The upcoming Rogue One prequel series will center on Diego Luna's Cassian Andor, who both debuted and died in the first Star Wars spinoff movie. Now, another Rogue One star has joined Luna in reprising their role on the small screen, and this casting doesn't mark the only Rogue One addition to the series.
Genevieve O'Reilly will be back as Mon Mothma, a.k.a. a Rebel leader in the early days of the organized fight against the Empire, according to THR. Mon Mothma of course made her Star Wars debut in Return of the Jedi back in 1983, but Genevieve O'Reilly took up the role to play a younger Mon Mothma first in Revenge of the Sith in 2005 and then of course Rogue One in 2016.
Genevieve O'Reilly also reprised the role for several episodes of the Star Wars Rebels animated series as it approached the original trilogy in the Star wars timeline. While she wasn't the first actress to tackle the role, she is the most prolific among Star Wars projects, and she'll lend another familiar face to the Disney+ series.
The other Rogue One alum said to be on board the prequel series in a big way was pivotal to the film, but his contributions were behind-the-scenes.
Tony Gilroy, who co-wrote Rogue One and hasn't minced words about what kind of reshoots happened for the finished product, is reportedly now serving as showrunner as well as a writer for the TV series. He replaces Stephen Schiff of The Americans, who had been announced as the original showrunner back in late 2018. While Schiff was an impressive pick for the Cassian Andor series, the man who helped bring Rogue One to the big screen could be the ideal replacement when it comes to the prequel.
Interestingly, Tony Gilroy stated back in April 2018 on The Moment with Brian Koppelman podcast that he "had no reverence" for Star Wars when it came to Rogue One reshoots because he had "never been interested in Star Wars, ever." Gilroy will reportedly direct the pilot of the Rogue One prequel and potentially a second, but there is no start date for production at this point.
Genevieve O'Reilly isn't the only actor to join the likes of Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgard, and Kyle Soller on the series. Denise Gough of BBC's Paula is on board, but no details are currently available about her role. Since the Rogue One prequel clearly doesn't have the same qualms as The Mandalorian when it comes to bringing existing characters into the series, it's possible that she could play an earlier, later, or live-action version of a character already existing in the Star Wars saga, although we'll have to wait and see.
I for one have been hoping that Ahsoka Tano of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels would make an appearance, since Rebels fans know she was active with the Rebellion in this era. With Rosario Dawson now bringing Ahsoka to The Mandalorian, why not bring Ahsoka to the Rogue One prequel as well?
For now, The Mandalorian is the only live-action Star Wars series with a season that will be ready for premiere within the next year, but if you're in the mood to revisit the pre-original trilogy era in the Star Wars saga, you can find Rogue One and the full run of Star Wars Rebels streaming on Disney+ now, and The Clone Wars' Siege of Mandalore is worth watching to any Star Wars fan.
