This story contains spoilers for episodes 7-9 of Andor season two.
Andor just went there. Over the last few weeks, the Tony Gilroy-created, Diego Luna-fronted Star Wars series’ second season has been ramping up the tension as the Empire slowly and steadily built a foothold on Ghorman. The wealthy planet is home to a mineral called Kalkite, critical to constructing the Death Star. Over several years, the Empire has been sowing a misinformation campaign, allowing pockets of rebellion to form in order to eventually justify invading the planet (and stripping it of its resources.) This week, the powder keg finally ignited, resulting in a harrowing sequence where Imperial forces commit genocide against the Ghorman, with Andor (Luna) caught in the middle.
After one of the most intense and distressing moments in the franchise’s history, itâs comforting to see a familiar face. Episode nine, which takes place in the aftermath of the attack, opens on Bail Organa, father to Princess Leia and stalwart figure of the rebellion. Star Wars fans will undoubtedly remember Jimmy Smits’ appearances as Organa across a handful of projects, including the George Lucas prequels and Rogue One. However, due to scheduling issues, Smits could not return, which led Gilroy to tap veteran actor Benjamin Bratt for the role. Bratt appeared briefly in episode six in a passing appearance, but takes on a much more active role in episode nine, the last of the three episodes that dropped last night on Disney+. His calming presence and leadership allow Senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) to take a stand against the Emperor in the Galactic Senate before Andor whisks her off to lead the soon-to-be united pockets of rebel forces.
Ahead of this block of episodes, GQ jumped on the phone with Bratt to talk about stepping into Smitsâ shoes, his history with the world of Star Wars, the stakes of rebellion, and more.
GQ: When were you first approached about coming in for season two?
Benjamin Bratt: It was a little over two years ago, during the pandemic, pre-writer’s strike. I got a call that Tony Gilroy wanted to have a conversation with me about Andor. At that point, I hadn’t watched any episodes. As a huge fan of Tony, my immediate fantasy was, “Ah, [laughs] he’s probably peeped some of my independent film work and wants me to come on board as kind of intergalactic Emiliano Zapata [laughs] and lead a small resistance faction on some foreign planet.â Within the first two minutes of our conversation, he immediately dashed that fantasy.
He said, “We have that. We have that in the form of Cassian Andor, so this is something a little bit more staid,” if you will. He explained that Jimmy was not available to come back. Although there wasn’t a whole lot to do, [the role] was very important; [Organa] holds a very important place in the canon, of course, as one of the known architects of the rebellion, [and] it was important to get it right, and would I be interested? That began the initial conversation, and for me, it was an immediate yes. I didn’t really have to think about it too much for all the obvious reasons. I mean, chiefly, Andor was a celebrated spinoff of the Star Wars universe, all the players involved, obviously led by Diego, and everyone else. But as a longtime fan of Jimmy’s, I thought it would be a unique challenge to come in and both honor what he did originally with the character and try to do something unique with it from my own perspective and still stay true to what Bail Organa is expected to be.