Andor Had To Replace Two Beloved Actors At The Last Minute

"Andor" has been the most critically successful "Star Wars" TV series to date, and for many fans, it's the highlight of Disney's ownership of the franchise. A prequel to the spin-off movie "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," the series followed Diego Luna's Cassian Andor as he went from a thief stealing from the Empire to a full-fledged member of the Rebel Alliance. The series introduced a host of new characters to populate Cassian's life before the events of "Rogue One," with some major acting talent stepping up to take on these new roles. However, not every "Andor" cast member was a first choice.

Season 1 of "Andor" focused heavily on Cassian's life on Ferrix, the planet where he grew up after being found on Kenari by his adoptive mother, Maarva Andor (played by Fiona Shaw). Characters such as Maarva and Cassian's friend Brasso (Joplin Sibtain) played important roles throughout this initial season. However, CCH Pounder ("The Shield") and Rory McCann ("Game of Thrones"), respectively, were the first actors to be cast in these two roles. McCann even shot scenes as Brasso before being replaced by Sibtain, after which FX was used to digitally replace McCann's face with Sibtain's in those scenes.

Shaw's Maarva and Sibtain's Brasso quickly endeared themselves to fans and delivered iconic scenes during their time on "Andor." Neither made it to the series' end, though; as our finale recap noted, Maarva died at the end of Season 1. Brasso was later killed off in Season 2.

Known for her roles on such TV series as "The Shield" and "NCIS: New Orleans," as well as movies like "Avatar" and the recent "The Naked Gun" reboot, CCH Pounder had been the first choice to play Cassian Andor's mother, Maarva. But Pounder dropped out of the "Star Wars" series before filming began. "Andor" creator Tony Gilroy mentioned Pounder's brief attachment to the role in an interiew with Variety.

"Maarva Andor is Cassian Andor's mother, by adoption ... CCH Pounder was going to do that part," Gilroy revealed. "She was cast in that part for a long time and [after] everything with [COVID-19], by the time we got there, she didn't want to do it."

In the same interview, Gilroy also explained how Fiona Shaw was cast as Maarva. "Fiona [Shaw]'s name was just suddenly on the list," he said. "I'd seen some other work of hers before, but I'd watched all of 'Killing Eve,' and it was just like 'Oh my God, well, let's have that.'"

Shaw appeared as MI6 head Carolyn Martens on "Killing Eve," a television adaptation of the Villanelle series of spy thriller novels. Her final scene in "Andor," in which a hologram of Maarva delivered a speech at her own funeral, almost contained "Star Wars'" first F-bomb. However, Lucasfilm executives stepped in and the line became, "Fight the Empire."

Rory McCann came much closer to appearing on "Andor" than CCH Pounder, going so far as to shoot scenes before an injury forced him out of the role of Brasso. McCann slipped on ice during production, suffering an injury that required urgent surgery and left him unable to continue filming. Joplin Sibtain had originally been cast in a smaller role on "Andor" and was then invited to read for Brasso, which led to him taking over the role.

Speaking to the "Star Wars Sessions" podcast, Sibtain recalled how his former co-star's injury led to him having to exit the series: "He just had a limp and he went to work. They did a scan on it and the consultant said, 'If you don't have this operated on, you're going to not be able to walk.'"

Sibtain also explained that some shots of McCann were still used in the series, but with some CGI trickery. "They reshot it," he said. "They did a lot with The Hound's face [McCann's character on 'Game of Thrones'], [and] they had to superimpose my face on [him]."

While McCann missed out on the opportunity to appear on "Andor," he is now set to take on a more substantial role in the "Star Wars" universe. Following the passing of Ray Stevenson, McCann will be taking over the actor's role as the fallen Jedi Baylan Skoll on season 2 of "Ahsoka."