In episode six of Andor season two, Senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) runs into a fairly significant Star Wars character at a gala party, this time, with someone new playing the role. Senator Bail Organa, famously portrayed by Jimmy Smits in several different projects, is now played by Benjamin Bratt (Traffic, Coco) in Andor. Bratt’s scene as Bail Organa in Andor is very brief, so we imagine if Lucasfilm is recasting such a major role, it’s because he’ll play a bigger part in future episodes. Given Bail Organa’s importance to the Rebel Alliance overall, seeing him again before it’s all over seems very likely.
Jimmy Smits first played the senator from Alderaan in a brief role in Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones. Smits reprised the role of Bail Organa in a larger capacity in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. In that film, Bail Organa rescued Master Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi in the aftermath of Order 66. More importantly, Smit’s Bail Organa adopted the infant Leia, raising her as a princess in the royal house of Alderaan. Cut scenes from that movie show him forming the early Rebellion. Jimmy Smits reprised the role in Rogue One, which canonically takes place after Andor, and again in Obi-Wan Kenobi. There, we see Bail Organa and his wife, Queen Breha, raising Princess Leia on Alderaan. But for unknown reasons, Jimmy Smits didn’t return to play Bail Organa in Andor.
This is actually not the first time Lucasfilm has recast this role, though. Bail Organa originally played a small role in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Actor Adrian Dunbar actually played the part in a sequence set in the Galactic Senate, but George Lucas cut those Bail Organa scenes. Still, Dunbar appeared as Bail Organa in various merchandise released for Episode I, such as sticker books. Smits then replaced him for Attack of the Clones. Bail Organa also appears several times in The Clone Wars and Rebels, voiced by Phil LaMarr, and not Smits. So Lucasfilm has already had multiple actors play the role of Bail Organa in the Star Wars world. The real question is, if Bail Organa is in Andor does this mean we’ll see Leia too? We’ll have to wait and find out.
Content shared from nerdist.com.