• TikTok
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Star Wars Kids
Star Wars Logo

Search

My Account Logout
  • More More
    • NEWS + FEATURES
      • THE LATEST
      • ANDOR
      • CELEBRATION
      • QUIZZES + POLLS
      • BOOKS + COMICS
    • VIDEO
      • ALL VIDEO
      • THIS WEEK! IN STAR WARS
    • FILMS
    • SERIES
      • All Series
      • Andor
      • Skeleton Crew
      • Ahsoka
      • The Mandalorian
    • GAMES + INTERACTIVE
      • View All
      • Star Wars Outlaws
      • Games + Apps
      • VR + Immersive
    • DATABANK
      • ALL DATABANK
      • ERAS
    • DISNEY+
      • STREAM NOW
      • EXPLORE
      • THE DISNEY BUNDLE
Local Nav | Drop-Down Phase III - 20231020
Local Nav | Drop-Down Phase III - 20231020
My Account Logout
  • other
  • instagram
  • twitter
  • facebook
  • youtube
  • other

All

  • Andor
  • Star Wars Celebration
  • Skeleton Crew
  • The Mandalorian
  • Ahsoka
  • The Acolyte
  • Obi-Wan Kenobi
  • The Book of Boba Fett
  • The Bad Batch
  • The Clone Wars
  • Visions
  • Behind the Scenes
  • Books + Comics
  • Characters + Histories
  • Collecting
  • Creativity
  • Disney Parks
  • Disney+
  • Events
  • Fans + Community
  • Films
  • Games + Apps
  • ILM
  • Interviews
  • LEGO Star Wars
  • Lucasfilm
  • Merchandise
  • Opinions
  • Quizzes + Polls
  • Recipes
  • Rogue One
  • Solo
  • Star Wars Day
  • Star Wars Rebels
  • Series
  • The High Republic
Andor
Behind the Scenes
Andor Actor Genevieve O’Reilly on the Legacy of Mon Mothma

Andor Actor Genevieve O’Reilly on the Legacy of Mon Mothma

Nearly two decades after first inhabiting the role, the actor looks back at the character’s debut while exploring new depth on screen.

Kristin Baver
Kristin Baver
October 6, 2022

Nearly two decades after first inhabiting the role, the actor looks back at the character’s debut while exploring new depth on screen.

Follow Cassian Andor on his journey to becoming the rebel hero we know from Rogue One as his story unfolds in Andor Season 2, now streaming only on Disney+. Check back regularly for episode guides, highlights, behind-the-scenes content, cast interviews, and more from Season 2 on StarWars.com!

Genevieve O’Reilly has played Mon Mothma, the galactic senator from Chandrila, on and off for nearly 20 years. But in that latest resurgence, on the new Star Wars Original series Andor now streaming on Disney+, it’s clear her story is only just beginning.

When O'Reilly first stepped into the role in 2005 for an ultimately deleted scene in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, she rewatched the character’s debut in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Originated by Caroline Blakiston, the first appearance of Mon was just before the Battle of Endor, delivering somber news on the Bothans who had sacrificed everything to deliver top-secret Imperial intel to the Rebel Alliance. “I remember studying the scene, really trying to work on capturing her voice, her syntax, so that fans could see a connectedness between me playing her and Caroline playing her,” O’Reilly tells StarWars.com.

“I always go back to that scene. I think that was as ambitious then -- perhaps even more ambitious -- than it is now,” O’Reilly adds, referencing creator George Lucas’ bold decision to show a woman as the leader of the Rebel Alliance in 1983. “And she's a character that I love.”

Mon Mothma stands in Rebel Alliance headquarters, in a scene from Rogue One.

Mon Mothma's Debut

O’Reilly first made a triumphant return to Mothma in 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and a TV mini-series promoting the standalone film. The following year, she reprised the role again in animation with appearances on Star Wars Rebels. In each version, O’Reilly found Mothma surrounded by like-minded freedom fighters, the proud and assertive leader of the cause. “The iterations that we found her in, both in Rebels and in Rogue One, were similar: a leader of a rebellion with a tough decision. It requires a dignity and a strength, which is at the heart, I think, of Mon Mothma.”

In Andor, neither the audience nor the storytellers have found Mon where we left her. “What is different this time is that we meet Mon Mothma in a very different stage of her life, like we meet me at a different stage in my life,” O’Reilly says. “Usually, we see her surrounded by a band of rebels. She has company. In Andor, it's quite lonely. I think that’s new. There is a cost to her voice, and it's interesting to see her having to make choices, to step outside of that loneliness to get to Yavin.”

Mon Mothma and Luthen Rael talking in his shop

Mothma and Luthen Rael

Beyond her family and their staff, Mon has precious few allies in the series so far, but chief among them is the mysterious Luthen Rael, played by Stellan Skarsgård. Sharing scenes with the accomplished actor has been a joy for O’Reilly, as the two found themselves in the wonderland of Luthen’s gallery, surrounded by artifacts and props plucked from Star Wars history. “It's a great honor for me to be able to inhabit a space with such a fine, fine actor,” O’Reilly says. “But, also, he's just so much fun! He's really playful and we had the best time together in those scenes. The pair of us were like kids in a playground. ‘Look at this! Have you touched this? Have you seen this? Oh my gosh, shall we put it on? Should we wear it?’ We had such a great time together. And he's such an accomplished actor that we had a great interplay. It's like sword play: it's deft and it's dangerous, but there is a sophistication to it.”

Mon Mothma talking to the senate

Leader of a Rebellion

As the season progresses, O’Reilly hints that we’ll learn more about the toll forming the Rebel Alliance will take on her character. “We can all be different versions of ourselves and I was grateful to Disney and to [Andor creator] Tony Gilroy to invest narrative space in this woman, to get to explore her, to get to see what it costs to be her, to get to see how dangerous it is to have her voice. I hope fans are as interested in that as I am, because I want to know what it is to be that woman.”

We all know where Mon Mothma ends up, tasking dedicated rebels with sacrificing their lives for the greater good. “So I want to know, how did she get there?” O’Reilly adds. “What pain does she carry that drives her to be that woman? To ask that of someone? I always found when I went back to Caroline's scene Return of the Jedi that at its heart, you can see that she carries a pain, and I always wondered what that was. And I hope, during Andor, we get to see what it costs to be this woman.”

Hear more from Genevieve O'Reilly in a special interview in the latest episode of This Week! In Star Wars below.

For more on Andor A Star Wars Story, explore more StarWars.com features, including:

Behind the Scenes:

Secrets from the Set of Andor Season 2: Week 3 Trivia

Secrets from the Set of Andor Season 2: Week 2 Trivia

Secrets from the Set of Andor Season 2: Week 1 Trivia

The Costumes of Andor Season 2 - Updated Weekly

Creating the Worlds of Andor Season 2 - Updated Weekly

Introducing the Cast of Andor Season 2 - Updated Weekly

The Cast of Andor Can’t Wait for You to See Season 2

Taking Andor from Concept to Screen

Designer Michael Wilkinson Defines the Look of Andor's Costumes

Taking Andor from Concept to Screen

“A Potent Moment in History”: Insights from Tony Gilroy and the Andor Cast

How Composer Nicholas Britell Created New Sounds for Andor

Character Deep-Dives:

Who Is Cassian Andor?

Genevieve O’Reilly on the Legacy of Mon Mothma

Losing Bix: Andor’s Adria Arjona on the Downward Spiral of Bix Caleen

The Tragedy of Kino Loy: Andy Serkis on His Return to Star Wars in Andor

Denise Gough and Kyle Soller Bring Complexity to Andor’s Empire

Daughter of Ferrix: Andor’s Fiona Shaw on the Role of Cassian’s Mother, Maarva

Star Diego Luna on Returning to Cassian in Andor

Andor’s Ben Bailey Smith on Playing Lieutenant Blevin

Season 1 Recap:

6 Things We Learned from the Andor Live Stream with Tony Gilroy

Andor Revisited: Small Acts of Rebellion - Exploring the Fourth Arc of Season 1

Andor Revisited: One Way Out - Exploring the Third Arc of Season 1

Andor Revisited: The Making of a Rebel - Exploring the Second Arc of Season 1

Andor Revisited: Meet Cassian Andor - Exploring the First Arc of Season 1

Creator Tony Gilroy Explores the Nuance of Andor

Tony Gilroy Breaks Down Andor Season 1


Associate Editor Kristin Baver is the author of the book Skywalker: A Family At War, host of This Week! In Star Wars, and an all-around sci-fi nerd who always has just one more question in an inexhaustible list of curiosities. Sometimes she blurts out “It’s a trap!” even when it’s not. Follow her on Twitter @KristinBaver. 

Related Topics

Andor Genevieve O'reilly Interviews Mon Mothma (Star Wars) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ThisWeek Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Related Stories

  • Dressing the Galaxy: Designer Michael Wilkinson Defines the Look of Andor's Costumes
    [object Object] [object Object]

    Dressing the Galaxy: Designer Michael Wilkinson Defines the Look of Andor 's Costumes

    November 30, 2022

    November 30, 2022

    Nov 30

  • Tony Gilroy Breaks Down Andor Season 1
    [object Object] [object Object]

    Tony Gilroy Breaks Down Andor Season 1

    November 25, 2022

    November 25, 2022

    Nov 25

  • Andor's Ben Bailey Smith on Playing Lieutenant Blevin and the Fun of Being Bad
    [object Object] [object Object]

    Andor’s Ben Bailey Smith on Playing Lieutenant Blevin and the Fun of Being Bad

    November 21, 2022

    November 21, 2022

    Nov 21

  • The Tragedy of Kino Loy: Andy Serkis on His Return to Star Wars in Andor
    [object Object] [object Object]

    The Tragedy of Kino Loy: Andy Serkis on His Return to Star Wars in Andor

    November 17, 2022

    November 17, 2022

    Nov 17

  • The Stories Behind 5 Memorable Andor Props
    [object Object] [object Object]

    The Stories Behind 5 Memorable Andor Props

    November 17, 2022

    November 17, 2022

    Nov 17

  • Losing Bix: Andor ’s Adria Arjona on the Downward Spiral of Bix Caleen
    [object Object] [object Object]

    Losing Bix: Andor ’s Adria Arjona on the Downward Spiral of Bix Caleen

    November 10, 2022

    November 10, 2022

    Nov 10

  • “Heroes of Their Own Journeys”: Denise Gough and Kyle Soller Bring Complexity to Andor’s Empire
    [object Object] [object Object]

    “Heroes of Their Own Journeys”: Denise Gough and Kyle Soller Bring Complexity to Andor ’s Empire

    November 3, 2022

    November 3, 2022

    Nov 3

  • Daughter of Ferrix: Andor ’s Fiona Shaw on the Role of Cassian’s Mother, Maarva
    [object Object] [object Object]

    Daughter of Ferrix: Andor ’s Fiona Shaw on the Role of Cassian’s Mother, Maarva

    October 27, 2022

    October 27, 2022

    Oct 27

More From Star Wars:
  • TikTok
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • SWKids
  • Terms of Use
  • Additional Content Information
  • Privacy Policy
  • Children's Online Privacy Policy
  • Your US State Privacy Rights
  • Disney Store | Star Wars
  • Star Wars Helpdesk
  • Interest-Based Ads
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

TM & © Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved