Star Wars fans praise surprise recasting: ‘the right thing to do’

If you haven’t yet seen the second season of Andor, I highly suggest you go about changing that.

This is Star Wars at its very best and I’m incredibly sad that it’ll draw to a close for good in just a few days time.

Much of the conversation surrounding the show has simply been in regards to how incredible it is, but one recasting did recently kick up a bit of a ruckus.

Bail Organa, the father of Leia, is a character typically brought to life by actor Jimmy Smits.

Smits portrayed the role in Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, Rogue One, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Unfortunately, Smits’ schedule clashed with that of Andor season two and so the role had to be recast.

That’s where the very talented Benjamin Bratt enters the picture, filling in for Smits as Bail.

Bratt’s iteration was briefly introduced at the end of the season’s second act, ahead of his more integral role in act three.

This was a great call as showrunner Tony Gilroy seemingly knew that the recast would generate some heated chatter.

Andor is a must-watch.

“We couldn't work it out,” Gilroy told Entertainment Weekly of Smits’ availability. “The scheduling didn’t work out. We really tried hard, but he wasn't available and couldn't make it.”

“Bringing back legacy characters is really complicated. It's very expensive. It's very, who's working when. A lot of effort went into it, but we just couldn't work it out scheduling wise.”

“Kathy [Kennedy] had the idea for Benjamin,” he added. “It was just a brilliant idea. He’s a wonderful human being and really eager and beloved on set and really happy about what he does.”

“I put him in episode six in an arbitrary way so people will get the conversation out of the way until the next week when he really starts to work.”

As I said, it was the right call as there was indeed plenty of ruckus immediately following Bail’s initial appearance.

Now though, fans understand Gilroy’s thinking.

“Absolutely the right thing to do,” wrote Reddit user owlinspector.

“Benjamin Bratt is close enough looks wise I don't see it as being distracting and he's also a great actor,” added Malkovtheclown.

I don’t know about you but I am not emotionally prepared for those final three episodes.