<em>Andor</em> Has an Unexpected Mon Mothma Connection to <em>Revenge of the Sith</em>

The former senator turned leader of the Rebel Alliance, Mon Mothma, has quite the pivotal role in all of Star Wars. She may not be trained in the Force, nor the offspring of Jedi legend. But if she weren't an influential politician who co-founded the rebellion, there would be no force for good to defeat evil. And after her stirring speech about upholding truth in the face of propaganda, she's easily one of the best characters in Andor. But did you know: actress Genevieve O'Reilly actually played her twenty years ago, in Revenge of the Sith?

Let's get the obvious out of the way: We know Mon Mothma was first seen in Return of the Jedi, played by Caroline Blakiston. The (ironically) iconic line "Many Bothans died to bring us this information" was delivered by Blakiston. So before anyone in the comments tries to get smart with me, I'm not saying Mon Mothma is a "Revenge of the Sith character"—she's been in this saga since long before that.

But when George Lucas embarked on the prequels, he strove to elevate Mon Mothma's significance. His opportunity came in Revenge of the Sith, with Australian actress Genevieve O'Reilly cast for the role. This time, Lucas gave Mon Mothma more to say than lip service to the Bothans. In her scenes, Mon Mothma appears with Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits), Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman), and other senators who meet in secret. The politicians share concerns about the waning Republic and the rise of Palpatine's Empire. They begin planting the seeds of what would become the Rebel Alliance.

Says O'Reilly's Mon Mothma: "We are not Separatists trying to leave the Republic. We are loyalists trying to preserve democracy in the Republic."

Unfortunately, all of O'Reilly's speaking parts in the film were ultimately cut, and O'Reilly was reduced to a nonspeaking appearance. In a 2022 interview with Entertainment Weekly, O'Reilly expressed no hard feelings about her smaller part, and that George Lucas and producer Rick McCallum informed her ahead of time that her appearance was minimal. She supported their reasoning, which is that the movie was slowing down with her scenes and that the focus on Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader took priority.

"They're such pros, they wrote to me and told me, so I knew way before," O'Reilly said. "And they were so beautiful about that and kind to me as a very young actor. And it made complete sense to me, because of course it was all about Darth Vader becoming Darth Vader. Cinema has to have a singular focus for it to drive, you know? Cinema doesn't have a lot of time to tell the story. So I respected their decision, and when I watched it, it made total sense."

In 2016, O'Reilly finally appeared in a speaking capacity for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. But Andor has been O'Reilly's real stage to shine—her Mon Mothma is fleshed out with inner conflict and complexity. Though Mon Mothma dreams of a democratically-elected Republic, she is anxious about the prices she must pay for a better future for all. She's doomed her daughter to a loveless marriage and sacrificed her friends like lamb to the slaughter; Mon Mothma has truly given everything to the rebellion. Not all heroes have lightsabers.