Star Wars: Andor – Senator Bail Organa Casting Change Explained

This article contains spoilers for Andor season 2 episodes 4-6.

Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan was first introduced to the current Star Wars canon in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, and has since become an important character in the Clone Wars era and into the Galactic Civil War. Most know him as Princess Leia’s adopted father, but he was also a crucial piece of the growing Rebel Alliance.

During the Clone Wars, Senator Organa was an ally of Senator Padmé Amidala, Senator Mon Mothma, Anakin Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, among others. He was a champion for refugees displaced by the growing violence and offered Alderaan’s resources often to help aid relief efforts.

When it seemed as though the Clone Wars were finally coming to an end, Senators Organa, Mothma, and Amidala were among those trying to make sure that Palpatine abdicated his wartime powers as Chancellor. Even as the Republic was beginning to crumble around them, they wanted to fight for its integrity.

Unfortunately we all know they weren’t successful in their endeavors – Palpatine became Emperor of the Galactic Empire, and the Republic as they knew it dissolved alongside the Jedi Order. In the aftermath of Order 66, Padme and Obi-Wan desperately tried to get through to Anakin, bring him back to the Light, but they were also unsuccessful. The tragedy of it all combined with giving birth to twins ended up being too much for Padme, and she died soon after.

Senator Organa was one of the few people who knew of Amidala’s pregnancy, and who the father was, and offered to help Obi-Wan and Yoda keep the twins separate for their protection. He and his wife Breha adopted Leia, and raised her on Alderaan.

As the Empire grew in power, Organa and Mothma maintained their alliance in the senate. They did their best to project outward loyalty while funding and supporting rebel efforts in secret. Senator Organa is the one who convinced the former Jedi Ahsoka Tano to become Fulcrum, a secret operative working to recruit other rebels across the galaxy.

Mon Mothma’s efforts in the rebellion have been the focus of Andor thus far, but now that Senator Organa has made an appearance, hopefully we’ll get to see more of how he and Mon worked together in this era to form the Rebel Alliance as we know it.

Even though Senator Organa will eventually lose his life in the Empire’s Death Star attack on Alderaan in A New Hope, his legacy lives on in Leia and the Rebel Alliance. He may have lived a privileged life as the husband to Alderaan’s monarch, but he still died fighting for a better future for the rest of the galaxy.

In live-action Star Wars projects, Bail Organa has been played by Jimmy Smits. In season 2 of Andor, however, the role has been recast with Benjamin Bratt stepping in. Benjamin Bratt has had a long career, appearing in a number of projects over the years. A lot of people will likely recognize him from Miss Congeniality, Law & Order, and Traffic, though he has also appeared in Poker Face, Doctor Strange, and Modern Family, among others.

So far, we’ve yet to find a clear answer on why Bail was recast specifically for Andor, especially when Jimmy Smits recently reprised his role in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, which isn’t too far off from Andor chronologically. Bratt is only about eight years younger than Smits, so the casting change likely isn’t an age consideration.

According to fan chatter on Reddit and a vague quote from series creator Tony Gilroy in The Hollywood Reporter, it seems like it may have come down to scheduling conflicts and potentially the budget. “Legacy characters are really tricky to bring back. They’re very, very expensive. A lot of times, their schedules don’t work out,” Gilroy says. “There’s probably a couple people that we wanted to have in Yavin at the end, who are in the beginning of Rogue, but we just couldn’t get them because they were busy.”

Though we’ve only seen him in the role for a brief moment in episode 6 of Andor’s second season, the actor seems right at home as the charismatic senator. He is certainly a welcome addition to the Star Wars universe, and we can’t wait to see more of him this season.

Andor season 2 episodes 1-6 are available to stream on Disney+ now. Three new episodes debut per week on Tuesday nights, culminating with the finale on May 13.

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