A Major Star Wars Prequel Character Just Got Recast in Andor Season 2

Star Wars fans watching the latest episodes of Andor Season 2 on Disney+ were greeted with a surprising change as Senator Bail Organa returned to screens — but with a new face. Benjamin Bratt has officially taken over the iconic role previously portrayed by Jimmy Smits. The character, who first appeared in the Star Wars prequel films and has been consistently played by Smits across multiple projects, including Revenge of the Sith, Rogue One, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, now continues his journey with a fresh portrayal. This unexpected recasting comes at a crucial point in the Star Wars timeline, just three years before A New Hope’s events, during the Rebellion formation that will eventually challenge the Empire.

Andor Season 2 features Bratt’s debut as the Alderaanian Senator in Episode 6, “What a Festive Evening,” during the annual Senate Investiture ceremonies on Coruscant.

[RELATED – Andor Season 2: New Look at Star Wars Series Gives Its Hero a Sly Disguise]

Why Jimmy Smits Was Replaced

Showrunner Tony Gilroy addressed the recasting directly in interviews, explaining that there was no nefarious reason for the change, Smits’ availability was the primary reason why he didn’t reprise hte role.

“We couldn’t work it out,” Gilroy told EW. “The scheduling didn’t work out. We really tried hard, but he wasn’t available and couldn’t make it.” Gilroy also discussed with The Hollywood Reporter the complexities involved in bringing back legacy actors. “Legacy characters are really tricky to bring back,” he explained. “They’re very, very expensive, and a lot of times, their schedules don’t work out.”

“It’s really hard to bring legacy characters back for a whole variety of reasons. Money and scheduling and I mean, he [Jimmy Smits] just wasn’t available,” Gilroy elaborated to Screen Rant. “It didn’t work out. He was doing his other show and we were under the gun, and they couldn’t work it out.” The timing is particularly interesting given that Smits had recently reprised the role in the 2022 Obi-Wan Kenobi series, making his absence from Andor all the more noticeable to fans.

Benjamin Bratt Steps Into Alderaanian Boots

Bratt brings considerable acting experience to the role, being best known for his performances in Law and Order, Miss Congeniality, and as the voice of Ernesto De La Cruz in Pixar’s Coco. The transition to Bratt’s portrayal was carefully managed by the Andor team, who introduced him first in a brief cameo to help audiences adjust to the change before featuring him more prominently.

In his conversation with Screen Rant, Gilroy praised Bratt’s performance in glowing terms: “It was wonderful to have Benjamin to work with. He’s such a beautiful actor, got this stature and this kind of gravitas.” The showrunner noted that Bratt was enthusiastic about stepping into such an iconic Star Wars role. The actor brings his own interpretation while respecting the character’s established importance.

What makes this decision particularly noteworthy is that Andor’s creative team chose traditional recasting over the CGI deepfake technology that has become increasingly common in Star Wars productions. Recent years have seen digital recreations of characters like Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing) in Rogue One and Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.

Bail Organa’s appearance is especially significant for the narrative of Andor Season 2, as it provides Mon Mothma with a crucial Senate ally in her covert efforts against the Empire. As fans of Star Wars know, Bail is instrumental in forming the early Rebel Alliance and eventually adopts Princess Leia, connecting this chapter of the story directly to the original trilogy.

New episodes of Andor season 2 debut Tuesdays at 9 PM ET on Disney+.