Kathy [Kennedy] about it and talking to Pablo [Hidalgo] about it, but it never got traction, and then it became a distraction.
Of course, Leia’s inclusion as a teenage senator would have required another recasting for the character. The actress who played her in Obi-Wan Kenobi, Vivien Lyra Blair, was still only 11 at the time of filming for Andor season two. Casting someone closer to Carrie Fisher’s age in A New Hope for just a cameo scene would have been distracting. Still, given Leia’s importance to the saga, and to Bail Organa himself, a mention might have been nice. But maybe that’s all something that needs to play out in a potential Princess Leia prequel series. Because you just know Lucasfilm is going to make that at some point.
Content shared from nerdist.com.