Star Wars actor confirms why he took over role in popular surprise recast

Star Wars actor Benjamin Bratt has opened up about the controversial recast for Andor S2, saying there was definitely “a little bit of added pressure.”

The Star Wars galaxy is full of interesting and loveable characters but sometimes the original actors can’t return to reprise their roles.

Have you watched Andor Season 2 yet? It’s some of the best Star Wars that’s ever been

We’ve seen this in films like Star Wars: Rogue One which featured a deepfaked Peter Cushing as Admiral Tarkin, and more recently in The Mandalorian which brought back a young Luke Skywalker with the same technology.

Sometimes technology isn’t the answer though, opening the door for a new actor to step into the role instead which is exactly what we saw in Andor Season 2 for Bail Organa.

Bail has been played in live-action by Jimmy Smits since the prequels, but in Andor Season 2 Smits was unable to return due to scheduling conflicts, and so the role was given to Benjamin Bratt instead.

Bratt has since spoken out on the recast, which became quite controversial amongst Star Wars fans, saying “the Star Wars fanbase is very passionate about their subject and easily likes to share their opinions, so I would be lying if I said I didn’t carry the weight of expectation in filling Jimmy’s shoes.”

The actor went on to say “At the end of the day, that’s sort of my criteria for taking on any role. Is there an opportunity here for me to do something that’s going to be of interest to me? Because if it’s of interest to me as an actor, as an artist, then the hope is the result will be of interest to an audience. But yes, with the unique set of circumstances here, there was a little bit of added pressure.”

It’s unknown if Bratt’s portrayal of the character is here to stay or if it was just for Andor Season 2, guess we’ll have to wait and see.