We first met Mon Mothma in Return of the Jedi and, years later, George Lucas would replace Caroline Blakiston with Genevieve O'Reilly to play a younger version of the character in Revenge of the Sith. Her scenes ended up on the cutting room floor, unfortunately, but Disney would later bring O'Reilly back for Star Wars Rebels and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Both projects would reiterate what an important part of the Rebellion this character was, though Andor will pick up with Mothma at a time before she was fighting the good fight behind the Empire's back.
Based on what little we know about her role in Andor, we'll find O'Reilly's character at a time when she's still searching for her place in the Galaxy and figuring out how she can fight back against Emperor Palpatine's sinister rule. That promises to be very exciting, and we're intrigued to see where the Disney+ series takes her.
During a recent press conference for Andor, we asked O'Reilly what, after being part of both the prequels and now spin-offs like Rogue One and Andor, the biggest difference is that she sees in this interpretation of Mon Mothma through the various eras of Star Wars filmmaking.
"I think the most exciting things about Mon Mothma are the bravery and where Tony has decided to begin. We meet Mon Mothma in a place we've never seen her before," the actress explains. "We meet a woman steeped in Empire, navigating a very male-dominated Empire with a very powerful Emperor Palpatine at the top of it."
"Previously, in Rogue One or at other times, we've seen her surrounded by people with different opinions but with like-minded Rebels. We find her in Andor very alone, living in a world of orthodoxy and construct," O'Reilly continues. "We see a woman who has had to navigate her ideals and her beliefs within systems of oppression. And so, we find her in a place we've never seen her before. We find her in a bit of a gilded cage. I'm excited for is for us to travel that story with her."
"To journey with her as a woman and finding her voice, like Diego [Luna] said, reaching for voices that are fighting for similar things," she concludes. "Finding community, finding collaborators to be able to eventually be the leader that she becomes in Rogue One. So, there's a journey to travel and I'm excited for people to hop on that train with us."
That sounds like a journey we definitely want to take, especially if it means getting to know this character better. She's been on the periphery of a lot of stories, so Mon Mothma finally taking centre stage is very exciting for fans of this Galaxy Far, Far Away.
Andor premieres with its first three episodes on Disney+ on September 21.